Tummel vision
BY LOUIS FEROX I HEADED out with a couple of colleagues to the River Tummel recently to try out a few methods and, with a bit of luck, hook a grayling.
The Tummel, by Pitlochry in Perthshire, is one of the main tributaries of the River Tay and is one of the finest brown trout and grayling waters in Scotland.
Traditional Tummel-style patterns are similar to lightly dressed Clyde style. But with large Sedge and Olive hatches, the fish have grown on and the flies have, too.
We picked up permits from the Ballinluig service stop and started swinging a team of wet flies across steadyflowing water looking for bites.
Callum was first off the mark with a beautifully coloured brownie that took a liking to the hares ear spider he had as his point fly.
Cuillin didn’t take long to get among the fish either, landing two trout and a nice grayling in quick succession.
His first fish came on swung wets, and the other two as he switched to another rod set up with the trio; a buoyant dry fly on the first dropper to act as an indicator, with two heavy tungsten nymphs spaced equally below.
This method can be deadly in the right conditions. You’re able to drift your nymphs deep and at range, even in fast water. Watch for the inevitable plummet of your dry as a trout snatches one of the nymphs below.
The others were struggling to get bites but the trio had worked well so after a bit of re-rigging, we all switched over to the same set-up.
Shortly afterwards, a few nice fish were swung to the net and the method was certainly proving effective in the deeper water.
After covering a good amount of water, a quick coffee break and a walk downstream looking for some riffly faster water that we were keen to run through on a French Nymphing set up. This method involves suspending a team of nymphs under a “sighter”, a coloured section of mono or nymphing leader used for bite indication, tracking through the swim fishing them under the rod tip. This allows you to dead drift your flies through fast water, striking at any movement on your sighter.
Working the river right from bank to bank can pay off. You’ll see anglers wading to the best spots but often you’ll step over and spook fish.
In the winter, when grayling start to shoal up, you can miss out on some fantastic fish and not even notice.
Sure enough, the second seam from the near bank and Callum’s indicator twitched and buried before the distinctive fanned dorsal of his first grayling came through the surface.