Winter Grayling – A Tale of Two Rivers

he two rivers are the Wharfe and the Calder. The Wharfe is the jewel of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, a classic northern spate river, its upper reaches offering superb trout and grayling fishing. The Calder gives its name to the most southerly of the Yorkshire dales, a narrow, claustrophobic defile, scarred by the excesses of the industrial revolutionFor many years the river was a lifeless, rainbow-hued sewer, but with the decline of industry in the area and improved management of discharges it has gradually recovered. Two very contrasting rivers then, but what they have in common is some of the best grayling fishing in the country.

The Calder

We’re deep into the no-man’s land between Christmas and the New Year and I need to get out of the houseFrom a fishing point of view the hard Winter weather has narrowed my options, so it looks like I’ll be grayling fishingTomorrow, Wednesday, I’ve arranged a day on the Wharfe at Ilkley with my mate Pete Connor, but I need to get out of the house today: now. I debate whether it’s worth the trip to Skipton to fish the Aire, but the Calder is only 15 minutes away so I plump for that instead. I throw my trotting gear into the car, nip over to the tackle shop to get some maggots and head down the motorway to the river.

The old mill towns of Calderdale run almost seamlessly into each other Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Luddendon Foot, Sowerby Bridge, Elland, Brighouse, and another handful down to Wakefield. Hemmed in by the walls of the dale there is no escape for the poor Calder and so it must jostle for space with the road, the railway, the canal and the towns themselves. The banks are lined with derelict mills, factory shops and light industrial units.

Access to the river is often difficult, through back gardens, across canal bridges and down cobbled alleys between old mills. Despite all this the river somehow retains its character with swift shallows floored with bright gravel and deep mysterious pools. A couple of years ago the Calder was on the threshold of becoming a World Class grayling river, capable of producing fish to just under 4lb, but this is a river on the edge: the inevitable happened and there was a pollution incident.

Call me a cynical old so and so, but if this had been a southern chalk stream there would have been an outcry and stern letters to The Times, but up here it barely got a mention in the local paper. Never mind, the river is recovering nicely and you can expect fish to about a pound and a half with an occasional two pounder.

Today I’m going to fish at Elland, the final pinch point of the dale before it opens out into a gentler landscape. Here the valley is less than two hundred yards wide with steep escarpments on either side. The gradient of the valley floor is steep and the river barges through the narrow gap with a fair bit of attitude! I pull off the main road down a narrow lane between scruffy old Victorian workshops. At the bottom there is forgotten meadow hemmed in by the river and the canal. The meadow is a long narrow triangle of boggy grass, bounded on two sides by the river and on the third by the canal. I climb the gate at the apex of the triangle and trudge upstream through the snow.

The Calder at Elland

Halfway along the base of the triangle is a pool. Upstream of it the river rushes down a steep slope over rounded rocks the size of grapefruits, at its tail it ploughs into the valley wall and executes a sharp left hand turn. The pool itself is about six feet deep and fast flowing, with slightly steadier water along the near bank.

I drop my gear at the head of the pool and set up my old Shimano Triple-X rod, a small fixed spool loaded with 4lb WB Clark Match Line and a 2 swan shot Drennan loafer float. A loafer with a BB shot below it behaves exactly like a wire stemmed avon float and its short length allows me to fish shallow water effectively. The hook length is .12 mm Grand Match Fluoro with a size 16 Drennan forged match at the business end. I’m not using a centre pin because in fast, turbulent water like this I find that a fixed spool allows me to fish a slightly lighter float and still retain control, so apologies to all you purists!  I set the float at the approximate depth and start to fish, adjusting the float after every trot down until it is just tripping the bottom. The river is gin clear and very cold, just above 3C, so getting the depth exactly right is critical. The flow is so strong that I have to walk 10 yards upstream to feed and I do this every other cast, trickling in a few maggots on each occasion.

After several runs down the crease I still haven’t had a fish so I ponder what to try next. The pool narrows slightly about 10 yards below me where a gravel bar pushes out from the bank and I wonder if the grayling might be tucked up against this, hugging the very bottom of the slope. In conditions like these the fish will be tightly shoaled up and will be unwilling to move far for a bait. I play around with my bulk and tell-tale shot until I can hold back the float and present the bait exactly right. Sure enough after a few trots down the float buries and I’m playing a graylingIt’s a reasonable fish, so I have some fraught moments as I work it back upstream, but I soon put the net under a fish of about 12oz.

A grayling of about 12oz in the net

Three casts later I hook its twin, but after that I get a couple of quick dips of the float and then nothing. Time for a move.

