Green light for grayling in Musselburgh on Boxing Day

The site to go to is Fishing around the Forth and the permits will also available at Tracey's Convenience Store a week before Christmas.

Unfortunately, Ace Bike Shop behind The Brunton is no longer able to sell permits but Marc Anderson, the association's president, said it was the first time that the online option had been available.

He added that the online portal and Tracey's Open All Hours shop at 56 Eskview Terrace, Musselburgh, EH21 6LX (open until 10pm) are currently the only two places to buy tickets.

Anderson added: "Grayling fishing on the Esk is exceptional. In my opinion, apart from the Tweed and the Teviot, the Esk is one of the most prolific waters in the area.

"Here's hoping we can have some decent winter sport."

The cost of a permit is £15 and Anderson said that was tremendous value given that it can cost more than that to fish for a day on some trout fisheries.

Anglers, he stressed, don't need to splash out if they want to target grayling. Their normal equipment with a suitable leader should be sufficient.

The river, he said, had some deep patches but, generally, it is not difficult to wade and among the best patterns are squirmy wormy after rain and plus thread flies, Duracell and traditional Czech nymphs which all work effectively.

Anderson said: "Grayling can be targeted with standard equipment and there is a wealth of information on the internet if anglers want to get to grips with Euro nymphing."

Children under 16 can fish for free with a paying adult in a bid to encourage more young people into the sport.

The MDAA stretch of the river is three miles in length from the estuary to the A1 and all fishing is catch and release. No fishing on a Tuesday.

Fishing is by fly only and no bait fishing is allowed but children up to 12 years old accompanied by an adult permit holder may use maggot/grub or worm on fly tackle for trout and grayling.

Set line fishing is prohibited and no spinning or spinning reels are allowed with fishing restricted to one rod per person which must be hand held.

There is no fishing on weir or in the pool below weir at Muselburgh and upstream of white line on the wall with single hook flies only. Hooks should be barbless/debarbed and knotted landing nets are not allowed along with fast sink lines or lead cores.

Meanwhile, West Lothian Angling Association permits have also gone on sale online to encourage people to buy in time for Christmas.

The club offers fishing on the River Almond through West Lothian for only £15. The river is mostly a brown trout fishery, but salmon and sea trout are also caught throughout the year. The season starts on February 1 and runs until October 30.

On to sea angling, and Bass Rock Shore Angling League is due to host its annual Christmas Hamper event on Wednesday, December 16 at a venue to be revealed on Sunday on the club's Facebook page.

You must have fished in two of their regular events to qualify according to chairman, Craig Ogilvie, who made a welcome return to edge his great friend Barry McEwan and win the last event earlier this month.

Finally, Derek Brady, one of the organisers of the Silver Series for top coarse anglers, confirmed that the event at Magiscroft near Cumbernauld has been postponed.

This follows Tuesday's announcement from the First Minister which confirmed the Central Belt was in Tier 3 and Brady said: "We're left with no choice but to postpone the series to a later date as travel restrictions are still in place limiting anglers out with North Lanarkshire from competing in the series.

"Hopefully, we'll get to run with this at some stage in the near future."

He is in talks with Magiscroft's owner, Ronnie MacLeod, on a daily basis, and he added: "If there is any relaxation of the restrictions/tiers we'll get on it and contact everyone immediately."

Around 30 of the best coarse anglers in Central Scotland are on the list to compete and the top prize is £150.

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