Fishing For Record Breaking Grayling

A few years ago, the Tackle Guru cameras filmed some magical grayling fishing on Scotland’s River Nith, capturing several specimen fish for our popular RodTrip series. However, leaving the shoot, the team couldn’t help but think there were even bigger ones in the water! For the latest Matt and Tank Vlog, our team of travelling trotters set themselves a target of catching a British record fish from this amazing place. Is it mission impossible, or can they rewrite the record books?

The River Nith, with its breathtaking beauty, is a sight to behold. This stretch just outside Dumfries is renowned for holding colossal grayling. It’s mainly fished as a salmon river, but out of the salmon season, trotting with maggots is allowed to make the most of some of the specimen grayling that are renowned for inhabiting these waters. The boys were joined by Adam Rooney as a guest on this latest show. They were no strangers to big graylings, and having an extra rod on the water would allow them to cover more ground.

There had recently been a fish caught just ounces under 4lb on these stretches, with the bailiffs and guides here reporting sightings and even un-spoken-about captures of fish much bigger than this that would dwarf the current British record that lies at 4lb 8oz.

Arriving late on a Sunday night was an early start for the team. Meeting up with the guide on the river, Barry Young (AKA Barry The Grayling), they access some of the finest swims in perfect conditions! Rooney is on the rod first as the guest, and working down a beat of the river, they encounter several unexpected surprises…let’s just say these weren’t on the target fish list using a 4lb line and a size 16 hook with maggots on a match rod!

In the afternoon, a move is made to a different spot, where Roon latches into something special as the light is fading. Tank is next on the rod, and despite it being almost pitch black, he makes the most of his short time on the rod and winkles out another bite for the cameras!

An evening of banter over some food sees the boys head into day two of the trip as keen as ever. Barry takes them to a different beat, to begin with, and Guru’s very own Carbon Technician and rod-builder, Dave McAuley, joins the gang to test some coming-soon Guru rods. The boys know that huge graylings are present, and they even see the fish flashing for their loose-feed maggots before their very eyes! But can they tempt one to take their hookbait?

In this Vlog, the team uses straightforward trotting gear and travelling light to move freely and easily. A compact 3000-size Aventus Reel is loaded with a 4lb Pulse Line. This floats nicely on the surface, allowing the guys to control a loafer or stick float down the swim perfectly. Rod choice is a 14ft N-Gauge Pro Float, which has a fast action for picking up the line, but with a balance of a soft tip not to bump the fish, and power for playing them in the lower regions of the blank. A Drennan Loafer float from 2g to 4g is the chosen float to start with, shot with a Tungsten Olivette to take the bait down in the flow, with a small dropper below. The river is only 3 to 6ft deep. Still, it flows quickly in areas, so the heavy float and Olivette setup allow perfect bait presentation and float control.

Hooklength wise, 0.13mm (4lb) N-Gauge is ideal, light enough to trick the fish, and heavy enough to land them, with a size 16 LWGF ready tied hook. These come at 1m lengths but can easily be shortened to the 10-inch length the boys use in the Vlog. Other vital pieces of kit you may need if you’re looking to go out and do some of this fishing include a bait apron (available from Halkon Hunt; this is what the guys are using in the film), catapult to feed the maggots, short F1 Landing Net Handle and 400 Barbsafe Net for easy travel and manoeuvrability, a Disgorger, and a good set of waders!

An afternoon move is made back to where Rooney managed a special capture the day before, hoping a shoal of monsters would be on the feed to finish this fantastic trip. There is no denying the fish are there, but can the gang present a bait perfectly enough to see their target of a record-breaking grayling on the bank? The film is live now on the Tackle Guru TV YouTube – enjoy, and don’t forget to subscribe too!