Grayling fishing report: A great 2022 end on the Welsh Dee

In North Wales, wet weather turned in October after a very dry summer and by the beginning of November, the Welsh Dee was virtually unfishable. Fortunately, a break in the rain allowed the river level to drop back from its peak of 1.3m (Manley Hall gauge) to a fishable level.

So, what’s in my grayling fishing report for the end of 2022…

Welsh Dee grayling fishing report

Grayling fishing at Llangollen

After returning from an unsuccessful salmon fishing trip on the River Tweed at the beginning of November, the Welsh Dee had dropped back to a fishable level (0.75m @ Manley Hall). So, with more rain in the forecast, headed out to fish the Welsh Dee above Llangollen.

I decided to spend most of my time fishing at Dee Farm because I’d not fished there for a while. It was a mild start to the day but I hadn’t seen any flies hatching on my walk up to Dee Farm from the car park.

I was expecting to see a fly hatch later in the day. So, I started fishing the pool using a Klink & Dink setup using a Reddington 9ft 5wt rod because this would cover both surface and subsurface feeding activity.

On the end of the floating line, I added a 7x 9ft tapered leader and attached a 4ft length of 3lbs copolymer to from the dropper for the Iron Blue para-post dry fly and tied the #16 hare’s nymph with a 2mm tungsten bead on the point.

Starting above the fence near the tail of the pool, I methodically worked my way upriver fishing the margins out to mid-river. As I worked towards the first bankside bush the dry fly indicator disappeared as it drifted into a back-Eddie and my line tightened into…

a grayling that took off into the main flow.

A short struggle ensued but it wasn’t long before I netted the first grayling of the day that had taken the hare’s ear nymph.

I spotted a grayling rising about halfway up the pool. So I crept carefully up the bank to a suitable casting position. My first cast put the fly above its position and as the iron blue dry fly drifted by, there was a swirl, the fly disappeared and my rod bent into another lively grayling.

After releasing the grayling, I slowly fished my way up towards the Fridge pool where I caught several grayling in the 20 – 30 cm bracket on both the nymph and dry fly.

Fishing with Graham at Llangollen (30/11/22)

After several days of wet and windy weather, a dry and cold spell rolled in, and the Welsh Dee river level dropped to 0.9m (Manley Hall gauge). So, I arranged to go fishing with a friend, Graham, to show him some good grayling fishing spots at Llangollen when the river is high.

For the morning session, I decided to show Graham how to fish the Cottage Pool. It was a frosty start, and with a Northerly breeze, temperatures stayed in the low single figures.

No fish were rising, so I showed Graham how to set up his rod for tight-line nymphing (point: #12 olive tungsten jig back nymph; middle dropper #16 quill nymph with a 1.5mm TB; top dropped: 16# claret nymph with a 1.5mm TB).

After showing him where and how to fish the pool, I set my Vision 11ft 3# Nymphmaniac rod to fish a different team of nymphs 18″ apart on a 4 lbs fluorocarbon leader (point: size 12, orange collar olive nymph 4 mm TB; middle dropper: size 14, black pheasant tail nymph with a 3 mm purple TB; top dropper: size 18 hare’s ear nymph with a 1.5mm copper TB).

Fishing up through the pool, we only managed two grayling parr. After a hot drink break, I switched the black PTN on the middle dropper for a pink-squirmy worm and fished the pool again.

Near the head of the pool, I had a solid take, and a grayling took off into the main flow. Taking care not to lose it, I guided the first grayling of the day to the net, which had fallen for the pink squirmy.

After missing a take, I connected with the next one and guided a smaller grayling to the net that had also taken the squirmy. Unfortunately, fishing the remainder of the pool was unproductive.

We retired to the car for lunch and drove upriver to Duncans Pool, the other pool I wanted to show Graham.

The water was racing through Duncan’s Pool but close to the left bank, there was a section of fishable water. To get Graham off the mark, I changed his middle dropper to a pink squirmy and let him fish the pool first.

He started fishing the pool by the overhanging chestnut tree. It only took a few casts before I heard him shout…

FISH ON.

His rod bent around as it took off downriver. After a few dicey moments, Graham guided a beautiful Welsh Dee grayling to the net that had taken the squirmy worm.

After returning the grayling, Graham managed to catch two parr on the claret nymph while fishing the rest of the pool.

My run through the pool produced an OOS brown trout on the PTN and a grayling on the hare ear.

We called it a day at 3 pm because the temperature began to fall and the takes dried up.

Grayling fishing report from Llandderfel

Another bout of wet weather took the Welsh Dee out of commission for a week. Slowly, the river returned to a fishable height of 0.44m (Bala Gauge). So, I took a trip to fish Bala & District AA (BDAA) beat at Llandderfel.

After a lazy start, I pulled into the bridge car park at 10 am. Two anglers were heading off to fish the lower section of the beat. So, I decided to fish downriver from the upper limit.

The temperature had begun to rise from an overnight low of 4°C, but no fish were showing at the surface. Therefore, I set up my 11ft 3# Vision Nymphomaniac to fish a team of three nymphs spaced 18″ apart on 4lb copolymer (point: size 12, pheasant tail nymph with a 4mm orange tungsten beads, middle dropper: size 14, black pheasant tail nymph with a 3mm silver tungsten bead; top dropper: size 16, hares ear with a 1.5mm copper tungsten bead).

I didn’t fish the Bridge Pool (A) because I’ve never had any luck nymphing there and began at the pool below (B), which often produces grayling.

Surprisingly, I did not have any takes methodically fishing from the tail to the head of the pool.

On my walk further downriver, I saw a fish swirl close to the tree-lined far bank. Therefore, I switched to a 9ft 6wt rod loaded with a floating line, 12ft leader a team of wet flies spaced 3ft apart on 4lb fluorocarbon (point: #14 pheasant tail nymph; middle dropper: #14 black hopper; top dropper: size 18, Treacle Parkin).

Covering the rising fish with the wet flies produced a take, and…

BINGO…

My rod bent into the first grayling of the day that had fallen for the Treacle Parkin.

The commotion of netting the grayling from the high bank spooked everything, so I moved down to the tail of pool (C).

From the pool tail, covering the rising fish produced two small graylings that fell for the black hopper on the middle dropper.

Next, I waded across the river to fish the next pool from the right bank (map point C). Fishing down the pool with the team of wet flies produced a couple that I failed to hook.

This pool holds some good grayling, so I switched back to the team of nymphs and fished my way back upriver. After a few casts, my indicator shot sideways, and my line tightened into a bigger fish.

Carefully, I gained the upper hand and netted a beautiful grayling that had fallen for the black pheasant tail nymph on the middle dropper.

Nymphing the remainder of the pool produced another nice grayling and two smaller fish that fell for the black pheasant tail nymph.

For the final hour, I walked downriver to fish the pool at the end of the beat (map point F).

I noticed two fish rise in the slacker water below the bushes close to the far bank. So, I switched to fishing wet flies again and covered the rising fish. Immediately after the flies landed, a fish snatched one and darted for the main flow.

After a short struggle, I guided a nice grayling to the net that had taken the March Brown spider. Fishing the remainder of the pool produced another grayling on the March Brown spider.

By the time I’d reached the end of the run, it was time to head home. Overall, switching between fishing nymphs and wet flies throughout the day proved to be a successful approach.

Well, that wraps up my Welsh Dee grayling fishing report for 2022 and I hope that 2023 brings some excellent fishing.

On a final note, if you’re interested in learning more about winter grayling fly fishing check out the following article…

• Winter fly fishing for grayling