End in sight?

As the year moves on and the lengthening days presage the arrival of spring, grayling fishing draws to a close on 15th March . This is the beginning of the close season for what are termed "coarse" fish, and although the grayling is a member of the salmon family, it spawns in the spring rather than the winter like other UK game fish. Although it may be wrong of me to do so, I consider the grayling a game fish.

My wife has been very understanding and supportive of my fly fishing. We took up this fascinating sport together in 2008, becoming Rockbourne regulars and using what would become an annual holiday on the Isle of Harris to fish for salmon and wild brown trout in a mixture of different lochs. Sarah no longer fishes but still holds the family salmon record with the handsome cock fish shown below.

This was taken on a fairly wild day at the beginning of September 2010. We'd fished the morning without success, and in the afternoon moved to a different loch further up the river system. Tim, our ghillie, had just commented that the wind was getting up and we'd have to go in when the fish took Sarah's orange muddler as she dibbled it back across the surface. This was literally no more than a metre from the boat - exciting, or what?

15 minutes of high drama ensued, the only time I've ever seen the fly line off the reel and some yards of backing for good measure. This was one of the first reels we'd loaded and spooled ourselves - the knots duly held, tension between angler and salmon was maintained, we put into the bank in order to land and swiftly release this magnificent fish. Tim reckoned this weighed about 8lbs, a well above-average sized fish for Harris. I recall we packed up after that and took a shaking (with excitement) Sarah to a pub for some medicinal single malt.

Not bad for a crappy phone camera.......

The best salmon I've ever managed on Harris went to 5lbs, caught the year before Sarah's. Another quite dramatic capture, although a different loch and from the bank. Heavy, heavy rain overnight had brought the water level right up, and the runoff was continuing to torrent into the loch in a couple of places. I fancied one of these spots, and trudged the half mile or so to get into position. My third or fourth cast into this oxygenated water produced a savage, rod-wrenching take and the fight was on in quite a strong current. I was grateful for 10lb breaking strain tippet, my Greys GRx 9ft 6in 7wt, and my wife for arriving promptly with the net.

Preparing for the table

This was a clean, silver fish; the fishery manager (who arrived after the capture) was adamant that we should take this one for the table, which we duly did.

It's interesting to reflect that we didn't make it back to Harris last year, holiday plans this year are already made around family commitments so neither will we in 2013.

Anyway, the end of the 2012/3 grayling season is in sight and I need to record a visit yesterday to the Test at Timsbury. Not the day ticket stretch but the next water upstream, courtesy of Lloyd's Fly fishers. I was once again to have the pleasure of Nicholas Steedman's company.

Yesterday was bitterly cold, with a nor' easterly wind bringing flurries of snow throughout and little or no sunshine. The main river was high and coloured, as were the carriers. We had a plan to start at the end of the main carrier nearest the access road and work our way upstream.

Spot the angler

This was an early start - fishing by 08.30 and the place to ourselves. There are a number of beats here, each of which comprises carrier and main river fishing, but outside of the trout season these do not apply. I think this is the start of Beat 1 on the carrier. Nicholas commenced proceedings with a small but very welcome grayling, whilst I persevered with my first attempt at fishing a French leader. What little wind there was made this baptism a challenge - but I persevered.

Probably with my first "decent" cast of the day into mid-stream, something very strange happened as my sighter stopped then moved upstream. Instinct took over and I lifted the rod tip into a fish, which soon made it's presence known as a grayling. My third visit to this fishery, and I had a fish at last! By the way, I firmly believe this is more to do with me than the fishery as I have seen plenty of candidates for selection on my previous visits.

Who'll give me a pound and a bit for this pewter beauty?

This was a great start to the day; thinking we'd found the fish at the off, surely where there was one then more would follow? This turned out not to be the case, strangely, and we moved on to an inviting looking hatch pool. Nicholas set up about 30 metres downstream and caught a fish of a pound and a half or so, whilst I rolled my heavy nymphs around the quieter side of the rough water seams. To no avail.

A pattern began to emerge, to which the rest of the day would conform. Sight fishing was difficult with the high, coloured water so we prospected the likely looking spots. Lunch came and went, restoring our spirits with hot soup and Whisky Macs.

The afternoon produced a micro grayling and one trout for Nicholas whilst I alternated between using my French leader and nymphing rig dependent upon the water being fished. The afternoon had passed fishless but interesting and enjoyable, nonetheless, until I decided about 16.00 to find Nicholas and suggest we call it a day.

Thus, agreement was reached, but as is his wont Nicholas wanted a couple more casts where we'd caught first thing and I was happy to oblige. It was an opportunity to observe how a French leader could be cast/ deployed with considerably more skill than I had managed!

