The Drunken Dun Grayling Competition - 15 Dec 02

 West End Fly Fishers held a grayling competition today on the Test carrier at
Wherwell for the privilege of providing hospitality for a year to the Drunken
Dun Shield.

John C, alias Drunken Dun is a member of the club and provides guiding services
on some of the English chalkstreams. He seems to live in a fishing hut, but I'm
told he does have a real house.

The rules were that only grayling over 14 inches (35.56cm) counted. We were all
issued with a measuring stick and sent forth to conquer. In my case, that meant
improving on last week's blank.

My tackle last week was a Cortland CL #5 rod, Greys Platinum X reel and Lee
Wulff #4 triangle taper line. The Lee Wulff line is fine for delicate
presentation, but is a bit too light to cope with any significant wind, so this
week I tried a Cortland 555 WF #5 line and found it balanced perfectly. It is
very precise and smooth to cast.

Ken and I set off together and leapfrogged each other on the small carrier. I
saw some big fish in the first pool, but they saw me first and disappeared.

Rain fell lightly and the wind gusted a little, but it was possible to cast into
it most of the time. The temperature was a few degrees warmer than last week.

Ken crept up to the next pool and covered it from his knees. The water flow was
still very fast and I noticed my first fly, a home tied latex-bodied killer bug,
was trailing behind the strike indicator and not getting down in the water. I
swapped it for a gold head hares ear and wandered further downstream.

I felt a take five minutes later, but missed it. I was trying to entice another
take in the same spot when a sea trout of over 2kg shot out of the water and
crashed down over a metre away. Just then, Ken yelled. He had a good fish on and
wanted a witness. It measured 13.5 inches, so we photographed and released it.
We had only been fishing half an hour, and the master was showing how it should
be done.

Ken's tactic is to quietly approach a lie and watch it for a while. If anything
moves, keep low or get on your knees to get close enough to cover it with the
fly. In this case, he had spotted a glint of silver and cast to it, getting an
instant take. The other thing he advocated was to go all the way downstream and
then fish upstream. I did just that.

At first, I disturbed some good fish on my way and then cut across the land to
avoid spooking any more. A movement above caught my eye. Weaving between the
trees lining the river, a sparrow hawk chased a thrush, but the thrush saw it
coming and managed to get clear.

Fish started rising, but like last week, I couldn't see anything hatching. Greg
later reckoned they were tiny black midges. By now, I found the hares ear was
also not heavy enough and tied on a czech nymph with a dingy greenish-yellow
body and claret thorax.

At the second pool, I saw a good fish rise and cast to it. Now why didn't I tie
on a dry fly or emerger? I don't know and don't care; it took the nymph just the
same. It made good use of the current and its big dorsal fin, but it was landed
in a few minutes. It was over 14" too. The time was 1.36pm.
Next I approached a bend in the river leading to a low stone bridge. Crawling up
to it, I cast upstream and let the line swing around the bend. It had only just
passed the bend, when I felt the take. This felt like another good fish and it
fought hard, trying to disappear below the bridge, but I managed to hold it
back. This fish was slightly shorter, but still over 14" and was heavier.

Working my way back, I covered several rises and saw a few takes, but missed
them. It was getting on for 2.30pm and I wandered back, casting upstream. When I
reached a set of rapids, I cast into the turbulent water and let the fly swing
back downstream. Just as I started to lift the fly to recast, I felt the line
stop and another fish on. This was another good grayling and it took some
landing as it made full use of that current. Again, it was over 14". It was
2.47pm and time to make my way back to the hut. We were having a late lunch at
3pm to make the most of the short daylight.

As I got back with my catch, someone said "Looks like he's beaten you Duane."
Duane had five grayling, but apparently only one reached the limit. No one else
had more than one fish over 14", so it appears that I had won the DD shield. Now
who'd have believed it?

Duane muttered something about dolls and pins, but I don't think he means it.
Mark is a member of the grayling society and was not happy that I had killed the
fish, but I did warn him at the start that I was going to, as I like them to eat
them occasionally. Given that I usually blank, it will be very occasionally.

Greg reckoned he had a 16" grayling and Cocktail Cabinet Campbell vouched for
it, so no one believes it. Bob R had a couple and most of the others had taken a
fish each.

Neil was fishing in the lake and fish were boiling all around him. He looked
intent and frustrated and then someone yelled, "He's got one! Oh no, he's caught
the bench."

When I dressed the fish, I emptied the stomach contents into a container and
examined them. I found they were stuffed with caddis larvae, damsel, mayfly and
dragonfly nymphs, tiny snails, midge pupae, shrimps, and organisms I know
nothing about.
The main contents were larvae; nothing resembling a dry fly. Its possible any
hatching insects were too decomposed to identify, but I don't think so as that
could apply to many of the nymphs.

John and Andy had worked a kick net in the margins in the morning and found much
the same species, plus some big mayfly nymphs over 5cm (2 inches) long.

After the reckoning, we drove to Stockbridge for a few drinks at the Mayfly Inn,
situated besides a weir on the Test. It rounded off a perfect day's fishing. I
would say that, wouldn't I?