Winter fly fishing: Great tips for grayling anglers

Content:

• Tips for winter grayling fishing
• Clothing & tackle requirements
• When to go fishing
• How to find grayling in winter
• Grayling fly fishing methods
• Fly selections

Fishing is a yearlong obsession, and my year wouldn’t be complete without a hefty dose of winter fly fishing for grayling.

Grayling feed throughout the winter, even on the coldest of days. So they’re in peak condition for spring because, unlike the other members of the salmonoid family, they are spring spawners.

Also, it keeps me in practice for the start of the trout fishing season in March. 

Braving these cold months will produce some memorable grayling fishing experiences, with the possibility of catching the fish of a lifetime.

Many years ago, I set myself a target of fly fishing at least once a week, almost irrespective of the weather.

Sometimes in atrocious sub-zero temperatures, which I have to confess I now avoid because most of the day was spent…

freezing my fingers by de-icing the rod rings.

This challenge, through trial and error, has taught me plenty about fly fishing for grayling. 

My aim in this article is to share my grayling fishing tips to help the beginner bypass a lot of trial and error.

Let’s begin by covering my…

Winter fly fishing essential tips for Grayling

First and foremost is…

Wrap-up WARM to keep the COLD OUT.

Because once your hands and feet start to sting with cold everything else will go to pot and you will just want to quit and go home to warm up!

Winter fly fishing clothing, waders and gloves

In the UK, the air temperature rarely gets into double figures from December and in January and February is close to or below zero.

When I’m wearing several layers of clothing to stay warm the first part of my body that gets cold first are my hands, which are followed by my feet and legs.

Winter fly fishing gloves are essential items

Waders

Originally, I used neoprene waters for fly fishing in winter. However, I now use breathable waders with a good pair of thermal leggings and fleece-lined trousers because they are lighter and more comfortable for spending the day walking between pools.

Patience and perseverance…

This is my second general winter fly fishing tip for grayling because at this time of year they start to shoal and become concentrated in certain sections of the river. These can take time to locate but are usually, pools that provide their essential needs:

• A good food store, and
• Shelter from floods

When you hook a grayling, it’s likely more will be nearby. So, ensure you fish that area carefully and fully before moving on.

On bitterly cold days, you can fish a known grayling holding pool without a take. However, later in the day, they may switch on, and you’ll start catching. This often occurs when there’s a subtle temperature increase.

For example, the sun appears and/or there is a drop in wind.

Basically, don’t….

Give up until it’s time to go home.

Winter fly fishing tackle for Grayling:

If you fly fish for trout on rivers, you’re likely to have all the essential fishing tackle needed. The various types of fly rods, reels, fly lines, etc. I use for grayling fishing is outlined below.

Grayling fly fishing rod & reel

You can fly fish for grayling using dry flies, wet flies, and nymphs with a standard 9 or 10-foot fly rod rated from 3 to 7 wt and a well-matched reel.

I favour a soft-action, 9ft-6″ 5wt rod for dry and wet fly fishing for grayling. For Euro / Czech nymphing, I use a lightweight 10 to 11ft 3# fly rod. Currently, I prefer an 11ft 3# Vision Nymphmaniac fly rod paired with a Vision XLV nymph reel.

Fly Lines

Your fly line and rod should be matched. I use an Airflo Lake Pro WF5 floating line for wet and dry fly fishing. Nymphing can be done with a standard dry fly line and a fly rod. However, I use a low-diameter (0.6mm) speciality nymphing fly (Airflo SNF Euro Nymph) in windy conditions because it helps bite detection.

Leader & Tippet

I use a 12ft copolymer or monofilament 3X tapered leader with 3ft of 3 or 4 lb fluorocarbon tippet for grayling dry fly fishing. On windy days, swap the 12ft leader to a 9ft 3X tapered leader.

When fishing a team of three wet flies or spiders I use a 7ft copolymer or monofilament 5X tapered leader and add 6ft of 3 copolymer tippet for two droppers.

For Euro / Czech nymphing use a simple leader system composed of 6 to 9ft of 4lb fluorocarbon (Airflo Sightfree G3 Fluorocarbon), with 2 or 3 droppers spaced 18″ apart.

Fly fishing accessories:

• A landing net with a magnet release clipped on the back of your jacket
• A bottle of dry fly floatant – I use Gink
• Line degreaser – I use Fulling Mill Fuller’s Mud
• Something to dry the fly – I use a dry microfiber cloth
• Insulated waders
• Neoprene gloves and warm clothing for when it gets cold.

Now the essential grayling fishing tackle requirements are covered, let’s get into the ‘MEAT’ of fly fishing for grayling during the winter months…

When to go winter fly fishing for grayling?

In my younger days, if it was possible to get to the river, I could be found fly fishing for grayling in most weather conditions, but I wouldn’t recommend…

Fishing in sub-ZERO conditions to a beginner.

Stay at home if the daytime air temperature is NOT forecast to rise above freezing. That’s what I do while waiting for the weather to warm up.

How to find grayling when fly fishing in winter?

Grayling begin to shoal when the temperature drops and thus are not evenly distributed through the river.  

For a successful day’s fishing, the first task is to locate where they are residing. This is not as difficult as it might first seem if you think in terms of their primary needs:

• Food, and 
• Sanctuary.  

