Fishing in October: Hard work and luck yields a few wonderful fish

I was hoping fishing in October on the Welsh Dee would start as September finished on the River Conon, where I caught my first salmon of 2021.

A small but lovely cock fish that fell for a black and silver Ally’s shrimp fished on a sink-tip line.

So, how did my October fishing trips turn out…

Salmon fishing in October

The long spell of dry weather ended at the end of September with a wet and windy weather front blowing in off the Atlantic. Heavy rain pushed the Welsh Dee from its summer level to above 1m.

The river level at Corwen started to fall on Sunday evening, and with more heavy rain forecast, I headed out salmon fishing to Llangollen with Tim in search of those elusive creatures.

Welsh Dee salmon fishing at Llangollen.

We decided to fish the Ddol Issa beat because it has pools suitable for fly fishing and spinning. The colour in the river had started to clear, which was OK for the fly but ideal for spinning.

Tim decided to focus on spinning while I was fly fishing.

After setting up a 14ft Vision fly rod to fish a red Ally’s shrimp on a floating line tipped with a 15ft sink-tip, I walked down to fish the Cottage Pool while Tim went upriver fish the Sludgy Pool with the spinner.

On the initial run through the Cottage Pool, I caught a small brown trout that had smashed the red Ally’s shrimp but no salmon.

After a 15 minute break to rest the pool, I fished through it again using a Cascade tube fly (1″ copper), but this didn’t change the outcome. So, I wandered up river to see how Tim was getting on fishing the Sludgy Pool.

I was surprised he’d also drawn a blank with the spinner because this pool often holds salmon and sea trout at this time of year.

Before moving on, I borrowed his spinning rod to show him where and how most people spin the pool.

After a couple of casts, I hooked a small sea trout near the slow water above the tail.

While fishing the remainder of this pool, I had a solid take as the spinner swung behind the large rock in the tail. Hooked…

A salmon surfaced, thrashed around in the fast current, threw the hook, and was gone.

All this action was over in a few seconds.

Disappointed with losing the only salmon I’ve seen on the Welsh Dee this year, I handed the spinning rod back to Tim.

After Tim had fished through the Sludgy Pool without any luck, we drove upriver and fished the pools above Horseshoe Falls. Tim caught a few brown trout on the spinner, but I didn’t hook anything on the fly.

When the river started to rise and colour, we called it a day.

Llangollen-Mealor Middle beat

More heavy rain caused the river to rise above 1 metre and put the Dee out of commission for a few days.

By Friday, the river level had fallen to 0.8m (Manley Hall gauge), ideal for salmon flyfishing on the large pools upriver of Horseshoe Falls.

After parking by the falls, I walked upriver to fish Dee Farm. The river conditions looked perfect for fly fishing, and all I needed was to find at least one salmon willing to take the fly. However, I needed a large helping of luck for that to happen because I hadn’t seen any salmon on my walk upriver.

I started fishing Dee Farm with a 14ft Vision fly rod loaded with a floating line and a 9ft 15lb fluorocarbon leader with a size 10D red Ally’s shrimp on the point and size 8S Stoats tail on the dropper.

About halfway down the pool, I felt a tug and the 1 ft line loop disappeared. On raising the rod, a feisty…

sea trout went airborne, not the salmon I was expecting.

I didn’t have any more takes fishing the remainder of the pool, so I moved downriver to fish the Pipe Pool.

Using the same fly set-up, I fished down through the Pipe Pool. Towards the tail of the pool, I hooked another sea trout on the Stoats tail.

After returning this strange-looking sea trout, I moved further downriver and fished through the pool above Horseshoe Falls, where I drew a blank.

This final salmon fishing trip to the Welsh Dee put the final nail in the coffin on the goal of catching a Welsh Dee salmon this year. However, there was still a slim opportunity to catch a salmon in October on either the River Eden or Border Esk.

Salmon fishing in October on the River Eden

After a long dry summer, heavy rain finally pushed the River Eden into flood (ca. 2.5m @ Great Corby 5/10/21) and gave it a much-needed flush. I hoped the spate encouraged a few salmon to run before the season closes at the end of the month.

A week of dry weather had allowed the river level to fall to an ideal height (0.72m) for fly fishing. Therefore, I ditched my plans to fish the Welsh Dee and headed north to try my luck fishing for salmon on the River Eden near Carlise.

Thursday was a dull day, with the occasional showers passing overhead on a light breeze. Overall, the condition felt great for salmon fishing. Now I just had to find a…

salmon interested in taking the fly; simple!