Just one last cast... and another....

Nicholas' perseverance paid off, as his indicator shot forward and contact was made with a good fish. Initial excitement that this could be a very good grayling dissipated when the fish introduced itself as a rainbow trout. Quickly on the bank, we were able to admire a fish that was well-mended and in excellent condition. This fish was obviously adapting well to life in the wild and over-wintering well. It will make for some good sport when the trout season opens.

Remembering that it is called fishing rather than catching, this was a tough day. We couldn't find the grayling in any numbers but the nature of the day did not make it easy. A rise in temperature and resulting hatch would have been of welcome assistance, as would some clearer water. Despite a mainly dry last couple of weeks or so in Hampshire, more of the same will be needed before the colour goes from the water.

Talk as we packed up and made ready to depart turned to the forthcoming trout season, although there was clearly an ambition on both our parts for further grayling sorties before 15th March. Me, I was delighted to have caught a fish here after previous blanks - and on a French leader too! We'll have to see if this was the curtain coming down on our grayling season, or whether there may be an encore to relate.....

Fishing in the Footsteps of Mr Chefftree

With apologies to the Angling Legend that is John Bailey, and those responsible for Fishing in the Footsteps of Mr Crabtree, I found myself by the water at Holbury Lane Lakes with my very own "Peter". Except his name is Ben, he's ten years old, and the son of friends of ours. Ben had expressed a desire to go fishing, and I was asked if I would be able to oblige the young man. Hmmm, let me think - an afternoon spent jet washing patio versus a couple of hours pursuing some of the hardest fighting, best-tasting stillwater trout in Hampshire.

One of Tom Rosenbauer's most recent podcasts came to mind, and in a flash the arrangements were made. The weather was - for once - good as Ben and I headed through the forest towards the M27. Ben had played football in the morning, and - sustained by a hearty pasta-based lunch - was eagerly anticipating getting the most out of his time on the water in the afternoon.

Me - well, as is my wont, I had planned meticulously. Fully loaded fly vest - check. Suitable fly rod for a ten year old - check. And a flash of inspiration had come to me in church that very morning - overlining my 4wt Greyflex M2 with a 5wt line would make the whole experience more agreeable. Sorry Vicar, what was that again?

Anyway, cutting to the chase as I need to keep to the point. We duly arrived, paid for our 2 fish ticket,  tackled up, donned "cool dood" shades and headgear  and headed for the water. The emphasis today, I explained, was to be on enjoyment and having fun. Ben was a very good Peter, hugely enthusiastic, as I tried to demonstrate and explain the rudiments of the roll cast.

Apart from all this, I was just delighted to be back at Holbury. It amazes me that - at this time of year and on such a glorious day - we had the place to ourselves, practically. In the car, I'd explained to Ben the essential points about "put and take" waters - if we were fortunate to catch, what we caught would be killed and taken for the table. I was confident that we would catch, but Ben "totally got" the difference between fishing and catching.

We moved around a bit, and hit on a mutually agreeable formula of me doing the casting and Peter Ben doing the retrieving. We remained "Fishless in Seattle" and my young companion reminded me of our earlier discourse on the subject of changing flies. I recalled how I'd seen beadhead Montanas succeed in this particular lake previously, so the fly and our position were duly changed. With the sun on our back, we could more comfortably see and watch the tip of the flyline - this, I explained to Ben, would be our "telltale" when a fish took.

The change in position made things easier. Ben had previously registered a couple of "plucks" but I had seen nothing. Tempis was fugiting, and we had less than an hour to fish before "stumps". In went the Montana, and before I could give the rod to Ben I had to strip some line in. This time, I saw the end of the flyline misbehave. My lifting of the rod set the hook and instantly we were all "a quiver". Pausing only for me to get  the line on the reel, Ben took the rod.

An interesting ten minutes ensued. This was one feisty rainbow, line was taken when possible and given where necessary. Ben's right arm tired before the fish did, and so he passed the rod to me whilst snatching up the landing net in practically one movement. We were both excited, and in no time at all our quarry was netted, banked and dispatched. High fives ensued but the clock was against us - our need to get the fly back in the water was pressing.

Within ten minutes, another trout had followed the same path as the first. I was relieved, as the warmth had gone out of the sunlight and a chilly late afternoon was upon us. We weighed in two fish for 5lbs 4oz and completed our catch return. Packing up was completed swiftly, and I turned the heater in the car onto "HI" before heading for home.

For the record, Ben had a thoroughly enjoyable time as you can probably appreciate from the following picture.

