Weekly River & Hatches Update
Welcome to November, where the grayling come into their own. As water temperatures drop sharply, and daylight hours shorten, insect life slows down - though there will still be plenty of olive and midge hatches. For the avid fly fisher, this is the time to quietly seek out the 'lady of the stream' and take on a new challenge.
Weather:
For early November, the weather still looks unsettled with outbreaks of rain at times. A transition to some drier weather looks increasingly probable from around the 11th or 12th of the month, with winds turning south easterly or easterly. Average temperatures of 14 degrees in the daytime. Towards the end of the month, the weather looks unsettled again with some likely cold patches and frost. Sunrise 07:04 GMT, Sunset 16:34 GMT, UV Low, Pollution Low.
River Flows:
The river flows currently range between low to normal as rated by the Environment Agency. The last week has been a moderately wet week for England as a whole, with an average of 24mm falling across England. Despite this, river flows remain lower than normal but hopefully will recover in the coming weeks.
Hatches:
Large dark olives and midges will predominate hatches this coming month. We can expect fly life to peak at the warmest parts of the day, when the sun is at its highest for longest. Shrimps are also a grayling favourite, so make you sure you have a good selection in your fly box.
Fly Patterns:
Your approach this month will mostly comprise wet or weighted patterns such as a Black Buzzer, Pink or Green Shrimp, or a Gold Ribbed Hares’ Ear or Beaded Pheasant Tail. But if you happen to strike gold and see the grayling rise, they are most likely slurping at olive and/or midge, best imitated by a Kite’s Imperial, Klinkhammer, or Knotted Midge.
Our Seasonal tips:
If you are doubtful which fly to use when grayling fishing, go for a fly with a red pattern - grayling are said to prefer this colour. Try and induce a take with a Red Tag or a Grayling Witch! Refinement is also a critical to enticing a take, so try coming down to a 2lb tippet or lighter. We recommend a 12ft leader in the 7x range.
News, events and catch reports:
