How to catch grayling using a spinning rod?

Habitats

Content

Hoping to catch grayling, fishermen study what baits it takes best and where it lives. This fish can most often be caught in reservoirs with clear water, saturated with oxygen, where there are cool currents and riffles. It is found in rivers and lakes of any southern region.

Grayling prefers rocky bottom topography and the presence of snags that serve as shelter; it does not like fast currents, preferring calm places.

Grayling is not characterized by bright signs of a predator, it does not tend to chase bait, so when casting gear, find places where fish accumulate - in the spring in shallow waters, and in the summer - on riffles or among large stones that serve as shelter from the current.

Despite the fact that grayling is usually classified as a “fly fish”, spinning fishing shows excellent results

What is the best time to catch grayling?

The active fishing season for grayling starts in May, when spawning ends. At such times, large fish that are hungry for spawning bite well. A good catch can await the fisherman in the spring after the end of the flood, when the river has returned to its usual course and the water has become clearer. The most productive time is considered to be early July. With the arrival of the August heat, the water level in the river drops, the fish become passive, and the bite weakens.

In September, the grayling bite becomes more active again. It fattens and, given that during this period there are practically no insects, hungry fish quickly get hooked. Cool autumn is the most comfortable time for grayling.

In winter, its activity is low; it hides in deep places or holes, emerging into shallower water only in spring.

What time and where to fish

1. According to experienced fishermen, the active grayling bite begins in the spring, when the river level begins to drop to the desired level and the water begins to lighten . Until this moment, the fish manages to lay eggs. In just 10-15 days she will recover from the disease and begin to actively eat. Depending on the specific climatic conditions, the season for catching grayling with a spinning rod begins in late spring, although in some regions of our country the fish bite begins in June. An active search for prey by the predator is observed in mid-summer.
2. A good catch and large trophies can be obtained by hunting grayling in the autumn. When the water temperature drops, the inhabitant of the depths begins to actively feed in order to accumulate fat for winter. The described fish prefers cool weather to hot weather, so in the fall it reacts to all baits except flies.
3. Particular attention must be paid to the time of day to catch grayling. It is best to go fishing in the morning or in the evening. At this time, the inhabitant of the depths stands in permanent places; it can be attracted by a combination of baits and wiring. In autumn, grayling can peck throughout the daylight hours. In some regions, during the white nights season it is active almost around the clock.

To get a good catch, a spinning angler must learn to determine where the fish are staying, and also know what the grayling is feeding on at a particular time. According to experts, this predator prefers areas of the river with clear and clean water with a high oxygen content. Schools of fish can be found in places where there are a lot of underwater rocks or snags, sunken trees or trees hanging over the water.

Photo 3. The rapids with clear water are one of the most promising fishing spots.

Note! Grayling is considered a cautious fish; it can leave its “home” at the slightest rustle or other danger. In this regard, the fisherman must move upstream with extreme caution and fish promising areas.

Tackle for fishing grayling

When preparing a spinning rod for grayling, you need to purchase:

• light short rod from 2 to 2.5 meters;
• reel with monofilament line;
• a small inertia-free reel with a friction brake;
• fishing line (preferably braided with a diameter of 0.15 mm and a length of 150 meters);
• bait in the form of a wobbler, spinner or fly.

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Catching grayling with a float rod

This fishing method remains the most popular among beginners and not only fishermen.
This is due to the fact that float tackle does not require any special skills from the fisherman. An undeniable advantage is the affordable cost of gear and equipment. It is recommended to use a Bolognese rod; with its help, it is possible to make precise casts to promising points, and then effectively retrieve the bait. Fishing tactics include demolition techniques. This means that the bait is thrown upstream, after which the force of the current begins to carry it towards the area where grayling may be hiding behind an obstacle.

The chances of success are increased due to the fact that the cast is performed away from the fishing zone, due to which there is no splash that could alert a predator. Many anglers use standard fly rods. But with this approach, efficiency decreases, since it becomes necessary to perform constant recasts, which can alert even an active predator.

When fishing with a float rod, you don’t need to stay in one place for a long time in the absence of bites.

