Yes, grayling take dry flies, and they do it in their own way: they lie on or near the riverbed, glide up, take almost vertically and go straight back down. When they refuse, it is nearly always one of seven things: drag you cannot see, a fly a hand’s width off their line, a fly that landed too close, a fly that is too big, a shoal that has stopped rising, fish that are feeding on the bottom, or a take you missed. Each has a fix. Grayling are the main fish on the rivers I guide in Montenegro, and the Ljuča is hard dry-fly water with the biggest of them; the fish by river and the months are on Fish and seasons. I have fished competitions for more than ten years, and tactical dry fly is part of what I teach. Here are the seven reasons, with what the published sources say and what to change.

Yes, grayling take dry flies. Here is how they do it

A grayling does not hold just under the surface like a trout on a good evening. It lies on or near the bed, and when it decides on a fly it glides up from depth, takes in a near-vertical position because its mouth sits lower on the head than a trout’s, and drops back down (Grayling Society). The mouth is underslung and built for feeding on the bottom (GWCT, 2025). That one fact explains most refusals. The fish is coming a long way up, drifting downstream as it rises, and it has a mouth that is not pointed at the surface.

So a grayling can rise on days when the trout do not, and it can refuse a fly a trout would have eaten without thinking.

Reason 1: drag you cannot see

The published view, in Sunray’s piece on dry-fly presentation, is that they are “far fussier than trout when it comes to drag-free drifts” (Sunray). A trace of micro-drag, the kind you cannot see from the bank, is enough.

What to change: a long, supple leader ending in fine tippet (Sunray, presentation). A loop knot on a small dry fly lets it move freely on the tippet; Southall uses a Rapala loop for that reason (Sunray, winter setup). Hold as much line and leader off the water as the rod allows (Sunray, presentation).

Reason 2: the fly is a hand’s width off line

Grayling rarely move more than a few centimetres sideways to take a dry fly (Sunray, winter setup; Sunray, micro flies). A trout will slide across a seam for a fly; a grayling waits for one on its own line.

What to change: the cast has to be exact. Mark the rise, mark the line of drift above it, and put the fly on that line, not near it. If you cannot hit it from where you stand, move.

Reason 3: it landed too close to the fish

Because the fish rises from the bed and drifts back as it comes up, it takes the fly downstream of where it was lying. The fly has to land further upstream of the rise than it would for a trout (Sunray, winter setup). Land it where the rise was and the fish is already looking at water that has passed.

What to change: lead the rise. How far depends on depth and current, and that is one of the things a guide beside you can see that you cannot.

Reason 4: the fly is too big

Dave Southall describes a day when a size 24 dry brought far less response than he expected, and a size 30 midge pattern improved his catch rate dramatically. He has fished CdC dries down to size 24 for about twenty years, and to size 30 more and more (Sunray, micro flies). On one of his becks the dries run from a size 16 F Fly through size 18 and 20 shuttlecocks to size 24 to 30 humpies (Sunray, tactics).

What to change: the size, before the pattern. Southall’s own step that day was from a 24 to a 30 (Sunray, micro flies). Here is the range as published:

Situation	Dry fly size (published)	Source
Everyday grayling dries	16 to 20	Sunray, tactics
Hard days	24 to 30	Sunray, micro flies
Tippet for those sizes	0.13 mm, with a further 0.10 mm section for the smallest	Sunray, winter setup

I sell dry flies for the rivers I guide, and nymphs and streamers with them: see flies.

Reason 5: they have stopped, all of them

Grayling rise in flurries, with dead spells between. Southall’s advice is to wait for the next spell rather than keep covering fish that have stopped, and he does not switch to a nymph in the gap (Sunray, winter setup).

What to change: nothing. Southall calls it pointless to cover fish that have stopped; watch, and be ready for the next spell (Sunray, winter setup).

Reason 6: they are feeding on the bottom

A fish that will not rise is often not refusing anything. Adult grayling feed more and more on the bottom as they age, and the share of surface prey in their diet falls; feeding peaks at dawn and dusk and is strongest at intermediate water temperatures (Environment Agency summary of published studies: Dahl 1962, Scott 1985, Woolland 1987). One tackle house puts it at over 90 per cent of food taken near the bed (Rudi Heger).

