Winter Grayling

Grayling are now viewed as a legitimate fly targeted species and have a great following in the UK and for some, the thought of catching a specimen ‘Lady of the Stream’ can be more appealing than that of a trout. 

Grayling are deceptively light in weight for their size and are often perceived to be much heavier than they actually are. For most anglers a genuine weighed 2lb fish would be referred to as a specimen. A 3lb fish would be for many referred to as a ‘fish of a lifetime’ but for a select few that have set themselves the ultimate goal, their target is to break the magical 4lb mark. Not many have achieved this goal in the UK with only a handful of rivers being known to regularly produce fish of this size. To put this achievement into perspective the official British record fish comes in at 4lb 8oz. 

Although the Tweed system is famed for its atlantic salmon and sea trout, both hold some fabulous grayling well over the 3lb mark. Typical rain-fed rivers that rise and fall quickly with heavy rain can make grayling fishing tricky but with perseverance can reward an angler with some truly special fish.

Grayling season follows the coarse fishing season and can be targeted from the 16th of June until the 14th of March. Grayling can and will be caught outside of the season and should be carefully unhooked and allowed to fully recover before release.