Boy and trout were duly returned to grateful (and impressed) parents. I was impressed that Ben's dad knew what to do with the trout! It would be an untruth to say that no trout were "harmed" in the process of manufacturing this hugely enjoyable afternoon, but I view this as a "perk" of being at the top of the food chain.

Anyway, next weekend it's back to boring grayling fishing on the despicable River Test with that flippin' Nicholas Steedman. Apparently, I shall mostly be French Nymphing............

Thanks Ben for a great afternoon, and to Sara and Chris for asking me to do the honours with the young man. A very worthy Peter, as things turned out. The only thing missing was an opportunity for me to shout "STRIKE!!!!"....now where did I leave my pipe?

The Good, the Bad and the Grayling

Thursday 31st January

Courtesy of needing to use my "Christmas Shopping Day" by the end of January (rather than losing my entitlement to it), for the third occassion inside of a fortnight I found myself once more bound for the River Itchen.

It was my wife's idea - when I told her I was taking my Christmas Shopping Day her response was "Oh, I suppose you'll be going fishing." Genuinely, up to that point, I was going to suggest a day spent together - but I must admit I was quick to confirm that I would be fishing, as the beat closes from 1st February until the trout season opens it once more.

As I drove through the forest anticipating a better day weather-wise than the forecasters had mooted at the start of the week, I reflected on my 2012/ 13 grayling season, much of which has been recorded in this blog. Having fished for grayling four times in January is unprecedented, although owing to a brief illness interrupting me I only fished twice in December.

It has been an interesting three months. I consider this my first "proper" grayling season. Previous investment of time, money and effort in tuition, venues, flies, tackle set up etc., not to mention "stakeholder relationship management" with my wife, have paid off, I feel, to a satisfactory extent. I've also enjoyed blogging about all of this, remembering all the while that one never stops learning. The phrase "every day is a school day" springs to mind.....

I'm also getting in the mood for a bit of variety in my fishing. Both in terms of other venues to fish for grayling between now and 15th March and maybe to get out to a stillwater or two - Holbury Lane Lakes and/ or Manningford spring to mind. We have a trip to Scotland planned around Easter, to visit my mother and father-in-law, and I aim to fit in some Loch fishing whilst north of the border. Not forgetting, of course, the obliging little wild browns in Ted and Judy's burn.

At the moment, I'm not sure whether I will fish for grayling again before the 15th March, or whether this will have been my last outing. We'll have to see.

Anyway, back to the day. As I said earlier, things were looking promising in terms of the weather. There was a bit of wind as I tackled up with a fairly standard duo rig - Klinkhammer and RNPTN. I persevered with this for half an hour or so, as the wind was gusting ever more strongly. This, combined with the water being even higher and more coloured than on my previous visit, convinced me that a change of tactics was needed. I wasn't happy with my control or presentation, so decided to switch to a mymphing rig for some short-line tactics.

I've been experimenting with one of these, which is quite "hi viz" in its own right, to which I have attached one of these, which is even more so. I tied on a few feet of tippet, added a dropper, this went on the point and this on the dropper.

I also moved upstream to a more sheltered stretch of water. Yes, you've guessed it - back to the hatch pool and just above it. The Olive Quill went down well in the hatch pool and this was the best grayling taken from there.

The point fly accounted for a couple of brown trout - stocked fish, judging by the size/ colouration - so I moved on. I had been very comfortable, short-line nymphing practically under the rod-tip from the bank. However, now I needed to enter the water in order to fish what I thought would be the productive areas. This was a more exposed position, with the wind again gusting and degrading control/ presentation. So on went a no. 4 split shot and that seemed to give the "oomph" needed to counteract the wind.

I find this sort of nymphing quite rythmical and a relaxing way to fish. Even with all the hi-viz  on my leader, at times I was struggling with the bright sunlight and glare on the water to see what was occurring. The wind was gusting ever more strongly but I was reticent to add more shot so persevered.

Fishing from the same spot where Nicholas extracted a lunker the previous Saturday, and employing a heady cocktail of deliberate/ inadvertent induced takes, I manged to winkle out a couple more. This time, to the point fly.

Looking at the pictures one would think this was the most pleasant day of the "trilogy" to be by the water. It was not. In fact, it was quite hard work with the light, the high water and strong, chilly wind. A brief sortie in the hatch pool punctuated my return to the car. I had promised to be home early as more fun and frivolity was planned for the evening. Stop it, you lot - we'd prebooked to go and see "Les Miserables" at Odeon Leisureworld in Southampton.

