Hi All,
I've only been fishing for a couple of seasons now, but I did go straight to the fly, which must count for something. Anyway, I did a bit of river fishing for browns before the season ended down at my father-in-law's place in Dulverton on the Barle and now I just can't be bothered to fish stocked rainbows on still water. It doesn't sit well with me any more though I will go and get a couple when the freezer's empty (est. Jan '12) and my 13 y.o. gets twitchy to get out again. So, my question is Where can I fish for grayling near the south west side of London? I'm in Twickenham and there doesn't seem to be anywhere close by. The Wandle hasn't held grayling for a few years I'm told, so what other options have I?
Any and all ideas gratefully accepted.

Baloo

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"It's just a ride,...No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. A choice, right now, between fear and love." Bill Hicks

Baloo

Have a chat with ACW, he will put you on course

Hi Baloo,
You seem to be on a similar track to me, apart from the ability to fish a trout stream at the in-laws!! I fished small rivers/streams for the first time last year for grayling and had to go down to Hampshire (Ilive in Herts) on the Test at Wherwell and at Timsbury. Timsbury is good value but if you want to fly fish only (as I do) then you can be in competition with guys trotting maggots and corn down the river. There is also the Lower Itchen fishery near Southampton, but I've not been there.
'Fishing Breaks' have some winter Grayling venues which start at around 25 quid and go up to 80 quid, and the venues are anything between 140 and 200 miles round trip from me, bit closer for you.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Del.

I wish I had a good answer too this ,I had an almost perfect venue near Hungerford ,sold on this spring and the new owners do not wish to allow grayling fishing ,been going ther almost exclusively the last 8-10 seasons mso my knowlege of other beats is limited .
The search is on however and I hope to be doing grayling sundays some time next autumn ,
I had my first trip[ out yesterday to Timsbury ,not really my kind of fishery ,bait fishermen with feeder rigs and 3 or 4 anglers casting 7 weight all the way acrross the big river and stipping back .Yes there is a nice wee carrier ,but thats maybe a couple of hours fishing and yesterday there was bait angler camped out banging in the maggots ,not good for fly fishing..Not badly priced though ,might give it another try once there have been a few frosts .

Should any one want some odd trips ect for grayling asnd other fishing PM me an email address and when stuff comes up as it does will let you know !

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Andy Wren
Winter grayling taking a year off !
Claret not just a great dubbing colour!

I too live in Twickenham but mostly fish down where I was brought up in South Devon.

I am heading to Timsbury for the first time this weekend to try for some grayling and maybe a pike on the fly. I'll let you know how I get on.

Ta muchly.
ACW - I'd found out about the Hungerford place (Denford?) on Go-Fish, but they're obviously out of date. Shame, it was on me list.
Xan - yeah, do let us know how you get on (PS - I'm in Isleworth actually, but no-ones heard of it beyond the M25!)

Baloo

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"It's just a ride,...No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. A choice, right now, between fear and love." Bill Hicks

It depends on how far you will travel and how much you will pay. This feels a bit pricey:

Fishing Breaks - Gloucestershire - Fly Fishing

There is some better value fishing as you head west at Wherwell and the Avon around Pewsey way.

regards

Vince

I sympathise with your situation; as a resident of north London/south Herts for my first 28 years I found opportunities to fly fish somewhat limited - especially if on a budget. However, it's not impossible - there are some small rivers on the outskirts of west London that enable one to exercise the fly fishing urge, and I caught my first trout and grayling from one of them a quarter of a century ago, though I couldn't say if there are many in it now. Chub, dace and perch there certainly are, and these fish are (to my mind) more challenging to catch than stocked, landlocked rainbows.

Since moving to Hampshire I have plenty of water within an hour of home, but cost still comes into it. Timsbury is about the cheapest place I know of where you have a good chance of a grayling, with the Lower Itchen Fishery and one or two other places coming in a little more expensive.

Incidentally, if you plan to fish the Lower Itchen Fishery with fly rod, make sure you book the more expensive grayling ticket and not the coarse ticket, as you are not allowed to fly fish on the coarse beats (I found this out yesterday, and had to settle for trotting maggots through shoals of rising grayling). Enquiries as to the reasoning behind this arrangement drew a firm blank; them's the rules, and there you are.

3 rivers

If we were of an age we may have met. I frequented the Colne in Uxbridge amongst other free venues within cycling range.

Jumpers for goalposts, those were the days

i was fishing at wherwell priory late september for trout and i did see alot of grayling. only problem is, it is expensive to fish there so i reckon mix grayling fishing with trout fishing if you do go there.

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Still hunting for that double figure trout!