The chances of catching a cautious predator are significantly increased by fishermen who constantly move along the shore, fishing more and more new areas of the river. You need to move strictly downstream, casting is carried out while actively fishing a meter ahead of you

IMPORTANT! The grayling bite is a little sharp, but short-lived, it lasts only 2-3 seconds. Therefore, it is necessary to immediately make a hook only when you feel the tension or blow

If the hook is not timely, the fish will simply spit out the hook and bait.

You should always cast bait before mid-spring in areas where the current is not strong. Note that in March, grayling tries to avoid strong currents. An excellent place for fishing are areas with large stones; grayling will most often stand behind them.

Burdock, dung worms, and bloodworms are suitable baits for catching predators in the spring. In addition, flies are used quite often, but note that they begin to become effective only after the insects appear, and this is approximately the second half of spring.

Particular attention should be paid to the choice of rod in relation to length. Various options are suitable, namely from 3 to 7 meters, but in this case you need to take into account the characteristics of a particular reservoir where you plan to most often catch grayling using gear

It is important to understand that it is easier to fish with a short rod under the canopy of trees, as well as among tall bushes. For fishing in clear areas, rods 5-6 meters long are mainly used; the advantage is that it is possible to accurately cast bait over a distance of up to 20 meters

Regardless of the length of the rod selected, a spinning reel with a spool size of 1,500 with a front drag must be installed on it, which must be adjusted before the fishing process begins.

80-100 meters of ordinary fishing line with a cross-section of 0.2 mm are wound onto the reel spool; a leash up to a meter long is made from fishing line of a smaller diameter

We pay special attention to the choice of float. A large goose feather is best, but you can also buy floats in fishing stores

However, in this case, it is recommended to opt for models without bright colors and not too large in size; a load capacity of 5 grams is sufficient.

We attach a hook to a leash with a long shank No. 4-5, you should make sure the tip is sharp. As for the load, it is selected depending on the load-carrying capacity of the selected float and is divided into two parts of different weights. Most of the weight is fixed to the area where the main line connects with the leash, the smaller part of the load is attached below the main one at a distance of 25-30 cm.

The best baits for grayling

The diet of grayling includes caddisflies, as well as insects that fall into the water. The predator hunts the fry, and at the peak of activity it grabs everything that floats past.

Common spinning baits for catching grayling are conventionally divided into categories:

• wobblers;
• flies;
• rotating spoons.

Grayling spoons are most often used as bait. If the angler's goal is a large fish, then a large spoon should be chosen. An alternative to such a lure can be a fairly large fly, since, as a rule, small fish are attracted to small ones. Grayling is a relatively small fish, so specimens weighing 400–500 g will be a good catch.

The choice of spinner size is significantly influenced by the type of reservoir. When fishing in the river, small baits are used more often than others.

Catching grayling with wobblers has its advantages

Tackle for grayling

Rod

When hunting grayling, any rod with a test weight of 30+ and a length of up to 5 meters can be successfully used. Do not take a rod with a lot of weight, as it will be uncomfortable for you, your hands will start to get tired, which will cause pain in the wrist area. The most optimal weight of rods is up to approximately 350 grams (excluding the weight of the reels).

The Bolognese rod is one of the most popular for grayling fishing

A popular and widely used example of a fishing rod is the Bolognese rod from Volzhanka, Fortuna series, 4 (4 sections) - 5 (5 sections) meters long and weight up to 25-30 grams. It is easy for them to fish throughout the day with short breaks for lunch, dinner and a smoke break. The downside of this rod is its length, which is 1.2-1.4 m depending on the model. This is a lot, it will be difficult to turn around in the thickets on the river bank. The Volzhanka Fortuna series includes unpretentious and reliable wire rods, designed specifically for hunting large fish in extreme conditions.

A little over 2 years ago, the Volzhanka collection was significantly expanded. For example, 3 models about 4 m in length with tests from 60+ and above were added to the “PRO SPORT ELITE” feeders, to “PROFI 2.0”, etc.