Tony's Top Tip for Today: if you haven't seen "Les Mis" yet, then cut along and do so. Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman are fantastic but....Sacha Baron Cohen steals the show. In the words of that great philosopher Nike - "Just do it"!

Now, where did I leave my mule????????

A Tale of Two Saturdays - Part Two: For a Few Grayling More

Saturday, 26th January

So here we were again, Nicholas Steedman and me, on the River Itchen in Hampshire. On the hunt for more grayling, following on from last week. The wintry conditions  had disappeared, in this part of the country anyway - the previous day/ night, the north of England had taken an Arctic battering. Thankfully, this hadn't affected Hampshire where - along with Herefordshire and Hertfordshire - hurricanes hardly ever happen.....

I'd had plenty of food for thought following our last outing. There had been time for me to listen several times to one of my favourite podcasts, in order to pick George Daniel's brains about nymphing rigs, in order to go for something a little more appropriate than my other leader setups.

Just a brief word about Orvis, Tom Rosenbauer, and his podcasts. Although these are inevitably biased to North America, I thoroughly enjoy downloading and listening to these on my iPad. I have a 1.5 hour + train journey each way on my daily commute to and from London, and Tom's podcasts are a darn good way to pass the time, along with Scrabble and various other tablet-based diversions.

Anyway, back to Mr. Daniel and his words of wisdom. I have George's book, the Kindle version, and this is another source of mental sustenance whilst at the tender mercies of Southwest Trains. Between listening and reading I was able to prepare a different setup for short-line nymphing as I sensed this would be a required approach for my next day by the water. It was this approach that I planned to deploy first, anticipating a return to the hatch pool.

Spot the difference from last week?

Oh, and I'd remembered to charge the battery on my wife's Lumix, in order to better document our second visit on consecutive weekends. As well as to bring a long-handled landing net for fishing the hatch pool.

At drift end...ready to lift n flick?

While I started off nymphing below the weir, trying to work the quieter seams and slacker water, Nicholas moved upstream to fish above the weir. In the first picture, once again I think you can make out the sighter in my setup, being a couple of feet of this material, tied onto my leader, finished off with a tippet ring and a suitable length of tippet. Nicholas observed that my fly choice was unlikely to tempt grayling and so it proved, with an out-of-season brownie coming to my net and being swiftly returned. I changed my fly. But, at least I would be able to tell Gary that I'd given his creation a "swim".

Nicholas fishing a little upstream from me

Already from these pictures it's clear the conditions were very different from last week. The river was much higher and nowhere near as clear, although water clarity improved during the day.

Nicholas into a fish in the hatch pool

Yes, the snow had definitely gone and the previous two nights had seen heavy rainfall in Hampshire, but the day was clearer and brighter than we'd experienced for a while. There was a wind, though, and this made it feel colder although once again Whisky Mac and hot tea was on hand.

Nicholas had his eye on parts of the beat that we hadn't fished the previous Saturday and went off to those reaches to investigate. After a brief wander upstream to no avail, I returned to the hatch pool with a heavy fly on the point and another of Gary Hyde's creations on the dropper....the tung-beaded PTN tempted some nice-sized grayling.

Lightly hooked, but in the bag nonetheless

I particularly liked the spots on the beauty above, and was enjoying having the dropper fly eaten. Briefly, I considered taking this fish as I've never eaten grayling and takeable this one most certainly was. No - back you go. It's amazing how hefty that 5x tippet looks.....

Nicholas returned with tales of more willing grayling - and we fished together for a couple of hours, chatting and being sociable. We discussed Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and some vilification he suffered on the forum for catching and "chapping" a grayling on one of his River Cottage episodes. This was interrupted by Nicholas hooking into a lunker which put a nice bend in his 2wt, as per the picture below.

In control, as the pulse quickens.....only just

This resulted in a long, slender and very beautiful fish of maybe a pound and three quarters coming to the net. I was pleased to do the honours but - between the three of us - we made a horlicks of it, the lady made her excuses and decided not to wait for a snapshot. Never mind, we have the memory.

I think by this stage of the day it had become apparent to Nicholas that little or no business was being done "dead drifting", and the customers seemed to respond to an "induced take" approach.

Moving further upstream, I hooked and lost a couple of fish before getting one to finally stick. This was my fish of the day. Interestingly, this one took so early in my drift that it was tantamount to "on the drop", which happens a lot on small stillwaters at this time of year.

Stop it, that tickles!

A closer view

The wanderlust manifested itself again - Nicholas went downstream and I gravitated back towards the hatch pool. Once again, the light began to fail and I was beginning to feel the pull of a planned dinner at The Pig that evening, causing me to up sticks and see what was occurring.

