i tried my hand at nymphing for the first time yesterday. i fished a team of 3 (gold head caddis nymph,gold head pink shrimp and &ghre size 14-16) i fished 45degrees across stream to 45degrees downstream and repeated. after an hour or so i moved on to a slow deep bend on the river with a sunken tree. this peg in the summer holds decent chub to 4lb and barbel to 10lb but i cannot find any info on the grayling in this peg. i fished this peg for the rest of the morning but had nothing. i did not use an indicator but kept well intouch with my fly line and recast before any drag became a problem. the nymph i used were not very heavy. i have been today and bought some heavy tungsten nymphs to see if it was a depth reason for the lack of bites as i never once snagged the bottom.
also the river was slightly couloured and up ever so slightly from usual level but only slightly any tips for this kind of fishing.

Generally with nymphing for grayling you need to get the fly well down. It should be tickling the riverbed where the fish are lying.
The problem at this time of year is that the grayling are shoaling up, so they could have vacated that stretch all together. I'd go searching. If the rivers clear you can spot a shoal, depending on the depth of water.

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The pace of the water can be important too. This is true, both in terms of being able to get your fly down if the fish want it close to the stream bed - but also in terms of the design of your fly.

You should bump the bottom quite regularly (if snagging up becomes a problem just go slightly lighter on the point fly and/or make the drift slightly shorter)

If fishing a very slow pool, then it can be important to have slimmer flies on the dropper(s) that can also incorporate some very soft hackle (partridge or water hen for example). It also helps to understand what the dominant fly items are that are available on your river at this (and other) times of year.

In some slow pools in cold weather - it could be mainly chironomid larvae (small "bloodworm" - but in many colours from pale tan, through shades of green as well as the classic red ones). These are best imitated using super slim pheasant tail nymphs with a tiny bead or tiny "brassies". I use size 19 BL103 hooks dressed with a single herl of either black or natural pheasent tail fibre and ribbed with super fine copper wire and a 1.5mm tungsten bead at the head for these fish. One or two of these "midgey" ptns go on the dropper(s) with an appropriately weighted point fly (of some caddisy-type design) on the point to control the depth.

This year though there seems to be a really good crop of shrimp (even on the more peaty rivers that I fish) and the grayling are feeding well on them. Grey and a grubby pink seem to be the best colours at the moment. Don't feel you have to go too large with the shrimps - with a 14 or 12 being the most "fish catching" size in the majority of my experience.

Let us know how you get on with any return trips...

the section i have fished is a sand/gravel swim medium flow but quite deep as its on a bend. there is a sunken tree snag which changes the water flow but it is still deep. i would estimate 8-10 ft. this swim has produced 10lb barbel and 5lb chub but i cant find out if it has held grayling. i have got this week some tungsten beaded czech nymph and grayling bugs. also a maggot pattern nymph as the river sees its fair share of maggots and casters because of the barbel and chub lads. any advice on fishing this sort of peg

Try not to stick in the same spot for too long - hammering the same piece of water is all well and good and yes, sometimes persistance will catch you fish, but in general your best chance of catching a fish (providing your flies are properly presented and working at the right depth) will be within your first couple of casts over it. As has already been mentioned grayling shoal tightly in the winter and can be hard to find, so keeping on the move is important, but once you hit a shoal you can do quite well.

---------- Post added at 12:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 AM ----------

Also, even if it turns out there aren't any grayling about, both barbel and chub will take nymphs, so it's worth sticking at it

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