The water is so clear you can see the fish lying on the bottom. The white of his mouth shows every time he sucks in another passing nymph. Keeping low, you cast a pheasant tail nymph a couple of feet above him and right in line. It drifts down, his mouth opens, the leader stops and tightens and you lift the rod tip gently. The rod nearly jumps out of your hand as the fish realises his mistake and makes a run for it. A couple of minutes later and a 1.5 pound grayling is in the net. You either let him go or despatch him quickly for grilling on the barbecue; its your choice. We have regular grayling fishing trips on chalkstreams over the winter. Book your place on one. We also offer trips to the River Suir in Ireland which is reputedly the best brown trout stream in all of Europe. We have no arguments with that.

On the chalkstreams you want to balance delicate presentation with casting moderate distances so you can keep out of view of the fish you are targetting. A rod 8’ to 9’ in length for 5 or 6 weight floating line will do nicely. A simple lightweight reel is adequate although a drag system can be useful to control the larger fish in the current. Attach a 5’ to 7’ furled leader and 4’ to 5’ of tippet (4x down to 6x). take a variety of dry flies and nymphs in sizes 12 down to 18 and maybe some 10s at mayfly time.
Now read more detail about the tackle options in Choosing your tackle.