Winter grayling on the Test – 2003/2004

 

Neil and I started our grayling season with a weekday in November. The weather was  fine, but the fishing hard. Robbie the bailiff was cutting weed upstream and we really should have tried another carrier, but a couple of good shoals kept us keen.

 

It was also a prospecting trip. I wanted to try out some of the more distant beats and give the dry fly a chance. I moved upstream and covered the water as I went along. Shadows in the water indicated the presence of grayling and brown trout. Quite a few olives were hatching, but my imitations were totally ignored.

 

Moving back downstream, I stationed myself behind a bush and cast a spider pattern to a small shoal. First catch was the tree just behind and to my right. There was just a narrow gap between the bush and the tree to cast between. Next cast was fine and I took a small grayling.

 

I tried several more attempts, this time rolling the line upstream after each drift to save casting. Success, a nice grayling took the spider and after a brisk fight was landed and then released. It measured about 11”.

 

We both had a couple more fish in the morning and then nothing in the afternoon. Towards evening a kingfisher flew up and down the river finishing off a lovely day.

 

Our next trip was on the 30th November, with the West End Fly Fishers club. Again, this was a prospecting trip for the forthcoming club grayling championship.

At the end of the upstream beat, Mark and Cocktail Cabinet were having some success in a wide section of riffles with spider patterns cast downstream and across and allowed to swing back across the current. I’ve noticed the Czech nymph is often taken just as it swings round and downstream too.

 

I just fished with dries and various nymph patterns, to see if any were more effective than the Czech nymph, but have to conclude that none of them came near. I had four fish for the day, I’ll have to do better for the championship in a fortnight.

 

14th December 03

The DD shield competition is covered here…

 

28th December 2003

This was a much needed post-Christmas retreat for most of us. I even managed to get Colin the fat plumber to come and probably the piece de resistance was going to be lunch, Thai Green chicken curry cooked by Thai Joe.

 

Colin and a number of the other anglers there today were grayling virgins. I rigged up my spare rod and handed it to Colin and we trudged off into the distance. At the second riffle, we cast our Czech nymphs upstream and allowed them to drift down and then across. A cold wind blew downstream and it was not long before our hands began to go numb. Colin’s left hand was particularly badly affected. Still, we both had a fish there.

 

Once he had thawed his hand, we moved further on and tried a pool. Here I took four fish and Colin had a couple at the tail of the run.

 

Moving downstream slowly we came across a shoal with some big specimens in a bend of the river. I’d never seen fish there before, but Colin had another fish there. They were very nervous though and we moved on after 10 minutes.

 

I had a fish on in broken water, but it got off, not an unusual occurrence. Again in a pool above a small bridge, I hooked and lost another fish. Below the bridge, I saw a few good fish, but they were no mugs and ignored my nymph.

 

A pair of snipe rose from the frozen reeds and zig-zagged across the meadow out of sight.

 

At the next pool, I had four good fish and Colin had another couple. Continuing downstream, we came to a deep slow moving section which can be hit and miss, but I cast upstream in hope and on the second cast hooked a good grayling about 1lb in weight.

 

On our way back upstream, Colin took another fish in a pool and we joined the others at the hut for Thai grayling/trout fishcakes and Joe’s Thai green chicken curry. The curry was superb. Joe’s recipe is simple enough. He cooks together chopped chicken thighs, a good bunch of fresh Thai basil, plenty of Kaffir lime leaves, halved green aubergines, coconut cream, chopped chillis and a little fish stock.

 

Who dat, Bob and Thai Joe.

 

After lunch, Colin and I took Joe with us as he had yet to catch a grayling. I set up his terminal tackle as follows. 5ft (1.52m) of 4lb fluorocarbon. Tie another 6” (15cm) length of the fluorocarbon a foot or so from the fly line with a simple loop knot. Tie on some floss as an indicator to this short piece. This will allow you to adjust the height of the nymph.

 

At the first weir, I showed Joe how to cast and fish the nymph. On the second cast I hooked a fish which got off after thrashing about on the surface for a couple of seconds. Joe had a go and seemed to be doing everything he should, but got no takes.

Moving on, we visited pools we had seen fish in earlier, but still Joe was getting nowhere. Finally, I took him to a pool guaranteed to produce and told him “If you can’t catch a fish here, you may as well give up grayling fishing.” Needless to say, he still blanked.

 

Joe bottom fishing in the sunset

 

In fact, the fishing was much harder in the afternoon, often the case when the water has been covered in the morning. However, Colin and I managed another fish apiece before calling it a day.

 

25th Jan 04

 

It was misty in this part of Hampshire and a deep frost coated the landscape. A watery sun barely made it through the mist, creating an eerie setting.

 

  Winter landscape

 

Strangely, it did not feel cold, but after a few casts, we all found our rod rings blocked with ice crystals. Moving quickly downstream, I started fishing a deep pool and very quickly caught. The cold and mist seemed to have no effect on the grayling, except that they were in the riffles more than the pools for a change. This may have helped me get close without disturbing them as I took several fish with ease. Close into the banks, I could see some good brown trout, fine sport for another season.

 

This week, Hughie organised a lunch at the Bullington Arms. Lunch was a bit protracted and Richard and I were glad to escape early and return to fishing. We went our own ways and I had a number of good grayling after that. Tally for the day was 13 fish.

 

February 22nd

 

Joe was back from Thailand and I took him with me to get his first grayling. We crept about the undergrowth sneaking up on some good locations with no result. I managed to lose my fishing bag for half an hour. Covering the ground we had just fished, I came across Richard playing his 3rd fish in a pool we had covered earlier.

 

  Richard with two grayling

 

I did catch one fish eventually, but Joe continued to blank.

When we got back to the hut at lunchtime, I asked Hughie why he hadn’t mentioned to me that Joe was short for Jonah. The guy is jinxed.

 

After a swift meal at the pub, I went off on my own again, this time walking a complete circuit of the river and side carrier. Near to the village, I found some deep water and pulled a couple of nice grayling from it. Working back upstream, I found no interest until I reached a small weir close to the hut. I hooked and lost a fish about 25cm in length and decided to call it a day.

 

I saw Joe back at the hut and the blighter had managed to catch his fist ever grayling. That is one grayling virgin less in the club. I’m not sure if there are any left, but there are new members coming along all the time.

 

Well, that’s it for the present grayling season. The others are fishing one more day, but I will be otherwise occupied.