The next swim can hardly be called a pool, it’s just a slight deepening of the river between two very fast rapids. It’s a marginal swim, barely fishable, but I explore it carefully as fish will often hold in small depressions in the river bed in these areas. I draw a blank here, but I feed a few maggots at the end of the swim and move down below the next rapids. Here the water drops into a shallow pool at the head of which is a tongue of fast water with steadier areas on either side. It’s not deep, less than 2ft, but grayling will often be found in these areas just on the edge of the faster water. I can just see a boulder on the edge of the crease and I hold back the float briefly as it passes it, trying to get the bait pull round the back as it lifts. It takes a while to get it exactly right, but eventually  I hook a good fish that powers out into the faster water. It takes what seems like an age to work the fish back upstream, but persistence pays off and I’m rewarded with a fish of around a pound and a quarter.

Releasing a nice grayling

The temperature has barely struggled above freezing all day and by now I’m starting to lose feeling in my finger tips. Time for Little Miss Sunshine!  In these conditions I always carry a couple of heat packs that my brother gave me a couple of Christmases ago – they are Mr Tickle and Little Miss Sunshine from Mr Men, not exactly ultra-cult gear! When they are activated they give about 20 minutes of warmth, which is just enough to get some life back into your fingers. While I’m warming my fingers I have a welcome cuppa and a couple of Christmas tree chocolates.

Little Miss Sunshine

I’ve only got about an hour left before dark, so I press on downstream. There’s someone in the next swim and I stop for a quick chat before dropping into a steadier glide about 20 yards below him. I fancy this swim for a bigger fish as it’s about 8ft deep with a smooth steady flow. The bottom here seems to consist of large boulders as once I get the depth right the float dithers and dips as it moves downstream. One of the dips looks more purposeful and I strike into what turns out to be the smallest grayling of the day at about 6oz. A few casts later I hook a much better fish which feels somehow different and after a long fight I net a lovely brownie of about 2lb. The disturbance from this fish appears to have killed the swim as I get no further indications so I decide to have one last move before heading for home.

I catch a small trout from a fast shallow glide, but it’s now freezing hard and I start to get problems with my rings icing up. I tackle down and make the short walk back down the meadow to the car. It’s not been an easy day, but I’ve caught some decent fish and I’ve cured the Christmas blues.

The Wharfe

Wednesday morning. We’ve had a fair bit of freezing rain and sleet overnight so the car is encased in a hard shell of ice and by the time I’ve cleared it I’m running late. I hurriedly throw some gear into the car and set off, collecting Pete at his house on the outskirts of Ilkley. The old spa town is on the cusp of the middle reaches of the Wharfe, above is the upper river with its superb trout and grayling fishing whilst below it the river slows slightly and meanders into the lower reaches of Wharfedale where increasing numbers of coarse fish are found. The river at Ilkley is still predominantly a game fishery: wide and fast flowing with a classic mix of pools and rapids. Pete has heard reports of 3lb grayling caught by fly anglers, but we always subtract about 25% from the reported weight of fish that haven’t been weighed and, sure enough, the weight of the biggest weighed fish that we know of was just over 2lb.

The Old Bridge at Ilkley

We leave the car by the new bridge and walk upstream to the old bridge which marks the top of the Ilkley Angling Club water. It’s a perishingly cold day, with a blustery north-easterly wind and sleet showers and the river is running low and clear. Pete decides to fish the run-off from the ancient ford just below the bridge and I drop in 50 yards below him in some steadier water. Whilst tackling up I discovered that I’d left my hook length line and camera behind (hence the slightly reduced picture quality as I had to use my mobile phone). Muttering to myself I waded upstream to scrounge some light line. Pete had already started fishing and I arrived just in time to net a grayling of a little over a pound. Whilst returning it we discovered that the water was so cold that it actually hurt to put your hand into it!

Pete fishing the Wharfe

As Pete was sorting himself out I stole a spool of 2.5lb Preston Powerline from his bag and slunk off back to my swim. I had intended to fish with a large Avon float, but I’d forgotten my float tube as well as my camera and hook length line (memo to self: write a checklist for use when packing a small bag to travel light!), so out came the trusty 2 swan loafer. Fishing this swim was hard. I had to fish a couple of rod lengths out and the swirling wind coupled with very low light levels made line control very difficult. The float would only travel about 5 yards before it began to drag, so I fished the swim in sections, 5 yards at a time, rather like wet fly fishing. After my second downstream move there was a distinct lift of the float as I was holding it back at the end of the trot and I struck into a decent grayling. It was a fish of about 12oz and I took a quick snap before returning it.

A beautiful Wharfe Grayling

Unfortunately I then kicked my disgorger into about a foot of water – remember what I said about the water being cold?  Brr…By the time I’d got myself sorted out, Pete was wading downstream to join me. I had a few more casts without success so we headed off to pastures new.

