Mid-October

A trip to Ireland saw some very small grilse but very interesting developments in fishery managment which will be the subject of an article in Fly-Fishing & Fly-Tying in December.

Back home, in northwest England, we had rain and the rivers rose and kept high for the best part of a fortnight. So we all took out salmon rods for a walk, saw few salmon, and walked our rods back home! It is clear that, as was noted in the last issue of the magazine, 2003 is not going to be a great salmon year, primarily because sea-feeding conditions have been poor. There have been some fish: a couple of pals had a 20lb+ salmon each from the Cumbrian Derwent; both were returned and the larger was caught (and released) again two days later. Further afield, reports from Iceland and Norway tell of some good bags as well as some very poor ones. That's salmon!

So now, as autumn proceeds, grayling come to the fore. There are still good hatches here in northern England, and I have had two great afternoons with the dry fly. At this time of the year I enjoy a spell with flies designed specially for grayling, my favourites being Grayling Witch and, especially, Sturdy's Fancy. The inventor of the last fly was keeper of the Tanfield Water on the River Ure, and a few years ago I was lucky to meet his grandson by that great grayling river. 'What colour of silk?' he asked, 'And what hackle?' I answered both questions correctly! If you want that tying:

Hook: Size 14-18 dry fly (should be up-eyed hooks).
Thread: Purple.
Tail: Red wool.
Body: Peacock herl ('bronze').
Hackle: Dirty white cock

Easy and old.