Trotting for Grayling: From Zero to Hero by Reading One Article

Basic Trotting for Grayling Tactics: Video of a Typical Trip for JP

​

In the video you can see a lot of the fundamental skills of trotting for grayling in action. Where it is allowed (and safe to do it!), wading the river can give a big advantage. You can see that a good, steady pace of water is ideal for the technique (as well as favoured by grayling in winter). Having a pouch on your belt to hold your hook-bait and loose-feed is pretty much essential.

Checklist of skills in trotting for grayling:

Trotting Reels

Centre pin float reels

The classic (and probably most fun) option for a trotting reel is a smooth-running centre pin. In the USA center pin reels are often called float reels. They are favoured by some trout and steelhead anglers for presenting baits under a float at the pace of the current.

We are fortunate in the UK to have access to a wide range of price-points for these reels - with budget models that are more than capable of giving a great day's fishing. Of course, the finely-engineered top of the range models are things of beauty and really enhance the whole experience for connoisseurs.

As well as being able to set them smoothly spinning with a touch of your thumb, you have a huge degree of control over the pace of the drift. With delicate variations in thumb pressure on the rim of the reel you can fractionally slow the drift (as shown in the video) before allowing the float to continue with the current. It is just as easy to stop the reel completely and then set it re-spinning with a light touch of the thumb.

Fixed-spool reels

If you already own some float fishing tackle - and aren't sure whether you want to buy another reel just yet - it is possible to trot with a regular fixed spool reel.

With the bale-arm open, line will easily peel off the spool (as long as it is correctly filled with line). It is also possible to have some control over the pace of the line leaving the spool. Using your index finger to "feather" the edge of the spool will slow down the line. Trapping the line against the spool with your finger, obviously, stops the float completely too. It tends to be a bit more jerky than a centre pin, but you can certainly catch fish. It is also great practice for your line-feathering skills that will help you improve your casting for all other methods of float fishing with a fixed spool reel.

Floats for trotting for grayling

The classic float to use when trotting for grayling is the stick float - which is attached to your line by stretchy silicone "float rubbers" at the top and bottom (and often also the middle) of the float. This allows you to slide the float easily up and down the line to set the depth (which you can check by using a plummet). Attaching the float this way helps keep the line on the surface - unlike waggler float fishing rigs - where the float is attached at the bottom only.

When you reel in a waggler, it will pull the float under the water. With a stick float, passing the line through the top rubber means that drawing on the line actually keeps the float on the surface. This is important when holding back the float against the flow. You don't want your float dragging under each time you do this - unless there's a fish on the end!

Size of float is mainly a matter of how much weight you need to carry in order to get your bait to the feeding depth in the current you happen to be fishing. You will want to have extra buoyancy (which will carry more weight) for holding back hard in fast flows when trotting for grayling. Beyond that, you can choose the size and shape of the top of your float based on the maximum range you want to fish. Larger tops are, obviously, visible at greater distances.

Easy Rig for Trotting for Grayling

Although there are many tricks that you can use to refine your presentation, here's a fundamental example to get you going. You can fish your reel line (see below) straight through to the hook - OR you can have a short hook-link of a lower diameter. The first thing you need to do is to thread your float rubbers onto the line hanging down from your rod tip. That will allow you to slide your float into the slightly stretchy bands of the float rubbers to hold it in place. After attaching your chosen hook (again see below), you can add the correct number of shot to cock the float and hold it down to your preferred level in the water. For sensitivity (and to prevent fish from rejecting the bait when they feel resistance), it is best to shot the float down right down so that just the tip is clear of the water surface.

Here are some basic options to choose from:

Shotting patterns when fishing for grayling

Shirt Button

Keeping things simple, you can choose between a regular "shirt-button" style of shotting. This refers to spreading your split shot at regular intervals down the line below your float. In other words, the spacing is as regular as that of the buttons running down the front of a shirt. You should try this in conditions where grayling are willing to move up in the water-column to intercept bait on the drop (i.e. as it falls through upper and middle layers of water). With zero holding back - and a smooth pay-out of line - the float will tend to drift downstream ahead of the hook. This creates very good sensitivity to bites.

One important thing to remember for all trotting rigs is to have a "tell-tale" little shot fairly close to the hook. A distance of about 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) from the hook is usually about right. By creating a more direct tension between the shot closest to the hook and the float, bite detection ability is improved. Striking to set the hook at any hint of a bite should be coupled with sensitive rigs. This helps ensure fish do not swallow the bait and become deep-hooked.

Bulk Shotting Pattern

If it is important to get the hook-bait to the feeding depth quickly, then bulk shotting patterns help. Maybe you need to pull the bait more quickly below small, shallow-feeding fish? Or perhaps the surface flow is much faster than the slower current below? Either way, bulking your shot together on the lower part of the line when trotting for grayling helps the bait to punch through the surface currents.

The tactic of "holding back" shown in the video and discussed earlier in this article has the effect illustrated below:

Reel Line for Grayling Trotting

Monofilament lines in the 3lb- 4lb breaking strain range are ideal for most trotting for grayling situations. When using a centrepin reel, you don't need to put tons and tons of line onto the spool. In fact, it would be a mistake to make the spool heavier than it needs to be by having way too much line loaded onto the reel. Having less line also tends to reduce the chances of the line "bedding in" and refusing to pay out smoothly when you are trotting the float below you.

Just make sure you have enough line to let you trot the float as far downstream as you want to. Then add on enough extra line to cope with a tough fight if you happen to hook into a large, strong fish.

Hook Options when Trotting for Grayling

Sharp, fine to medium-wire hooks in sizes 16 and 18 are good options for either single or double maggot. For larger baits, you might need to go up to a size 12. In all cases we'd recommend barbless hooks to help reduce the amount of grappling you'll need to do with the fish in order to remove the hook. That, coupled with proper bite indication to avoid deep-hooking, is very important in avoiding damage to wild fish like grayling.

Trotting for Grayling: Rods

Float rods, usually in lengths between 10ft and 13ft provide significant benefits by being long enough to let you hold lots of line off the water. Depending on the pace of the current and/or the species and size of fish likely to take your bait, you should choose how powerful your rod needs to be. Just don't make it so stiff that you are in danger of breaking your hook-link when you set the hook on a larger fish!

It is probably true to say that modern, light, carbon rods are a significant boon while trotting for grayling over a long session. A heavy, long rod quickly becomes annoying - as well as likely to cause you some repetitive strain injury problems!