Catching grayling on spinning. Part 2

In the first part of the article, we dwelled in detail on the choice of tackle and baits for catching grayling on a small river. In the second part it is time to share your experience and observations, which will help you, at least a beginner, to catch your first grayling on spinning.

Catching time

In the middle zone of Russia grayling on small rivers begins to peck at spinning in the early summer, spawning in late May and early June, and the catch is the best in this period of time and can continue until mid-summer, when in hot July, the water level drops significantly, and it is more heated, which affects the activity of fish. Although for ten years of catching this beautiful fish on spinning I have made sure that the grayling does not completely “turn off”, as it happens, for example, with pike. Yes, the bite wanes, but as a rule, there is no total lack of bite, and throughout the summer grayling can be successfully caught with some experience.

The best time to catch grayling is early morning and evening, and hot daytime, especially prolonged heat, is better to avoid, but if you still got to the river on a clear, sunny day, you should look for grayling in cool, shady parts of the river, as a rule, it is deep holes and thick, overhanging tree crowns. But if the day is cloudy or rainy, the catch promises to be good throughout the day, in particular during rain insects are nailed to the surface of the water, which is why grayling have uncharacteristic activity in the form of splashes on the surface. In August and early fall the catch is similar to the beginning of summer, it is just as active, grayling bites during the whole daylight hours and often neglects caution and his characteristic attentiveness. The catch in the fall depends on the weather, which, as you know, can change quickly.

The best time to catch, as practice has shown, September, when there are still stable warm days. Closer to October, the fish begins to “roll” down the river in search of more suitable, deep places for wintering. Spinning at this time is noticeably inferior in catchability to the float rod. On a cold day in October you can get a very good catch when the water level rises due to heavy rains, and numerous pools are formed on the river, in which the migrating flock stops for a short time. Here you need to catch the moment, because coming to the same place, where just yesterday grayling perfectly caught, the next day it will turn out that it is already there and not. In November, spinning fishing for grayling on a small river is out of the question.

Prospective areas of the river

As with any fish, grayling have pronounced river sections where they live, and to find them on a small river does not require a lot of fishing experience. Even your fishing intuition will tell you unmistakably where the fish is lurking. Kharius prefers flowing, cold water, accordingly, it is attracted by the current, but not the stream itself. The fish more often sticks to the bottom layer and only when hunting for flying insects swims in the subsurface layer of water. I noticed that large grayling on the microstream prefer the deepest and widest channels and the current there is usually calm, while small and medium-sized grayling avoid such stands and settle in small local points of two or three individuals.

I would like to emphasize one more characteristic feature of grayling on a small river. If a slow-flowing stream is wide enough, for example, 50-80 meters long (by the standards of a micro-river it is a lot), then the main fish stop will be right after the roll, where the fastest current is and at the end of the stream before the next, new rapids, that is, grayling, as I noticed, avoid the middle of the stream and are caught mainly on the edges of such places. Areas with a reverse current, e.g. right after a bubbling rapids, are also considered very promising, where grayling can “catch their breath” and gain strength. Various obstacles in the form of large stones that create small pools also attract predators. Overhanging branches of trees or bushes over the river are favorite places for grayling, because, like chub, grayling does not miss the moment to eat various bugs that have fallen into the water. For example, on my favorite micro river grayling likes to take shelter under the steep bank, which is washed away in the flood, because such places are found immediately after the rolls, they are deep and are under the roots of trees. I will note such a surprising fact: grayling does not always occupy the same places on the river from year to year, for example, in that season grayling pecked well in this pit, and this season for the whole summer there is no nibble, and, strangely enough, this section of the river is considered promising.

In general, there is no difference from time to time. Sometimes it is useful to simply observe an interesting part of the river, because an active grayling, for example, in the evening or in drizzling weather, hunting for flying insects, will definitely give out its location, and thus will greatly simplify our task in its search.

Plan of action

Under the plan of action I assume the course of fishing or a certain order, which should be guided by a beginner spinning when catching grayling on small and micro river.

1. I recommend fishing downstream of the river. It is convenient for two reasons. First, the current allows you to apply, in my opinion, the most effective wiring when catching grayling – upstream, which consists in throwing the bait under the opposite bank, thanks to which the bait, no matter whether it is a troller or a wobbler, “searches” a large section of the river. At the same time, this bait presentation is more “natural” and natural, because the fish stands directly opposite the current head forward, and thus the bait is carried away by the current to the predator, without causing suspicion, and when catching grayling it is very important to present the bait as plausibly as possible. Secondly, it concerns comfortable fishing on spinning trollers. In the first part of the article I mentioned that when catching grayling use small “spinners” in size from #00 and up to #1, hence, even the best quality blades “wind up” not immediately due to its small size, and when thrown upstream and stops spinning at all. Therefore, throwing a rotating troller downstream, the flow helps to unwind the petal, and thus wiring becomes many times more effective. In this case, it is necessary to monitor your movement along the river, because going directly on the water, all the turbidity that rises from under your feet, floats down, and the fish, of course, is alarmed. Therefore, if it is difficult to walk along the bank, for example, because of dense thickets, you should move along the water slowly and in small steps, and if possible, carefully step over the rocks.

