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grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 10 2017 16:16
by suffolk si
I'm away with the wife and have a stretch of river kennet in the garden.can see grayling among the trout but can't get through to them.I'm using freelined bread at the moment as there are no tackle shops near,anybody suggest any baits from the supermarket or tactics that might single out a grayling ahead of another ten trout ...
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 10 2017 16:26
by dannytaylor
Forget bread its crap for grayling. You could try corn and possibly pomegranate seeds.
Go and find some worms they love em
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 10 2017 16:29
by suffolk si
Was thinking corn..cheers Danny.will be on it tonight...if the wife lets me face
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 10 2017 16:34
by dannytaylor
Cant guarantee the trout wont snaffle the corn. Same with worm, but if i had to choose one bait over all others it would be a worm hands down. Good luck si, let us know if you bag one
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 10 2017 17:43
by Daniel
As they're mixed in with the trout I'd choose corn. Worms are fantastic but everything loves worms so the trout are going to nail them too! If the swim permits it, try fishing corn overdepth, you may be able to trundle a bait under the trout for the grayling.
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 10 2017 18:03
by Mike J
On our chalkstreams Ive caught all my biggest grayling on bread!
Corn comes a poor second and maggots catch too many small fish.
Release any trout as you would for chub (unless you want to catch them again.....and again.....omg!)
Use a floating line or grease it regularly.
Trot the fast runs 1-3ft overdepth, holding back hard and 'boss' the river.
Sharp #10-12 fine wire hook and resharpen regularly, clear 4lb hooklengths.
Stop and hold for a 1min at the end of each trot and retrieve your tackle up a different line.
You will catch from the bottom to the surface.
Bigger fish will feed into darkness.
Ledgering often results in deep hooking and fatalities and is banned on some grayling fisheries.
To ensure a safe return spear the fish head first into the water (no keepnets).
Hope this helps.
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 10 2017 18:57
by dannytaylor
Agree with what you say about ledgering mike you have to be very vigilant as the buggers swallow bait very quickly.
Im not sure about "spearing" grayling back. From my experience with them is that you often need to spend a little time holding them in a good current to revive them and only release them when they have built up sufficient strength again. A little like barbel. We wouldnt just release a barbel after a good scrap as more often than not they swim away apearing fine only to belly up through exhaustion. Id be very careful about "spearing" big grayling back, as the same would probably happen. Just my thoughts
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 10 2017 19:20
by davelumb
I've not caught many grayling but the torpedo release did the trick after resting them didn't. Not big ones, around the pound mark.
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 10 2017 19:27
by suffolk si
Well,I'm in the dog house with the Mrs as I am running late for our evening meal but mission accomplished with some corn fished over depth all be it in a different swim.three casts.first a little brownie then big rainbow then my first grayling
sorry about poor pics.will be back in morning as I reckon there are some two pounders in there..
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 10 2017 19:39
by jonsykes
Seen Matt Hayes use partly liquidised corn to get them feeding & keep them in the swim, whole corn on the hook.
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 10 2017 19:47
by dannytaylor
davelumb wrote: ↑Thu Aug 10 2017 19:20 -
I've not caught many grayling but the torpedo release did the trick after resting them didn't. Not big ones, around the pound mark.
Hard to do in fast shallow water dave.
I dont want to sound like im picking apart mikes advice, but ive had trouble returning grayling and i'll stick by what i said when comparing them with barbel. Id rather hold them in swift water until they "tell" me when they want to go. Once you have let go of them they are gone and your not getting them back if they havent fully recovered. I had a mishap once when unhooking one it was still fresh and wiry and i dropped it, into fast water. It went belly up and was swept away before i could get it. This is why im dubious about "spearing" them. Of all the fish ive fished for grayling are very fragile.