The next swim was about a quarter of a mile downstream, a deep pool below the new bridge. This was to be my swim as it required wading and Pete had (sensibly given the conditions) only worn moon boots. I waded out along a gravel bar to where I could fish the deeper water, the bait just tripping bottom at about 7 feet. The wind direction was more favourable in this swim and I was able to explore all the water out to mid river. On my third cast I hooked a trout which I managed to land without disturbing the swim too much. After that things were very quiet so I stopped for a quick cuppa and a think. This swim was similar to the first swim I fished yesterday on the Calder and it occurred to me that the grayling might again be lying tucked up against the bottom of the gravel bar. On my next cast I ran the float down the edge of the bar, holding back hard to stop it dragging under and, sure enough, it gave a quick dip which I missed. I missed a couple more shy bites before I hooked a decent fish, which kited out into the main flow and promptly came off.

Ten minutes later history repeated itself and I lost another fish after a sharp dip of the float. I checked the hook, but it was fine and next cast I had a nice trout of about a pound and a half. The trout was nicely hooked in the scissors so I suspect that the two lost fish were grayling.

Pete returned to report he’d drawn a blank in a few swims downstream. So, where next?

“Beanland’s Island?”

“OK – I need to get my feet warm again.”
 

The Wharfe at Crum Wheel

The mile-long hike down to Beanland’s was just the job and my tootsies were toasty by the time we got thereWe waded the back-stream and yomped through the brush back to the main river.

This time I got the run-off from the shallows and Pete got the steadier water. I walked upstream to the head of the island and sprinkled a few maggots into the fast water. The wind was back to being awkward again and I had to wade to get some control over the float. There were no slacker areas in this swim so I dropped the float in where the water started to deepen and held back hard until the bottom levelled off a few yards downstream. With no clues from the river I had to search the water methodically to find fish, starting as close to the bank as I could manage and then working gradually out towards the far bank. This is the sort of trotting I enjoy. I haven’t got the patience for slowly building a swim, but this gradual exploration, deducing the bottom contours from the behaviour of the float, constantly adjusting depth and presentation, piques my interest and keeps me involved.

The fast water at the top of Beanland’s Island

My explorations revealed several branches and something immoveable before I found a slightly deeper run. A bit of fiddling about with my set-up allowed me to trip bottom through this section and on my second run through the float jabbed sideways and away. Unfortunately it was another trout. Shortly afterwards Pete netted another decent grayling and whilst we were admiring it we discussed our next option. There was a possible swim just below the island, but in the relatively low, gin clear water it would be a difficult swim to fish. I pulled rank (I was the guest after all!) and we set off downstream through the dense undergrowth.

The river here is perhaps best fished using the fly, but it’s a horrible wade as it’s paved with a wide selection of slippery cannonballs. However, down the near side is a smooth gravel-bottomed run 3ft across at its widest point and less than 5 yards long, it can only be fished effectively by splitting it into two separate swims. We approached cautiously and crouched at the head of the run. The fading light gave us some cover, but in order to fish effectively I was going to have to kneel in the water. I edged into position, fed a few maggots and dropped my float into the top swim. The swim was less than 2ft deep and I had to hold the float back hard, inching the maggots downstream. Four runs down the swim were enough to convince me that there was nobody home so I carefully positioned myself for the bottom section. Again I drew a blank and with the light going rapidly and my knees complaining we called it a day and set off back on the long walk to the car. On the way home we replenished the inner man with mugs of tea and a huge plate of fish and chips at Harry Ramsdens.

Another one in the net

Thoughts on Cold Water Grayling

Grayling are a classic Winter quarry for the coarse angler. However, because much of the literature is biased towards fly fishing there is little useful information on fish location particularly in very cold water. The other problem is that from a coarse angler’s perspective most of the articles in the angling press are biased towards the southern rivers and not the northern spate rivers, which are a totally different proposition. I’ve summarised my own knowledge below and whilst it’s not perfect it is a good basis for a successful day on the river.

To fly or not to fly

I enjoy fly fishing, but in my experience it’s not the best method for grayling in very cold, clear water. It is still possible to catch, but fish are generally smaller and you are better using a rolling nymph method such as the Czech Nymph, which not all anglers are comfortable with. Float fishing and, as a last resort, legering, have consistently produced better fish for my friends and I.
Location

Grayling are quite happy in shallow water, even when it is cold and clear – it’s their natural habitat after all. On the two days described above all of the bigger fish were caught in water less than 2ft deep.

