Holding back

[Dick Dastardly]

Ive caught Grayling on several types of waters and tend to agrree with what Anderoo says re holding back and running through.

[Vagabond]

Thanks Anderoo, Steve and Budgie

 

Your replies seem to suggest that Skipper had it about right after all.

 

....and grayling behaviour in more turbid waters like Medway and Sussex Ouse maybe IS slightly different. After all, in their natural habitat they lie deep and presumably get most of their food at that depth but may come up for items they see above them in clear water. As the water is clear they may be suspicious of anything not following the current - ie anything held back in a smooth flow - but that view is not inconsistent with Steve's success in the special conditions of turbulence in the swim described.

 

In turbid waters, where they have been introduced, they are probably unable to see well enough behave as chalk stream grayling and are making the best of a bad job - grab anything you can.

Edited December 29, 2008 by Vagabond

[Guest tigger]

I hold back more so I can then release again, bring the bait up then let it fall again as it flows as the fish do seem to like a bait as it drops in the flow. During a session I do whatever catches the fish, If alowing the float free passage producess fish then that's what I do until the bites stop coming and then I try holding back a bit letting the bait trott more slowly etc. During a session just using one method may prove usless so I find variation catches the fish (swings and roundabouts) . Also you've got to try and trott every little run through your swim at different times as trotting just inches from the usual spot often produces the fish then go back to the usual spot again. At the end of the day there are no set rules so you've got to just experiment on every trip until you hook up with something......well that's what I do.

[tincatinca]

At the end of the day there are no set rules so you've got to just experiment on every trip until you hook up with something.

 

I think that there is a lot of merit in what you say as for example changing the shotting pattern and the float can make a big difference as can how and what you feed. A recent example of this was at the weekend when I was getting a bite a chuck for about half an hour by loose feeding a few maggots and trotting a stick float through the swim until the bites dried up. Changing to a heavier float with some bulk shot further down the line and holding back started to produce the bites again in the same area as previous. Eventually the bites dried up again but by changing the shotting pattern again and trotting through to a point approx 10 yards further downstrem, the fish were found again with similar results. There are certainly some methods which have been well proven over a long period of time and in many waters but there are so many variables that exist that it can be beneficial to ring the changes and to try and find the methods which work on the day whether it be end tackle, presentation, bait used, feed etc and or a combination of all. Occassionally you get it right and it is a great feeling when you do.

[Anderoo]

I agree, float fishing is all about tinkering until the bites start again.

 

I've just remembered a swim on my favourite tributary which mirrors Steve's experiences about holding the bait static. This is also one where a very fast (and shallow) current tips over a sill into a deep (comparatively) pool. Fish, especially trout and chub, lie in what looks like very turbulent water just past the sill, but in actual fact it's almost completely slack. And because this is the spot where all the food goes first, it's often the place where the bigger fish lurk. I've caught several nice fish by plopping a float in the choppy, slack water and letting it chug around. If I was trotting from upstream and holding back hard at that point, the effect would be the same. After that little pocket of slack water just past the sill (like a wier, I suppose) it gathers itself together and roars off downstream again.