Reels

Spinning reels with a baitrunner are an excellent choice for catching grayling

Grayling fishing rods are used with inertial and inertial-free reels. Each fisherman makes a choice of reel based on his knowledge and preferences. If the river is small, up to 10 m wide, a spinning reel will be superfluous, because you don’t need to cast far. It is quite possible to use a wire reel, which will lighten the weight of the gear, improving the comfort of its use.

Those. A fishing enthusiast is obliged to consider all points regarding the equipment of fishing rods. When fishing on an average body of water about 30 meters wide, a spinning reel will come to the rescue for casting as far as possible.

fishing line

An integral element of fishing. Grayling is a very fighting fish; it will resist quite strongly, despite its low weight - only up to 250 grams. Fishing for grayling weighing 250 grams, it seems that there is a fish weighing at least 1 kg on the hook

Which emphasizes the importance of correct and high-quality choice of fishing line

The main mesh should have a diameter of up to 0.3 mm. As an option, you can use fluorocarbon, but at short distances it is not very effective, since it is poorly visible in the river and loses stretch; monofilament line will be better. In a sense, the degree of stretch of the fishing line helps the fisherman, because... Due to this, the jerks of sharply tearing fish are dampened.

Don’t forget, the grayling actively resists, but the softness of the rod and the shock-absorbing line give you complete confidence that the fish will not escape. If the river is small, you need to use fluorocarbon as a leader, the cross-section of which should be 0.05-0.1 mm smaller than the main fishing line, and the length should be about 20 cm.

Floats

Most often, a bombarda, also known as “sbirulino,” is used to catch grayling. For a small river, it is more logical to choose small floats, the carrying capacity of which ranges from 1-10 grams. For wide rivers, when casting long distances, you need floats with a weight of 20 grams; they must be bright in order to quickly give a signal to the angler.

The installation of floats also requires attention; for small rivers this is most likely a blind rig; for larger rivers, sliding floats are used. The reasons for the choice are simple, they are explained by the depth of the reservoir where fishing will be, and the horizon of the fishing gear.

Sinkers

When fishing for grayling, sinkers are needed for a fishing rod, hangar, and bulldozer. In any situation, it is ideal to use a sliding olive sinker, correctly selected in terms of weight, as well as a small pellet of bait to adjust the hooks at the bottom.

When fishing on small rivers, you can use one olive; no additional grazing is needed. In such cases, as a rule, a load with an end sinker is used. The main fishing line is taken, then the fisherman in any way (or rather, as best he can), knits 4 locking knots with a step of 10-15 cm between a pair of 2 * 2, leaving about 1 cm inside each pair. The fly must be knitted after each knot, i.e. e. between them, on 5 cm leashes. As a result, we get that one tackle holds several baits at once.

It is better to use end sinkers if the river has a rocky bottom, since when they hit the stones, they make the bait oscillate and slow down the tackle a little, limiting it. The wiring will be located at the bottom, right in the grayling habitat. If there is a lot of sand or silt in the river, then it is better to use a classic weight with a sinker in front of the baits.

Rotating spinners

Spinner spoons for grayling fishing are the most popular bait. The spoon in the water is similar to the favorite delicacy of grayling - the drowning moth. Small fish up to 300 grams actively bite on it. The most popular sizes of spinners are numbers 1, 2. Using a smaller spinner provokes bites from small fish. The recommended line diameter is 0.1 mm. It is quite durable and does not scare away fish. For beginning spinners who do not have sufficient skills in this fishing technique, a small spinner is ideal.

The colors of the spinners can be red, black or simply silver. Fans of this bait use different colors, since there is no “ideal” spinner. Grayling has characteristic preferences - in sunny weather it prefers spinners of a reddish or copper color, and on a gloomy day it bites well on silver bait. The presence of an edge on the tee does not guarantee an increase in the number of bites; rather, on the contrary, it scares away cautious fish.

If grayling fishing is carried out on Siberian rivers, then the larger size of the grayling in them allows the use of larger spinners

Homemade spoons for grayling

The behavior of grayling is difficult to predict due to its strong shyness, so you need to carefully select bait for fishing. Experts advise preparing a list of baits before purchasing, taking into account the conditions of future fishing. The kit should include spinners for grayling for fishing in fast and relatively fast flows, deep and shallow waters.

