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Habits of European Grayling (Thymallus
thymallus) for fly fishers
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| Grayling season |
This page concerns the species of grayling commonly
found in Europe. There are other species of grayling in North America
and Asia. They are a valuable food and sport fish throughout their range
and highly prized by many people. Fly fishing for grayling is a challenging
sport and the grayling “lady
of the stream” is
a beautiful and interesting fish. Its body is herring shaped sleek and
slivery but
it
boasts an unmistakable
large and colourful dorsal fin. Despite the fact that it often shares
the same habitat as the trout its habits are somewhat different since
particularly when it is at its best in winter it is shoaling fish whereas
the trout is more of a solitary creature. October and November are perhaps
the best months for grayling fishing in the UK, the fish are well recovered
from their springtime spawning exertions and are fit and strong. Grayling
are bottom dwelling fish, they feed mainly on nymphs, shrimps, worms
and larvae and other river borne foods but they do rise keenly to the
surface for hatching flies and often take them with a delicacy that belies
the fish’s size.
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| A fine Scottish grayling |
Grayling may be indigenous in some parts of the UK but they has been
introduced to many other areas by humans for either food or sport. Its
range extends northwards to the Tay system in the UK and no further at
present although the threat of them being introduced into other areas
is forever present. It demands clean water and a healthy population of
insect life in order to survive and so presence of this fish in quantity
is a sure sign of a good environment, a complement to the river. European
grayling are also found in still water, especially in Scandinavia. Perhaps because it has coarse
scales or maybe because it breeds between the months of March and May
at the same time as coarse fish the grayling is regarded in some quarters
as a coarse fish, suggesting that it is a lesser mortal than its close
relative the trout. This is unfortunate since the grayling is truly a
salmonid and its adipose fin confirms that.
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| Graying from arctic Norway |
Fortunately in recent times
its reputation as a worthy quarry for the fly angler has gained in
status, thanks to the work of The Grayling Society in the UK and influence
from
the continent of Europe where it is highly respected for its sporting
qualities. A large grayling would be in excess of 1kg and a huge grayling
might be bigger than 2kg but such specimens are very rare. For information
about grayling fly fishing follow this link. |
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