I started the day fishing a Cascade (1″ copper) on a floating line and a 15ft intermediate tip. After a couple of hours of fishing, this approach hadn’t produced anything other than two OOS brown trout.

Fly fishing with a sink-tip line wasn’t working for any of the anglers I met. Therefore, I decided to finish the day fishing a full floating line with a red Ally’s shrimp (size 10D) on the point and a Stoats Tail (size 8S) on the dropper.

I’d only been fishing the new set-up five minutes when I had a solid take, the rod bent around, a large salmon swirled, and the reel screamed as it took off downriver.

I struggled to get the upper hand with the 7wt Orvis Clearwater switch rod, but eventually, I guided the salmon to the net that had taken the Stoats Tail.

After a quick photo, I returned my first Eden salmon to continue its migration.

With a big smile, I fished on to the end of the day without another take.

Grayling fishing in October

In between chasing salmon on the Welsh Dee, I’ve been grayling fishing at Bangor 0n Dee and Llangollen.

Grayling Fishing at Llangollen 

I saw a few up-winged flies hatching on the walk to the Pipe Pool, despite there being a chill in the air. In the slack water at the head of the pool, grayling were taking these flies. So, I decided to target the rising fish with an olive F-fly.

It was hard to see the fly on the water, but I heard a fish where I thought my fly was and instinctively raised my rod…

HOOKED – the grayling took off down downriver.

After a short struggle, I gained the upper hand and netted the first grayling of the day.

Fishing the remainder of the Pipe Pool with the F-fly produced another three smaller grayling.

Next, I walked upriver to the Glide Pool…

I’d not seen any fish rising in the main section of the Glide Pool. Therefore, I moved up to fish the riffle above with a team of Czech nymphs spaced 50 cm apart on a 4 lb fluorocarbon leader (point: size 12 PTN with a 4mm copper TB; middle dropper: size 14 gold TB hares ear nymph; top dropper: size 16 quill nymph with a 1.5mm TB).

Most of the streamer weed that grows in the riffle had started to die back, making it easier to fish the riffle with the nymphs.

Starting at the bottom of the riffle, I slowly fished up through the glide. On drifting the nymphs through a seam of slack water, my line darted upriver, and I lifted the rod into a fish. 

A grayling boiled on the surface and then darted downriver.

Carefully, I gained the upper hand and guided it safely into the net. The grayling had taken the hare’s ear on the middle dropper.

Fishing the remainder of the riffle produced another two graylings, which also fell for the hare’s ear and quill nymph.

Grayling fishing in October at Bangor-On-Dee

Several weeks had passed since I last fished for grayling at Bangor-On-Dee. Therefore, with the river close to its summer level (0.5m @ Manley Hall gauge), it was time to correct my absence with a fishing trip to the Village beat.

Over the last few days, the temperature had fallen from just above 20^oC to 16^oC, and it was overcast when I arrived at Dukes Pool. Not surprisingly, there were no signs of any flies coming off the river, which was running crystal clear.

Therefore, I set up a Vision Nymphmaniac 11ft 3wt rod to fish a team of nymphs on a 4lbs fluorocarbon leader spaced 18″ apart (point: size 12 Olive nymph with a 4 mm TB; middle dropper: size 14 purple collar PTN 3mm TB; top dropper: size 16 hares ear with a 1.5mm silver TB).

I started fishing the riffle leading into Dukes Pool and focused my efforts in the deeper run close to the far bank.

After missing a couple of takes, the line stopped as it drifted over the drop-off zone. The rod bent around into a grayling that darted downriver using the main flow to its advantage. Carefully, I guided the grayling to the net, which had taken the PTN on the middle dropper.

Fishing the remainder of the pool produced three more graylings, all of which fell for the PTN.

After a break for lunch, I headed off downriver to fish Twll Run. There was still no sign of surface fly-life activity, so I started fishing the head of the riffle with the team of nymphs that had been successful earlier.

Fishing through the riffle was unproductive until I reached the drop-off zone, where the flow slowed. In the crease between the fast & slow water, the line darted sideways and what felt like a heavy fish took off.

However, it turned out to be a grayling/trout double hook-up. The trout had taken the hares ear, while the grayling had fallen for the PTN.

Fishing on to the end of the run didn’t yield any more takes. At 3 pm, when the temperature had started to drop, I headed off home pleased with my first fishing trip to Bangor-On-Dee.

Overall, I have had a great time fishing in October for salmon and grayling, and I hope November brings me more grayling success on the Welsh Dee.