In cold water grayling will often hold in tiny areas of steadier water: slight depressions in the river bed, close to bigger rocks (not always behind them), on the slower side of creases. These areas will not always be obvious so it pays to search each swim thoroughly. Cold water grayling won’t move far to intercept a bait either, so it is critical that you present a bait on its nose.

So what are we looking for?

‘Popply’ runs over 18 inches deep. Any shallower and you really need to be fly fishing. Look for smoother patches and the disturbance caused by bigger rocks. Even if you can’t see any of these signs search the swim thoroughly.

Creases. Not your typical roach and chub creases, but areas of steadier water in a fast run. The bottom of a fast shallow run often forms a ‘V’ as it enters a pool, with faster water in the middle and smoother water on either side. These creases are almost dead certs for a grayling.

Gravel bars and slopes. Pools and deeper glides will often hold grayling, but the deeper central areas will be full of silly spotted things. The grayling will almost always be tight up against the bottom of the gravel slope down from the bank or a gravel bar. If there’s a step in the slope with a reasonable depth of water over it then give this a try as well.

The tail of a pool. This is a classic grayling and trout location: they hang out just at the bottom of the slope where the water starts to shallow off. Often produces numbers of smaller grayling and lots of nuisance trout.

Tackle

Rods. If I’m expecting bigger fish I use my Garbolino Match Carp rod. This rod has a soft tip which cushions light, low diameter hook lengths, but has enough beef in the middle and butt to haul a big fish upstream in fast water. For smaller fish and slower water my old Shimano Triple-X rod is fine, as will any decent match rod. I’m not a fan of Avon rods or some purpose built trotters as they aren’t designed for light hook lengths.

Reels. I do enjoy using a centrepin for trotting, but in fast, turbulent water I’m convinced that a fixed spool or closed face reel gives better presentation. In very cold weather I also find that a fixed spool is easier to use with cold, numb fingers. The reason for preferring a fixed spool is that when fishing a centrepin if the water speeds up it has to overcome the inertia of the drum and until the reel ‘catches up’ the bait will rise in the water. If the water is cold then fish may not chase the bait up through the water.

Line. My fixed spool is loaded with 4lb WB Clarke Matchline. This has an almost perfect diameter for trotting and is a good floating line. I also can fish it straight through if I’m expecting bigger fish. My centrepin is loaded with 8lb Berkley Fireline Crystal. This has very low stretch, is guaranteed to float all day and has a reasonably low diameter. I always used a long mono hook length with braid, at least half the depth of the water. Hook lengths are always a low diameter line – I use either Shimano Silk Shock or Preston Grand Match and I will use diameters as low as 0.1mm in clear water.

Hooks. Presentation is often critical so I’m always careful to use a strong, light, low flash hook. Drennan Forged Match and Carbon Chub in sizes 18 to 10 fit the bill nicely.

Floats. To be honest, you don’t need anything other than a Drennan Loafer. The only reason avon floats are any better is that they are less prone to tangling on the cast due to their longer length. Cane stemmed avons are also more prone to lifting in the water when held back due to the water resitance of their stems. Loafers work well in shallow water and they are slightly less conspicuous than most Avons due to their clear plastic construction.

Resting a nice grayling in the net

Tactics

Grayling are sight feeders and in clear water it is critical that your tackle is as inconspicuous as possible. If you don’t believe me try using a size 22 and .08mm line in clear water and see how many more bites you get. Of course if you do this the real problem will be landing the fish!

In cold water I always use maggots. I can then go down to a size 18 hook and single maggot if necessary, generally if I’m getting finicky indications. Usually though I will use double maggot on a size 16.

The reward for careful presentation glows in the landing net

Cold water grayling are often reluctant to move far for a bait. They generally hold hard on the bottom so it is critical to get the depth right. Moving your shot around will pay dividends allowing you to hold back to lift your bait over shallower areas, hold the hook bait down in turbulent water or get the bait down fast in tight swims.

I always treat each swim as a number of smaller swims. This allows me to optimise my presentation in a small area rather than compromising on presentation over the length of a longer swim. If the float doesn’t indicate that the bait is tripping bottom in a particular area then increase the depth and concentrate on that area for a while. If you need to hold back to lift your bait over a shallow area or present a bait around the back of a rock then experiment with raising your bulk shot.

Avoiding trout is critical, they will often kill a swim for you. Keeping the amount of loose feed down is my main tactic here, but I also avoid ‘trouty’ areas. I’ve not had a lot of success with baits such as corn in cold water.

On larger rivers like the Wharfe, the Ure and the Ribble you need to be prepared to wade to fish some swims effectively.

The key to success is to keep moving and not to ignore possible swims. It’s always worth trying even the tiniest of swims as it doesn’t take a big swim to hold a solitary big grayling.