What to change: the method. A heavily weighted nymph fished deep is a common grayling method (Environment Agency summary). When the surface is empty, euro nymphing finds them; how I fish and teach it is in euro nymphing in Montenegro, and the choice between a dry, one nymph or two is in one nymph or two.

Reason 7: it took, and you missed

Grayling come up and miss, and anglers strike and miss. Why a grayling rises and misses is not settled in anything I have read, and I have found no published source that settles how to time the strike on a grayling rise, so I will not invent one here. What is published is that the mouth is soft, which is why a softer rod is advised (Rudi Heger).

What to change: a softer rod, and the fine tippet it protects (Rudi Heger). The rest is learned by watching fish, and watching is what a guided day is for.

The leader that fixes most of it

Reasons 1 to 3 are all answered by the leader, and the published formulas agree on the shape: long, fine and supple.

Source	Length	Tippet
Southall (Sunray, tactics)	about 12 ft (3.7 m)	7X or 8X (about 0.10 to 0.09 mm)
Sunray, winter setup	7 ft (2.1 m) tapered butt from 0.5 to about 0.2 mm, then tippet	0.13 mm, plus 0.10 mm for tiny flies; the 0.13 mm section shortened in wind
Sunray, presentation	15 ft (4.6 m) and more, on the longest practical rod	0.10 to 0.15 mm
Rudi Heger	soft rod, 8 ft 6 in to 10 ft, for a #2 to #5 line	0.16 to 0.10 mm
Fly Fish Food (a US long dry-fly leader, for comparison)	10 ft 6 in (3.2 m)	butt stepping 15, 12, 10, 8 lb, then 2X, 3X, 4X

The X figures are the usual scale and vary by brand; Southall calls 0.09 mm “8X”. Read the millimetres on the spool.

A competition note: the FIPS-Mouche rules limit a leader to twice the rod length, but the limit does not apply in a dry-fly sector (Competition Rules 2025, article 28.1). That is why competition dry-fly leaders run long, and it is why tactical dry-fly rigging by FIPS-Mouche rules is one of the parts of my competition training. My own dry-fly leader is not written down here; it is something I rig with you on the water.

One more honest line: everything here is about European grayling, the fish in my rivers. Arctic grayling in North America are another species, and I have not relied on what is written about them.

Where this matters most: hard dry-fly water

The Ljuča holds the biggest grayling of the waters I guide, and it is hard dry-fly water. In my words, a tactical river with big rewards. If you want a big grayling on a dry fly, that is the river, and you should expect to work for it. The rivers side by side are in grayling fishing in Montenegro, and where grayling lie compared with trout is in grayling vs trout.

If you have never fished a dry fly, a few hours of casting first is worth more than any fly box; that is what a first day is for, and euro nymphing may be the easier way to a first fish. The whole country, water by water, is in fly fishing in Montenegro: the complete guide.

Questions

Do grayling take dry flies?

Yes. They rise from the bed to do it, often on days when trout do not rise (Grayling Society).

What tippet for grayling on a dry fly?

Published advice runs from 0.16 mm down to 0.10 mm, finer for smaller flies, on a soft rod that protects it (Rudi Heger; Sunray).

How long a leader for grayling on a dry fly?

From about 12 ft (3.7 m) to over 15 ft (4.6 m), as published (Sunray). In competition the dry-fly sector has no leader limit.

What size dry flies for grayling?

Commonly 16 to 20; on hard days, 24 to 30 (Sunray).

Why did the grayling all stop rising?

They feed at the surface in flurries. Wait for the next one rather than covering fish that have stopped (Sunray, winter setup).

Should I switch to a nymph?

If nothing is rising and nothing has risen, yes: adult grayling take most of their food near the bed. If they were rising and stopped, wait first.

The seven reasons are easy to read and hard to see from the bank. On the water, beside you, I can help you see which one it is. If you want to learn it, a guided day on the Ljuča or the Lim is the place, or competition training if the dry-fly sector is your aim. Tell me your dates and I reply within a day. Request your dates.

Why grayling refuse a dry fly, and what to change