I went fishing for Grayling, at last, for the first time this “winter”. OK technically it is still most definitely Autumn and depending whether you opt for the meteorological definition or lunar definition, winter is still 3 or nearly 6 weeks away. That didn’t stop Jack Frost visiting overnight Friday and temperatures were as low as -7C in some parts of Scotland, though a balmy -3C here in Stirling when I headed off. Actually it didn’t seem that cold despite what the thermometer said as there was the dripping sound of a slight thaw from the trees around my house.
It was most definitely colder when you got out into open country and a glorious frosty and sunny morning heralded my choice of a drive into Perthshire. I was going to try the Tummel. I had cast an eye at the Annan the night before and the beats that are open ( there are still a few in salmon mode) showed a lot of anglers had that same idea. There were zero tickets taken on the Tummel and while the gauge had the level a little variable it didn’t suggest to me it was unfishable.
The drive took me 1 hour and three minutes, despite the roadworks and sticking rigidly to the speed limit all the way- little choice with average speed cameras all the road there, from more or less home. The mist was actually quite thick at Ballinluig where I parked the car and I went down to the river to assess the situation. Admittedly it was about as high as I have seen it ( outside of spate/flood conditions when the Tummel can be truly scary.) The “beach at Ballinluig was totally underwater by the bridge and the water though clear enough was fairly moving along midstream. Had I picked the wrong river?
Conditions like this though can keep the fish tight into the bank so I was not worried. My plan was to explore, walk, take photo’s, fly my drone ( one of the “disadvantages” of having a PfCO is you need to put a minimum number of hours in monthly to keep it valid- loosely speaking- and I hadn’t “flown” since Scourie). So the drone was flying whether I had anything to shoot or not! I did I think, get a few nice shots on the day.
I also walked about 4 miles overall and learned a fair bit about moving from section to section, in the past I have tended to find a beat and stay there. So you will detect a lot of my day I wasn’t “actually” fishing. But fishing to me is about more than just catching fish and frankly I had a great day.
After gearing up I didn’t even bother wetting a line at Ballinluig and wandered upstream. My first target was an area I was shown last season and which comprised of a big stone beach. The beach was 6″ under water but it was easy wading and the pace was about spot on. I was optimistic- as optimistic as you can be with Grayling fishing which is very much like hunting for a needle in a field of haystacks at times, that if there were fish here I should get to know fairly quickly.
I am also of the mindset that morning and very late in the fishing day are the best times, I rarely if ever catch anything say between 12-3pm when looking for the Lady of the Stream.
I fished the submerged beach area very thoroughly from top to bottom and not so much as a show of interest did I get, and went through maybe 9 different bugs making sure my flies were ticking bottom all the time.
The weather did close in a little for a spell and it was noticeable how when the breeze got up the temperature seemed to drop noticeably. Though in reality it was probably thawing out more by lunchtime.
When I decided to stop to warm up, I had been in the water probably a solid hour and a half to two hours, my feet were just starting to get a little cold so it was nice that the sun came out again and sitting on the bank of a river in near zero, enjoying a mug of soup in the sun has to be one of life’s simple pleasures. I could have fished on here but felt I had given it a fair crack and decided to keep heading upstream.
Here be Beavers
I fished a couple of areas encountering very definite signs of Beavers in residence until I reached a grassy plain that I think is the lower end of Moulinearn. I have fished the top end of this beat once but since the storm that washed a big section of bank away I am not sure you can get down here with a vehicle now unless you are a salmon angler and have the estates permission.
The long run down the side of the grassy plain was more or less unfishable though I gave it a really good go. The stones slant into the water here from the bank and you are rolling down into some very fast-moving water right from the edge. It was certainly too hairy for me and I kept tight to the side and fished close in with some very heavy bugs to get down. The pace was probably too fast here for Grayling though you never know really as the surface speed is no indication of the water pace on the bottom with friction in play.
Light was fading fast mid-afternoon and it got quite gloomy early on so I decided to continue my explore further upriver and found some very nice areas I really want to come back to. I managed a final hour ( probably a bit less as light was fading very quickly), and did contact a fish right at the end.
A Grayling?…………
Having said that it was not a Grayling , I knew right away by the way it took the fly. Having fished my bugs through and let them swing up behind me, I was just drawing back to cast again when there was a slashy lunge at my flies followed by a rapid dive to the bottom. None of the normal head knocking Grayling fight. I thought maybe it was a small salmon or grilse at first as it pulled pretty hard but that was probably down to the pace of water below me.
Once I got it into the slower water and had its head up I could see it was a nice, but out of season Brown Trout, probably about a pound or so on the red tag. I didn’t bother netting it, just let it flick off as I got the line to hand. No point in taking photos for the Internet Police to have a go at!!
It was getting distinctly gloomy and I thought really I better be getting back as there are some hazardous areas you need to cross on the route back and I didn’t want to get to them in the dark.
Dear Deer
On the way back I reached the spot where I had eaten lunch and there is like a fenced compound you need to negotiate. I just entered it when I realised I wasn’t alone….there was a deer here too. It immediately realised it wasn’t alone too and panicked trying to get over the fence it was encircled by. I am not sure how it came to be inside the fence- I can only assume it jumped in. It was making a poor go at jumping out and must have thrown itself bodily at the fence three times before it jumped into the river. It was right up to its neck and I thought maybe it wouldn’t get out. By the time I negotiated the style over the fence it was nowhere to be seen. Not sure where it went. I don’t know who get the biggest fright!
By the time I was back at the car, it was nearly dark, with the merest glimmer of twilight. I gave the river a final cast in near darkness near the car. I know the river here and what the wading is like ( I would not ordinarily recommend doing this unless you know an area well) and actually it was fine right out to where I caught my last Tummel Grayling last winter late in the day then. It wasn’t to be a repeat performance though this time, and after that final 10 minutes I was back to get ready for the trip home. So no ( in-season) fish but a day I thoroughly enjoyed and no doubt I will be visiting again before too long.
Did I pick the wrong river for my day out? Fish or no fish, in my opinion, most definitely not.