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 10 2017 19:49
by dannytaylor
Congratulations on the grayling si
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 10 2017 19:58
by suffolk si
Cheers Danny,off for an Italian to make it up to the wife.hopefully get a proper one in the morning.....thanks all for the help
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 10 2017 20:29
by Mike J
All the barbel I encounter are released after as long as it takes for them to fully recover, but Id rather I never hook them at all as they are the worst fish for trashing carefully prepped roach swim God ever invented.
I fish some very exclusive beats outside the game season and if I was seen killing any fish Id be off pdq, but each to their own.
Si, that fry eating yankie vermin needs filling with tomatoes and peppers and baking or better still fed to the neighbours cat!
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 10 2017 21:52
by Happy Hayes
Well done Si on catching your first grayling
That forty pound cat won't be long behind
All the best
Tom
Re: grayling help
Posted: Fri Aug 11 2017 16:40
by suffolk si
Cheers tom.off bass fishing tomorrow.turning out to be a good holiday.think the wife must want something....
Re: grayling help
Posted: Sun Aug 13 2017 10:39
by Cod
suffolk si wrote: ↑Fri Aug 11 2017 16:40 -
Cheers tom.off bass fishing tomorrow.turning out to be a good holiday.think the wife must want something....
Congratulations Si,
Sounds like you are having a good time
Re: grayling help
Posted: Sun Aug 13 2017 16:05
by suffolk si
Cheers Paul.hope you're well,the bass down here are even harder than round our way!
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 17 2017 07:17
by cookiesdaughtersdad
Mike J wrote: ↑Thu Aug 10 2017 18:03 -
On our chalkstreams Ive caught all my biggest grayling on bread!
Corn comes a poor second and maggots catch too many small fish.
Release any trout as you would for chub (unless you want to catch them again.....and again.....omg!)
Use a floating line or grease it regularly.
Trot the fast runs 1-3ft overdepth, holding back hard and 'boss' the river.
Sharp #10-12 fine wire hook and resharpen regularly, clear 4lb hooklengths.
Stop and hold for a 1min at the end of each trot and retrieve your tackle up a different line.
You will catch from the bottom to the surface.
Bigger fish will feed into darkness.
Ledgering often results in deep hooking and fatalities and is banned on some grayling fisheries.
To ensure a safe return spear the fish head first into the water (no keepnets).
Hope this helps.
"Release any trout as you would for chub (unless you want to catch them again.....and again.....omg!)"
Could you explain this method please Mike?
Cheers Alan
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 17 2017 11:37
by Mike J
Hi Alan,
Yes, let em go well upstream, 20yds or more and into a quite margin rather than streamy water.
Doesn't always work but most of the time it does stop repeated captures.
Eg; last season fishing the fast water below some hatches I caught a nice sea trout which I released above hatches to save it some energy, fished above the hatches at last knockings and yes there it was again, but on a different bait.
Re: grayling help
Posted: Thu Aug 17 2017 14:33
by cookiesdaughtersdad
Mike J wrote: ↑Thu Aug 17 2017 11:37 -
Hi Alan,
Yes, let em go well upstream, 20yds or more and into a quite margin rather than streamy water.
Doesn't always work but most of the time it does stop repeated captures.
Eg; last season fishing the fast water below some hatches I caught a nice sea trout which I released above hatches to save it some energy, fished above the hatches at last knockings and yes there it was again, but on a different bait.
Glad you said that
When chub fishing, letting them go in another swim or retaining them is the best way of catching more as I think a caught and returned fish tell tails about the angler
Cheers Alan
Re: grayling help
Posted: Fri Aug 18 2017 10:32
by Mike J
Hi Alan,
This 'they will go and tell their friends' is actually believed by the older generation of artisan fishermen in southern Europe.
I had all sorts of bother from them after they watched me returning fish, but living and fishing with them for over a decade proved to (most of) them I wasnt ruining their fishery, the opposite infact.
It also helped that I was able to show them how to catch sardines on hooks, something they said was impossible.
Entente Cordiale