I found Nicholas further down the beat, enjoying some sport with yet more willing grayling. As testament to his dynamic approach, he was by now experimenting with more of a downstream approach. Our move back to the cars was interrupted by a sighting in the clear water of a very decent sized fish, and a crack was duly had at it. The result was never in doubt......

Number 35 for Nicholas?

And here is a closer look at this very handsomely spotted grayling:

What a difference a good camera makes

And - after that - it really was back to the cars for a last cup of tea before heading home. The weather and conditions couldn't have been more different from the previous Saturday, but it was well worth the effort for a few grayling more.

A Tale of Two Saturdays - Part One: A Fistful of Grayling

Saturday, 19th January.

Snow and ice had gripped most of the country but there was - once again - grayling fishing booked and paid for; even more so this time as I would be taking a guest. I waited patiently for Nicholas to arrive, appreciating that he had a much longer distance to travel than I did. I was eagerly anticipating - complete with fully charged hip flask - fishing for grayling in this alien Arctic landscape. I was also looking forward to fishing with Nicholas, whom I'd met once before a couple of years ago, and I know to be an accomplished grayling fisher. I think it's an excellent way to learn, fishing with others, especially those who are a few pages further along in the book.

On arrival, Nicholas was quickly layered and tackled up. Walking the beat, we spotted a couple of fish which were duly ignored as out-of-season trout and not our quarry for today. We moved on, upstream and onto the hatch pool, which we liked the look of. I watched Nicholas set about his task enthusiastically, marvelling again at the beauty of our wintry setting.

This was to prove a productive spot for heavy nymphs. The flow in this pool from over the weir is strong, a question of keeping in contact with flies and watching/ feeling for takes, which seemed to suit Nicholas' French leader set-up, complete with a very visible sighter. Of course, this was more a short-lining approach with most of the leader remaining on the reel but it was clearly very sensitive and effective.

Well-insulated and focussed - spot the sighter?

This was demonstrated in no time at all as a succession of grayling literally took the bait and our Saturday action was in full swing, on a river that was clearer and lower than on my previous visit.

First of the day

Nicholas explained that he likes the simplicity and flexibility of his leader arrangement. He felt he could do anything he needed with it, from this short-line nymphing tactic to longer leader nymphing, dry fly and so on. He was to demonstrate the reality of this throughout the day. I was particularly taken with his sighter, which was sensitive and readily visible without being garish.

Another one to hand

I also noted Nicholas's lanyard, having thought that I was travelling light with just a small chest pack slung out of the way behind me. Nicholas clearly had everything he needed on his lanyard, apart from his fly box which was tucked away in a jacket pocket. Incidentally, I was in possession of my wife's Lumix and hoping for better-quality pictures; sadly I had neglected to charge the battery and it died fairly quickly after the above were taken. Back to my camera phone........and a mental note that a long-handled net would make life easier in the hatch pool.

This was an incredibly pleasurable day, memorable not only for the weather but having spotted amorous trout cutting redds in the gravelly shallows below the hatch pool. The hip flask provided regular warming sustenance - full of Whisky Mac, which was particularly green gingery and most welcome. The hip flask itself is memorable, as it was a leaving gift from my colleagues at Lloyd's of London in 2010.

The afternoon saw us further upstream, working towards the upper limit of the beat. I filled Nicholas in as best I could on my experiences on this stretch of river to-date, confessing that there was still a significant part of it which I was yet to fish. I explained this by saying I was reticent to leave fish in order to find fish, generally speaking.

Grayling were relatively obliging and - pleasingly - we were managing to avoid out-of-season trout once we moved on from the hatch pool. Watching Nicholas fishing, and comparing his approach to mine, was an education, and I persevered with my nymphing rig - similar to the one I used on my previous visit. Whilst I bought fish to my net, I reflected on the need to perhaps be a little more dynamic in fitting the right approach to the given conditions.

Back to the crappy camera phone.....

Nicholas' approach was to mix n match short line and longer line nymphing, and deploy a dry fly to some particularly hardy rising fish. All with great success. Such a shame I hadn't checked my camera battery, but I think you get an idea of the conditions. It was actually reasonably comfortable, being well-layered and insulated, not to mention sustained by the Whisky Macs and cups of tea.

As the afternoon wore on, we moved back downstream to the hatch pool. More grayling obliged, talk of flies, other venues, and plans for the rest of the grayling season saw us through to a point where the light was failing and a long trip home was in front of Nicholas. There was, however, still time to sight fish and have a crack at a couple of lunkers on the way back to our cars.

We parted, looking forward to a return visit the following Saturday - same place, same time. But what would the weather and conditions be like?????