2. Approach a promising place, where there is a high probability of grayling staging, it is necessary to observe silence, without sudden movements, breaking dry branches of trees, bushes and the like, as grayling is a very attentive and cautious fish, secondary noise immediately alarms it. In view of my height of 1.8 meters I try to bend slightly so that I could not be seen by the fish, especially against the sky, because if we do not see grayling, he, as a rule, sees us perfectly. In general, we do not break the silence and harmony of nature.

3. Choice of bait. Before immediately throwing the bait, it is necessary to think whether it will be comfortable to hold it correctly, based on the section of the river, where we throw the bait. I will explain on the example of a micro river. In front of you a wide channel with a quiet current, throwing from behind your head or from the side does not prevent anything, so the bait can be thrown at a greater distance than the average throughout the river, so it must be “long-range” and tested. Here there is a clear advantage for rotating blades in several aspects. Firstly, if the grayling is actively feeding, it will never miss a trolling line and is very likely to attack it. Secondly, a rotating bling allows you to quickly cover a different horizon of depths, adjusting the speed of wiring, thereby giving an advantage in time and speed of movement on the river. Thirdly, blades are universal, in the sense that it can be taken as a hundred-gram grayling, and the leader of the pack. That’s why I consider rotating blades to be the ideal bait for grayling. Cardinally opposite situation – a section of the river of small length, for example, 5 meters, you can’t throw a “spinning rod” because of overhanging branches of trees – it’s inconvenient, and the place is not enough for its conduction. Here to help come wobblers of different degrees of buoyancy and depth, as well as silicone baits. The way out of the situation is simple – a floating wobbler (for example, Megabass Great Hunting 45F) down under the overhanging tree branches along the stream, thereby circumventing the obstacle without unnecessary noise and then start wiring. Silicone bait and in general you can cover this section of the river moving “passive” silicone worm on the spot, sneaking unnoticed to the likely parking grayling. Therefore, for each situation and place of fishing should be a certain bait.

4. grayling is a gregarious fish and if you catch one specimen at once, do not hurry to move further down the river. Give enough time to a promising area, especially if it is wide enough by the standards of a small river. Of course, when you catch a grayling, the rest of the pack will be wary, but if the fish is active and with the right bait presentation, you will not have to wait long for the next grayling.

5. Fish memory is short, but for grayling, as I was convinced repeatedly, these words mean nothing, because in the case of a hooking he is unlikely to be interested in the second time you offered you a bait, even if you are not lazy and change the bobber to a wobbler. Only in very rare cases he will again make an attempt to eat the bait, so standing for a long time, throwing in the hope and with thoughts of grayling, which has just snapped, is inexpedient, it is better to move on in search of new, promising places. Only in the fall and early June, when grayling is very actively feeding, he neglects caution and can again attack the troller.

Equipment and accessories

Fishing on a small river, especially on a small forest stream, is a process that requires a certain outfit, so it is still necessary to say a few words about the outfit and accessories that you should have on and with you.

1. Zabrod boots or waders? The best option here I undoubtedly consider zabrodnye boots for the only reason that the depths on small rivers are small, and the river can be crossed on a shallow roll, which are in such rivers plenty. If the fishing is to be and at all on a forest river, weiders can easily tear, moving through thickets and fallen trees, so zabrodnye boots optimal and at the same time budget solution.

2. As I wrote earlier, when successfully catching grayling it is important to keep quiet and inconspicuous, so the outfit on you should not be provocative. Camouflage type clothing or clothing that blends in with the environment is the best option, I think it is ridiculous to dress in all the colors of the rainbow.

3. It is very important to protect yourself from ticks when fishing in spring and early summer. Earlier I didn’t think much about it, but until late spring, catching grayling on a forest river, constantly crawling through dense bushes, found a couple of ticks on myself, and believe me, it was not to fishing at once, because everywhere were open areas of clothing, and the fear of being bitten did not give calmly catch. It is not by chance they say: “your safety is in your own hands”. Therefore, it is necessary to equip yourself so that on the body there were no open areas where the parasite could crawl. And yes, mosquitoes and midges are also a big attack, so special aerosols or creams from insects should also be carried.

4 From accessories I will single out first of all a clamp (kornzang) for extracting the hook from the fish’s mouth, because grayling dies very quickly out of will, literally in seconds, and to swallow the bait can be very deep, so to quickly release the fish, and let it back to freedom, the clamp is strictly necessary. If it is possible, a suspender will also be indispensable, because even when on the shore, grayling does not give up and constantly wriggles in your hands, so it is safe to hold it in a suspender and more convenient to take it out of the water. When fishing from the shore, the best way to catch grayling is with the EGO Trout Large Landing Net Measures. Polarizing glasses are not so important on a small river, but they perform a number of useful functions: firstly, they protect your eyes from the bright glare of the sun, and secondly, on a shallow micro river you can clearly see the relief of the bottom and sometimes even the grayling.

Perhaps, this is all I wanted to convey to the readers in the second part of the article. Catch grayling and be sure to release it back into its native element, because such a beautiful and strong fish is certainly a decoration and pride of small rivers.