Grayling - River wye?

[david t]

Hello,

I finally got down the river wye, at rhayader today, fishing for grayling, its a nice river, but its alot faster than i expected, i didnt catch. Has anyone here successfully fished the river at rhayader for grayling? the reason i say that, is the river just seems almost, too raw, if you get what im saying, the river bed looked bare. The thing is, ive never fished a spate river like that before, being more used to slower rivers like the thames. It just seemed to me, more like the kind of river that would be typical of salmon and sea trout, but then i am sligtly ignorant when it comes to fishing mountain rivers. so if anyone has any knowledge of the wye at rhayader i would be most greatful to hear from you, im not after magical secrets or swims, more just the confirmation that the river there is worth fishing for grayling.

many thanks, dave

 

(if i dont reply for a while, its not because im being rude, its because i will be in the lake district tommorow for 3 days)

[teejay]

Hello,

I finally got down the river wye, at rhayader today, fishing for grayling, its a nice river, but its alot faster than i expected, i didnt catch. Has anyone here successfully fished the river at rhayader for grayling? the reason i say that, is the river just seems almost, too raw, if you get what im saying, the river bed looked bare. The thing is, ive never fished a spate river like that before, being more used to slower rivers like the thames. It just seemed to me, more like the kind of river that would be typical of salmon and sea trout, but then i am sligtly ignorant when it comes to fishing mountain rivers. so if anyone has any knowledge of the wye at rhayader i would be most greatful to hear from you, im not after magical secrets or swims, more just the confirmation that the river there is worth fishing for grayling.

many thanks, dave

 

(if i dont reply for a while, its not because im being rude, its because i will be in the lake district tommorow for 3 days)

 

David,

 

I've not fished the Wye as far up as Rhayader but have no doubt that it is a good venue for grayling. I wouldn't worry too much about the "raw" look of the river. It's not an untypical spate stream. There are plenty of Scottish rivers that are not that different to the Upper Wye in character that are also great grayling fisheries. On rivers like these you probably need to have a more mobile approach than you would on a river like the Thames. If you can travel the extra distance then the Wye around Hereford is a great winter venue for chub, dace and roach on account of the deeper, slower water there - you may find that it's a less daunting experience if you're used to fishing lowland rivers. Day tickets and advice for the river in Hereford are available from Woody's Tackle shop in the town. Sorry I can't help with the specifics of the upper river!

[david t]

Many thanks Teejay, im glad of your input, the club secretary has said he will send me a map, pin pointing a few good areas for grayling on the wye and elan, which is very good of him. As far as the wye goes, I dont think I will fish the wye at hereford quite yet, I want to concentrate abit on the one area of the wye around rhayader, rather than just flitting around from place to place, but thankyou for suggesting it. It doesnt matter that you havent fished the wye at rhayader, your information on scottish spate rivers similar in appearance to the wye, that also produce grayling has helped my confidence, as im not experienced in grayling rivers as i said before.

hopefully I will get down the river again in the next week if the weather allows me to, thanks again

david