Generally, a good winter grayling pool will contain one or more of the following features:

• The riverbed is composed of pebbles and/or gravel because this contains the food store that grayling can grub around in.
• Fast, bumpy water (riffle) above the head of the pool, which slows as the pool deepens and ideally forms a fast/slower water seam.
• A gentle glide section and/or back-eddy that offers sanctuary from the main flow when the river is in flood.
• Weed beds provide shelter and a food store.
• Pool tails where the flow increases and is broken by ledges and/or rocks.

Duncan’s pool on the Welsh Dee at Llangollen is a great example of a grayling pool for winter fly fishing because it contains most of the features described above.   

The above sketch of Duncan’s Pool shows where grayling are caught when the river is close to its summer level:

• Slack pockets of water behind boulders in the riffle section
• The drop-off zone at the head of the main pool
• Close to the rock ledges at the tail of the pool

When the river is in flood grayling seek the sanctuary of the slacker water close to the inside bend of the main pool.

Other examples of grayling holding pools on the Welsh Dee include:

How to fly fish for grayling in winter?

The days are short with about 5 hrs of fishing. Therefore, it’s best to have a plan of where and how to fish for grayling. 

Once I’ve selected the pools, I follow a simple, flexible approach to my grayling winter fly fishing…

On mild mornings, dry fly fishing is my preference when I’m faced with grayling taking flies at the surface. 

If after c.a. 30 minutes I’ve failed to catch anything, I switch to fishing a team of wet flies close to the surface. 

However, on most cold mornings there will be no sign of surface activity until after mid-day. Therefore, I begin by fishing a team of nymphs close to the riverbed on a short line (i.e. Euro nymphing, Czech nymphing). 

Normally I fish the pool quickly and methodically because the days are short.

If grayling are feeding, it won’t be long before one is hooked. Then I slow my progress to ensure every inch of that area is fished because there will be others lurking nearby.

As the day progresses, I watch for signs of grayling feeding close to the surface. Usually, this will occur around mid-day and may last from a few minutes to an hour or so.

At that point, catching grayling on nymphs slows, and I switch to fishing either a team of wet flies or the dry fly can produce some great sport.

Eventually, dry and/or wet fly fishing stops working, and it’s time to revert to nymphing for the remainder of the day.  

The above winter fly fishing approach has helped me catch plenty of fish on nymphs, wet flies and dry flies.

Short line nymphing for grayling

Grayling are predominately bottom feeders because that is where over 95% of their food is found. During winter, developing invertebrates (e.g. caddis larvae, nymphs, shrimps, etc) close to the riverbed keep grayling supplied with food.

Techniques such as Czech and French nymphing have been designed specifically for fishing flies on the bottom and are perfect for fly fishing for grayling.

Therefore, it’s not surprising that nymph fishing techniques are effective at catching grayling. It’s essential to master these fishing methods, or you’ll have many blank days.

Fortunately, it’s not that difficult to become proficient at short-range nymphing techniques it just needs a little practice.

Below is a link which discusses it in more detail and includes tackle requirements, leader set-up, and a selection of nymphs for different river and weather conditions.

• Euro / Czech nymphing guide for beginners

Wet fly fishing in winter for grayling

On mild days when there is a hatch of flies, you can have some great sport fishing for grayling with wet flies and spiders. 

Fly hatches are usually limited to the warmest part of the day and can be brief affairs. However, grayling often responds with a surface-feeding frenzy while the hatch lasts. 

On the Welsh Dee in January, I’ve had sessions where 10+ grayling were caught fishing a team of spiders in an hour. So, keep an eye out for them.

For more on my approach to wet and spider fly fishing check out the following posts

• A beginner’s guide to wet fly fishing
• How to tie and fish North Country spider flies

Dry fly fishing in winter for grayling

Often, grayling will take the opportunity to feast on emerging flies on mild days (ca. > 8^oC). Especially, a hatch of large dark olives in January and February. So, be prepared to cover them with a suitably matched dry fly.

Important note, grayling are more discerning than trout and will refuse a dragging fly; even micro-drag.

It is best to match the hatch but when this isn’t possible, I’ve had some good results using the following dry flies.

When small midges are hatching I found the trusty Griffith’s Gnat will often catch a few grayling. 

When olives are being taken at the surface the following fly pattern in sizes 14 and 16 often catches plenty of grayling

Surprisingly, I’ve found that the crumpled iron blue emerger and the grayling ice-blue dry flies will tempt grayling off the riverbed. Even on a cold miserable day when there’s no sign of fly life on the water.

Further reading on flies for winter grayling fishing

• 13 Grayling flies for December
• 10 Grayling flies for January
• Grayling flies for February

Also, I’ve added links to posts on winter grayling fishing trips, which illustrate how to put the grayling fishing tips into practice.

• Fishing for grayling in Jan & Feb
• Grayling fishing in December on the Welsh Dee and River Eden
• Fishing the River Derwent for beautiful ladies
• Llandderfel Grayling fishing – a great day out on the Dee
• Grayling fishing at Rhagatt Hall

Take care of your catch when winter fly fishing

Grayling have soft mouths compared to trout and a big grayling hooked in fast water is a difficult fish to land safely.

It’s important not to bully grayling, or the hook will tear its mouth, just let it take line until you can guide it into slacker water and safely to the net.

Although grayling are fairly hardy, you should always take care when releasing them:

• Minimise the time they spend out of the water,
• Ideally, unhook them in a net that is in the water,
• Handle them with wet hands and avoid squeezing them,
• Full revive the fish in a gentle current before releasing. 

Finally, I hope you have found this article on winter fly fishing for grayling interesting, and if you want to practice this learning there is some excellent grayling day ticket water on the Welsh Dee.