Saturday on a Yorkshire Beck looking for Grayling

Saturday morning was spent in the office. The demands of the job make such times a necessary evil. However this presented an opportunity to have a couple of hours Grayling fishing on the way home. Several of the waters I fish are strategically placed along my commuting route this allows me to maximise lifes fishing opportunities. I had intended a trip to the Ure but the prospect of the tortuous route home due to road works and diversions made me change my mind ,

The little beck I headed to was accessible and unlikely to be out of sorts due to the recent rain. Arriving at the layby the presence of a car I knew meant that at least one or two were fishing the stretch. A quick phone call to the owner confirmed his position on the river. So I knew where to head .

Autumn sunlight on a yorkshire beck

The beck was a little up above summer levels and looked better for it . The rocks had been scoured of the algae and the water had that nice clean sparkling quality like the water had been freshly made. The low water of summer seems to lack that vibrancy and sometimes seems to even have an oily quality. The trees are starting to wear their summer livery now the golds and russets are taking over from the greens of summer. Those colours are one of the very few things I like about this time of year.

Anyway into the river for the first time this year wearing neoprene waders to combat the autumn chill. A size 14 klinkhammer ( I use this fly to much in the Autumn but I have such confidence in it) it was cast into every likely run as I worked my way upstream. I love this type of fishing, casting to where fish should be instead of to rising fish tests your belief in your own judgement and of your fly. As usual the first rise took me by surprise and the fly was in the air again on the backcast before my brain awoke to the rise.

Sharpened now the next rise brought a small wild brown to hand . It came jumping about like a possessed rainbow trout a small fish that looked several sizes to small for the big klinkhammer, I continued up the river exploring the rapids and pools I took a couple of decent stocky browns from the deeper holes but no Grayling seemed to want to show their face. I missed lots of rises it seemed that a smaller fly didn’t raise the fish but a larger one did but made them a lot harder to hit. Eventually one very small grayling gave itself up it was in barely 12 inches of fast water.

A beck grayling

I will fish with bugs into deep pools but I am amazed every winter as to how long the ladies keep rising in the faster water. The afternoon lasted maybe three hours of fishing, no large fish , not even any medium fish but the pleasure of been outside in the autumn sunshine made the day a treat.