grayling on the monnow

[ffandance]

Hi all,
am new to the board and new to fly fishing,
as the trout and salmon season is soon to end, then i will be concentrating all my efforts on the grayling over the winter months on the little river monnow.
( its the only venue i know of so far )

i could do with a little advice, has anyone fished this river and if so, have you any ideas as to what fly and tactics to use. there are the obvious such as czech nymphs etc but has anyone got any good variations or other patterns that the little ladies may prefer on that water ??

I am using a greys 9' #5/6 rod, greys grx reel, and a cortland 444 peach floater, in your oppinion how does this outfit rate for small to medium rivers ?

so far i have landed only a few small brownies, grayling and one nice one of 1 3/4 lbs that took a size 14 olive f fly a few weeks ago.
and boy did she give a good account of herself too !!!

I am slowly becoming a convert to this lady of the stream... lol

BTW.. Iam glad i found this forum, you all sound a great bunch !!

[Old Smoothound]

Hi Mate,

The Monow has a good head of Grayling in it. Some super fish can be caught on small dry flies such as a hare's ear "F" fly with a very small fluro white tail or thin flat mylar tail. ( This looks like the shuck of the fly)

Use it on the leader on its own and make sure you degrease the line with a mixture of fullers earth and washing up liquid or the lieader will spook the fish.

For other types of nymphs why not try little grey shrimps, red spot shrimps, very small black pennel, Pheasant tails, Caddis grubs, Pink Shrimps etc.

Czech nymps are for deeper more powerful rivers such as the Welsh Dee, but lighter versions work ok on small rivers.

I fell in love with the "Lady of the Stream" a long time ago and I will never get bored with fishing for them.

I hope you have a good Grayling Season.

[ffandance]

Hi old smoothie,
Thanks for the reply,
thats exactly rhe kind of advice i was looking for...
Especialy the wite tag on the h/e f fly !!!

fished singly too !! hadnt thought of that one...
but with the shallow water and such
it makes sense now.

was thinking of the pheasant tails and pink shrimps
but good shout on the others..

looks like i will be spending a few hours at the tying bench over
the next few weeks then,
just as in my fishing its improving slowly but shurely...
just the way i like it...

thanks again for your reply and good advice mate,
i'll keep you updated as to how i go along in the season..

Russ.

[Pross]

Russ, I was going to post to find out if there were any good grayling waters in the area so thanks for your post and welcome to the forum. What part of the Monnow do you fish? I understand there's a free stretch around Monmouth but haven't been able to find out where.

[Old Smoothound]

Originally Posted by Pross

Russ, I was going to post to find out if there were any good grayling waters in the area so thanks for your post and welcome to the forum. What part of the Monnow do you fish? I understand there's a free stretch around Monmouth but haven't been able to find out where.

Hi Pross

Try giving Forest Tackle in Lydney a ring they will probably know.

[ffandance]

hi Pross,
will pm you

[Greenheart]

Something else worth trying for on the Monnow are the shad. They are amazing fish that look a bit like Herrings. Used to catch them when chub fishing at monmouth camp back in the 1980s. they migrate up from the sea to spawn. I think in about june. They will grab anything, even a bare hook. I also seem to recall that the free strech of river was down by the new road bridge & was a good area for chub.