Winter Grayling Fishing in Scotland

There are some things which I have never really understood. I just don’t know why we bother with setting our clocks forward and back in the autumn and spring (or is it the other way around?). For the life of me I can’t grasp why, as a nation, we haven’t staged a mass rebellion against the banks, rather than meekly submitting to their extortion, trickery and incompetence. Why on earth would anyone watch The X Factor…. And why do so many fishermen consider the grayling to be a lesser quarry than the trout???

With the rain over the weekend and today, there is no longer even a glimmer of hope that I will have one last day on the Tweed this season. So, now that I am resolved to that sobering fact, I can only start planning my first outing for that underrated, yet beautiful Lady of the Stream.

Fishing for grayling can be fantastic sport – different, but equally as enjoyable as fishing for brownies. The key is pick your water carefully, approach the water with stealth, use light tackle and never be tempted to cast long. Last February we had a couple of days on the Clyde, near Biggar and another day on the Tweed at Peebles. Each outing was hugely pleasurable, but not so productive. This year, I’m determined to improve on the productivity.

I’m thinking that my first trip will be to the stunning Kinkell beat on the River Earn. I fished this for the first time just a few weeks ago for salmon. Only one fish was taken that day (unfortunately not to my rod), but nevertheless it was a real joy to experience the beauty of that place. The ghillie, Sandy is one of the best in the business and strikes the perfect balance between optimism and realism. Over lunch, as it became apparent that the low water conditions were likely to render our best efforts futile, conversation shifted onto the subject of grayling. Sandy is both knowledgeable and credible, and when he says that the Kinkell beat has some of the best grayling water in Scotland, he is most certainly to be believed. In fact, in my experience, this is one of the only stretches of river where you need to book well in advance for winter grayling. It seems the fishing can be superb with numerous big fish being taken every year. Without a doubt, many of the salmon pools looked like they would be ideal for Czech nymph fishing.

Deciding where to fish for the grayling in Scotland is not too difficult a task as they are not generally found in any of the rivers north of Perthshire. Three other stretches which I’d recommend are the Tweed above Peebles or around Kelso (the Teviot is also very good), the Hoddom Castle water on the Annan and the Isla near Cupar Angus. Check out this page on our website for more info.

Next blog, I’ll present some top tips for successful grayling fishing.

Tight lines!