Good results are obtained by fishing with lures from the best tackle manufacturers. The 10 most catchy baits for grayling, according to anglers:

• from Meps: Aglia Long 2, Comet, Lusox, Syclops;
• manufacturer Daiwa: Silver Creek Spinner, CHINOOK, CRUSADER;
• Panther Martin;
• company Pontoon 21: Trait;
• Acme: Little Cleo.

The selection of catchable spinners is extensive, which allows you to find the right model for any fishing conditions.

Spinners

Rotating spoons or “spinners” are conventionally divided into 3 groups:

• unloaded;
• front-loaded;
• back-loaded.

Rear-loaded spinners have a good casting range and the ability to cast at any depth of the reservoir. For grayling, this bait can be not only small, but also large in size. This type of turntables cannot be made unloaded, since the load on them is not removable.

Front-loaded spinning models have a longer flight range and are suitable for jigging style retrieves. The weight of these models can be removed. Also, after modification, turntables can work as unloaded, but their casting range is greatly reduced.

The difference between unloaded rotating models is that they begin to rotate immediately after splashdown. They are used when fishing in the upper layers of reservoirs.

Oscillators

Oscillating spoons - they are also called spoons - are made in the form of small fish. Body length - 4-5 cm.

For winter fishing, the hook of a wide-profile spinner is equipped with cambrics of a wide range of colors to protect the tackle from slippage. In narrow-profile models this problem is absent; the fish swallows the bait well.

Grayling are often caught using miniature trout spoons in different colors with red stripes.

Do-it-yourself spinners and spoons are often more catchy than factory ones. Winter and summer oscillating spoons are made from a teaspoon. The handle is cut off and 2 holes are made. To give the desired shape, the workpiece is bent. Homemade models are equipped with a single hook to protect the tackle from snags.

Making a spinner yourself is more difficult, but many fishermen cope with this task. Spinner spoons of this type are made from thick stainless wire. It represents the axis of the structure. A weight, beads and a copper wire clamp are placed on the stainless steel. The size and shape of the petals are selected experimentally. Changes may be made during the grayling fishing process.

In addition, commercial lures have colorful flies attached to the hooks to increase their attractiveness to fish.

Wobblers for fishing on the current

What to do when the bite is sluggish or no fish are caught at all? You can replace the spinner with a bait such as a wobbler or combine them, finding the best option. A wobbler for grayling gives better results than all other gear. Expecting to catch this fish, it is worth having several wobblers in reserve, which will provoke the activity of a lazy predator in case of a bad bite.

Read more

Spinning fishing in winter

The use of wobblers gives novice spinning anglers an advantage, since they are easier to handle in the current. It is worth stocking up on sinking wobblers if you are fishing in the current, in which case the bait will not float to the surface at high current speeds. The optimal depth to which the wobbler needs to be immersed is 0.5–1 m. When choosing the color of the bait, buy wobblers with natural colors.

Tackle for fishing

Fishing for grayling using a spinning rod is in no way inferior to fly fishing in terms of catchability. The main thing is the ability to choose the right fishing tactics, choose the right tackle and bait. To equip a spinning rod for catching grayling you will need:

• ultralight medium-fast action rod 1.8-2.4 m long with test weight up to 7 g
• spinning reel with front clutch size 2500 (gear ratio 5.1)
• braided line with a diameter of 0.10 mm and a length of 150 m
• spare spool with monofilament line 0.16 mm of the same length
• Small spoons, wobblers, and artificial flies weighing up to 7 g are suitable as bait.

Technique for catching grayling using a spinning rod

Spinning fishing has its own characteristics, since choosing the right gear and bait is only half the success; you also need to master the casting technique.

Grayling does not have the habit of chasing a spinner or wobbler in the current. Taking this into account, the spinning angler, when reeling in the fishing line, must retrieve the bait very slowly.

A popular technique when fishing for grayling is cross casting and subsequent retrieving with a diagonal drift of the bait. It is necessary to cast exactly towards the opposite bank; a good option is a little higher upstream. After casting the spinning rod, slowly reel in the line on the reel. In this case, the current will carry the bait rather slowly, which will allow the grayling to swim across to it and grab it. The use of this technique places high demands on the quality of the wobbler or spinner. Even if you reel in the line with pauses, the river current will spin the spoon.

