Graylings in the Mist

It was a Misty start on Sunday when me and Bri had a go for the grayling . We went to the spot he had done so well at last weekend , i was really looking forward to a bit trotting , but first with bellies rumbling we stopped off for a bit breakfast. After a sausage and egg roll and a latte , we were ready to go.

It didn't take long for the mist to lift and with it Brian  hooked the first of the day a fine fish that went a couple of pound .

I then lost a grayling  before hooking into something that just held out in the current , actually thought i might have snagged, up on a old sack or something , till it started to swim upstream then jump about, and eventually a nice big  grayling came to the net  .

a few wee fellaes followed , then it went quiet.

Though Brian managed to find a few nice fishlittle upstream in the afternoon. I gave the fly rod a go but , no luck on that front , must get on the vice and tie up some more bugs.

The mist returned as it began and the cold started to set in and darkness slowly began creep in so we called it a day.

Great fun , looking forward to next time!

November Grayling

Out today for my first trip of the Grayling season,  with all the rain of late I knew I would have to travel to the upper reaches of the river to find some clear water.After an hour or so drive I parked up at my spot and got my first proper look at the river, aye it was carrying a bit of extra water right enough but running clear, I had packed the fly rod as well as my trotting gear but in truth i fancied a bit of relaxed trotting so decided to leave the fly rod in the car.
George from the http://traditionalfloats.blogspot.co.uk/ made me some lovely floats last winter with this river in mind,  I've been so looking forward to fishing with them and today I would finally get the chance to put them to good use, one of them anyway!

 I headed down to a pool that gave me a few nice grayling last year and after two or three trots down and I was into a fish, not what I was looking for though, a little trout which was followed by one or two more of his pals before I found myself connected to the first Grayling of the day.

only a little one but i was pleased to land my first of the winter

the next Grayling was a different creature all together, what i call a line whistler, nervous moments as i drew him ever closer to the net, he went 2lb 4oz in the mclean.

if that was to be my last grayling of the day i would have went home delighted, but i seemed to have found a shoal of good fish, to cut a long story short i ended up with eight Grayling for the day with five of them between 2lb 4oz and 2lb 8oz, happy days!

some pictures in no particular order, a memory card full of grayling pictures gets a bit confusing as they all look the same!  

in truth i probably could have stuck it out a little while longer but with some prolonged heavy showers late afternoon i decided to call it a day around four, a great day and a big thank you to George for making me those lovely floats.  

        

Trotting on the Tay

Today we decided  to do a bit trotting, and headed to the mighty Tay, we thought it might be a good bet with river levels still being high in most areas, and sure enough it was high but clear. We picked different swims , and pretty much stuck to them, first to put in appearance were the out of season trout and a few were pretty muckle , the sort of fish you would cherish in season  and on the fly but we were after grayling.

The grayling though were proving elusive , though we both lost fish , and they could have been grayling, it was though a lovely day , quite warm in the sun , so warm in fact my maggots in my bait pouch were changing to casters.

Eventually though i did manage  a couple of modest grayling  one male and one female.

  Brian lost  a grayling in the gloaming just before we called it a day.

An enjoyable day , one thing i really must get though is a centre-pin reel for this type  of fishing every year i say i will and never do, it would make the trotting experience more pleasurable .

Off we Trot

Grey Back

The art of trotting is something i havent  done for a  few year now. Brian was keen to try out his new centrepin , so we were planned to go to a river, but as we were passing rivers most were high and sure enough when we arrivved at the river it was high and carrying some colour . We decided to go a few miles down the road to its parent river. A huge powerful river ,The Tay! It was a fine day a few fish caught, lots more lost, Brians pin worked great and he took the lions share of the fish (the poaching bastard ousted me out my swim) , i even had a go of it ,and must get one!

Poacher