Willersley Castle

Today was my last session before trout season and having had superb grayling fishing previously at Willersley, it seemed a good place to end my grayling season. When I arrived the Derwent was coloured after the recent rainfall, it was also high and fast which is shown in the pics below, I have to admit this was a little disappointing. I made my way past the bait boys out for their last chance until autumn, and walked all the way to the wier. I waded out to the island and tried a few casts into the pool, but the strong current and riffle made fishing nearly impossible and it didn't take long to realise that I was flogging a dead horse.

I slowly made my way downstream picking out the slower runs on the edges of the fast runs and enjoyed some success on Check nymphs. I caught 3 grayling of medium size and a couple of nice trout. On the whole the grayling season has been a success for me with the odd hiccup along the way. Next season I will concentrate on the best grayling venues, in my opinion, and forget visiting unknown venues and stick to the tried and tested places. The most obvious lessons learned through the winter are grayling can come and go like no other fish I have caught. Just like flicking on a light switch, you can catch severel grayling in succesive casts, only to vanish for the rest of the day. I believe grayling move around much more than trout so finding them is no mean feat and can take a bit of trekking from week to week . You must always be ready to make the most of the purple patch, but the difficulty is not knowing when its coming. You can throw everything at some grayling you spot, and they won't take until there ready, and the lunch bell rings. In my eyes the lady of the stream is second to none, she is truly magnicifent and worth all the effort wading around while freezing your gonads off.