When cross casting does not give the desired result, we cast the spinning rod downstream. Then the trajectory of the bait will be directed against the current. If you pause the retrieve, the current will begin to rotate the spinner plate, provoking the fish to bite. Wiring against the current is almost always effective, so biting activity is often checked using this technique.

Those interested can test the wiring downstream. The cast must be made against the flow of the river and allow it to carry the bait. In order to implement this wiring, a successful selection of fishing line is necessary in order to have time to hook the prey when biting.

Fishing for grayling using a spinning rod

• Choosing a spinning rod for grayling fishing
• Grayling reels
• Catching grayling with a spoon
• Catching grayling with wobblers

There is an opinion that you can successfully catch grayling exclusively by fly fishing. It's not like that at all. During certain periods (deep or muddy water) you can only catch fish with a spinning rod. Spinning tackle is also appropriate in the summer, when the water is clear. The more time you spend on the river, the more the opinion becomes stronger that grayling, even a more predatory fish than perch, can easily attack large wobblers over 80 in size. As you can see, fly fishing is not a panacea. The main thing is to assemble the gear correctly and stock up on the necessary bait.

Choosing a spinning rod for grayling fishing

As my twenty-year practice of catching grayling on the river has shown, the label on the rod does not matter at all. “Label” is the brand of the fishing rod manufacturer. Nowadays there is an incorrect stereotype in the minds of modern fishermen. It is based on marketing engagement of various kinds of champions of planetary fishing competitions. You should not count on the objectivity of their judgments. They are ordinary people, they go to work, they are paid salaries and bonuses. So the thought forms in the mind of the average person; The champion fishes with a fishing rod from Graphiteleader, which means I need one too. If you have money, buy it. My recommendations for choosing a spinning rod are completely different.

The spinning rod should fit very well in your hand. When fishing for grayling, all fishing is carried out, the rod will be in your hands all the time. Whether this handle is “spaced” or not is not important; cork or synthetics also does not matter. The main thing is convenience!

Don't bother with the design of the reel seat. Any modern reel seat copes with its tasks very well. Pay attention to the weight of the rod. There are no recommendations here, try to understand that you will have to swing this fishing rod all day.

Rings . When fishing for grayling, we always use monofilament. There are “no” requirements for rings here.

Now about the length of the rod. A key value in sea fishing. A lot of all kinds of spinning rods, different in their structure, weight and length, have passed through my hands. Empirically, it turned out that the optimal rod length for catching grayling is in the range of 6-7 feet. Using longer rods is not advisable. Less is possible, more is not recommended. In the 2015 season, I fished throughout June with my old Banax, 7 feet long, until it broke on one of the fishing trips. The spinning rod served me faithfully for 4 full seasons, having been on about 150 fishing trips, a good result. A little math: the cost of a spinning rod is approximately $50, divide by 150 days and we find that one day of operation costs 34 cents.

Build. Recently, the national love for fast and super-fast fishing rods has increased, and the reason for this is twitching. In grayling fishing, this technique is almost never used; fishing is done using spinners and oscillations weighing from 1.5 - 2 grams and small wobblers. We will need a rod with a regular fast (medium-fast) or regular (medium) action. What is the rationale for this choice? Grayling has a “carp” mouth, we don’t need to break through the jaw with tees, plus we have a fairly strong current. Now let’s imagine a bite that occurred on the river. What happens if the fish are not caught strongly? Using “fast” rods we will get an instant release, but in the case of a slow one, we have a chance.

Based on the findings of this material, we will create a spinning matrix that suits us best:

• Rod 6-7 feet, medium-fast or medium action, weight from 1.5 to 7 grams.

Grayling reels

Choosing a reel for grayling fishing is a more important undertaking than choosing a fishing rod. That's what I think. The choice is made for the specific rod that you have chosen. Buying a reel without putting it on a spinning rod is not a good decision. We must remember that a spinning reel is a complex mechanical instrument, and a lot depends on the quality of its execution. On my long fishing journey, I have become extremely disappointed in Chinese crafts, and I categorically do not accept them, but I don’t go to extremes either. There is a clear line where mechanics end and marketing begins. In other words, the next model costs significantly more, but nothing changes in terms of kinematics.

It so happened in life that all my reels are exclusively Daiwa. In the Daiwa model range there is just such a model, which I consider the most optimal - Luvias. The size of the reel for grayling fishing is from 1000 to 2000, where 2000 is already the limit and rather overkill. But not everything depends on Daiwa, there are a lot of worthy things.

A few basic requirements:

• the reel must be suitable in weight and size for your spinning rod
• have a precise friction brake
• work with monofilament lines

Why are these requirements so important? First of all, balance: the assembled tackle should not be heavy. In sea fishing, this is a key indicator, and an increase in the size of the reel leads to an increase in the weight of the gear. The accuracy of the clutch adjustment is very useful. We are dealing with fishing lines from 0.18 to 0.22, and the more accurately the gear is adjusted, the greater the chances of landing large grayling. Our gear is assembled specifically for fishing for grayling; it’s not worth wasting it on passing pike fishing, sacrificing the much-desired bite - it’s not worth it!

Catching grayling with a spoon

For several decades now, the spinner has been the most popular bait for catching grayling. The rivers in the vicinity of the fishing and hunting recreation center Markovo are no exception. The size of the spinners is mainly numbers 1, 2. Using smaller spinners will lead to an increase in bites of small fish. The colors of the spinners we successfully fish with can be seen in the photo

As you can see, there is nothing unusual in the set of spinners for catching grayling. Sold in any store. You can go another way, based on the search for the “ideal” spinner, buy “two cars” of them. This stage passed quickly for me. A super catchy spoon for catching grayling simply does not exist. Sometimes he prefers a certain model, but that's where it ends.

The influence of the tail on the spinner does not provide any advantages. At a certain stage, I specifically focused on this topic and conducted experiments. The conclusion is unexpected - the edge on the tee reduces the number of bites.

Please note that the set does not include Long spinners. Do you know why? I'm going down the path of reducing the number of baits. Don't think that Aglia Long is very different in operation. The limits of operation of a conventional spinner and a Long spinner are very small. I don’t need it at all; for fishing in the fastest riffles it is advisable to use wobblers.

Catching grayling with wobblers

Catching grayling with wobblers is sometimes more successful than all other methods. It happens that the spinner simply does not work. That is why you need to have a certain supply of wobblers in your box. This will help you, if there is no bite, try to “stir up” the passive grayling. Fortunately for us, you don’t need to buy expensive and rare models. Everything is simpler than you think.

This picture is visually divided into two parts. On the right side there are five Yo-Zuri L-Minnow wobblers. On the left are everyone else. I believe that in grayling fishing there is no way around the L-Minnow. You may not have anything you want, but this wobbler is a must have! This is a classic of the genre, the most catchy bait for river fishing. When putting together your set of wobblers for catching grayling, be sure to include the L-Minnow. Everything else can be left out.

But we have eight more wobblers, what are they for? Left column – Tsuribito Jerk Bait 50 SP-DR. Designed for fishing outside the main stream, before and after the roll. After casting, we set the wobbler to the depth we need and carry out the retrieve with short pauses. In addition to grayling, this wobbler catches small pike and perch, which is especially noticeable on the “green” wobbler.

Two wobblers Zip Baits Khamsin Jr 50DR and Megabass Live-X Smolt are designed for fishing in the “deepest” places of the river, as much as a meter or one and a half. Usually these are pressures, returns and whirlpools behind the roll. Two wobblers Daiwa Dr. Minnow, in my case they complement the spinners, we use them in the roll at the edge of the stream.

As you can see, there are not very many wobblers, and even fewer are needed. It is enough to take one piece of each model in a natural color and you are ready for fishing, and you will fish in absolutely all sections of the river.

A few words about leashes when fishing for grayling. It has been noticed that using a leash has a significant impact on bites. Pike, in some cases, will bite off the bait, but this is the fate of wobblers and spinners. Take this more simply - bait is a consumable item.