Fluff Chucking 2021

 

 Last year with the full nationwide lockdown I didn't get my 2020 instalment of what is now something of a once a spring trip. I always have immense fun with the fly rod, however most other disciplines take president and find myself neglecting it after a trip or two. So with our freedoms re-instated to an extent I decided this afternoon to pop out for a couple of hours to one of my old haunts. A wonderful section of urban chalkstream.

A typical run on this majestic little river.

 The target of course was Brown Trout and having been snowed on in the morning ( maybe 2inches ) the sun was beaming and made for a pleasant afternoon, armed with the polaroids I set out to catch me a fish!

 My fly of choice was hotly contested but fell back on this ( I don't know the name of the pattern ) but was devastating on the slow retrieve. Watching Trout queue up behind the fly as I worked it through the upper layers was a great sight, I could have had more than my impressive tally of 11 Brownies.

 So here are a few pics of my 3-hour trip.....

Tight, but with experience and light wind I could make it work.

Typical stamp of fiery juvenile Trout.

A slightly better one.

Another Juvi.

 I decided after reaching 10 that I my fun was done, great as it was it lacked the sight of anything big, apart from a fish around 2lb that I landed (but foolishly let it swim out of my net before photographing it) nothing showed nor presented itself to catch...as I began walking back to the car I ran a fly through the same pool I had the 2-pound fish from. A few good casts off the fast water provided nothing which I thought was probably due to the lack of fish in it, for me though that gave me more confidence as smaller Trout won't tend to hang around in areas where big fish are in residence, so I gave it a few more casts when a massive screech from the reel woke me out of my mid afternoon slumber!

A serious battle ensued as the desire to go over a weir seemed an ever present threat, on a 3.2lb Turrall's leader to a size 16 fly it was always going to mean the fish would constantly have the upper hand on me, mercifully she kept to the fringes of the deep pool and slowly tired herself out, I couldn't have been happier with my prize when the net bulged. All 4lb 4ozs of her!

Until 2022.....

Whetting the Appetite.

 It probably comes as no surprise that I haven't fished much in 2020 so far. A year that has been punctuated by a single catch of chub. Time has been available recently but have struggled to drag myself out and drown a few maggots or sit behind a couple of rods, largely owing to the poor weather conditions, some of it however has been down to me simply not feeling it much, strangely. A notion rarely felt in all these years.

 Last week I finally caved, I had to grab some gear and have a trot. The rivers all still up the options were limited. Chub and Dace were ultimately decided upon at the last minute as I made a quick dash to the tackle den and round up what I'd need.

 With the car loaded with my Grey's prodigy 12ft tactical float rod, Okuma sheffield 1002 centrepin (loaded with 4.4lb float fish) and a small 5BB float, fished in conjunction with a size 16 hook and white maggots/bread. A quick call to Brian en-route swayed him to decide on a day out rather than keeping the sofa warm at home. First port of call for me whilst I awaited Brian' arrival was a sweeping weir pool where two channels converge and a deep depression under the nearside bank often plays host to some good fishing.

 Filled with confidence I started to feed maggots on the crease and began running a float through in the vein hope of picking up a Dace as over the years I have managed some really big specimens to a number of tactics from this exact area. After a dozen trots through the float finally slipped under and I was met with some considerable resistance which was more substantial than I'd expect from a Dace! within seconds the inevitable shape of a brown trout broke the surface as a series of acrobatics kept me entertained before slipping off the hook a foot from the rim.

 To tell the truth for the next twenty minutes and countless trots that lost trout seemed to have set a precedent as another two fish (both trout) managed to slip off the hook. Upon the third loss I checked the hook point as it was strange to have such a poor hook-up ratio so early on, but fresh out of the packet it was tack sharp and with that put it simply down to bad luck. A further dozen or so trots through resulted in nothing and with that got myself downstream to try a few more areas that may have fish holding up.

 With so much high water of late I guess a lot of fish have been displaced and found this to be consistent with my thinking as glides and depressions that often hold fish were completely empty, with the clarity being as good as it was I didn't have to fish it to know. Finding and catching fish was becoming a struggle!

Paddle on that!

 Apart from the odd trout that I finally managed to keep on the hook it wasn't easy going until I reached the top field where I had a plan to change from the float to a small 25g feeder that I flicked into the margins. It didn't take long for the rod tip to start bouncing before thumping upstream. Within an hour I had managed seven chub to around 2lb and a Barbel of around 4lbs which was something I was not expecting. So all in all it wasn't easy and the Dace yet again have avoided detection and starting to wonder why I can not find them!

Grayling Away Day.

 To tell the truth this trip wasn't necessarily in search of Grayling but knew the likelihood of my initial target, the Roach making an appearance on the bank would be quite a long shot. A beautiful mid-autumn morning gave way to a largely bright sunny day and although fishing was far from easy I did make the very best out of my time in what is as close to angling heaven as I've come to experience.

Immaculate.

 Excluding out of season trout I didn't catch a fish in the first three of my time on the bank, first Grayling of the day was very much worth the wait however, first go for them this season and the first fish is a two-pound plus specimen, can't get a lot better than that. As I gazed through the crystal clear water that flows through the pristine Hampshire countryside more fish of similar calibre sauntered across perfect gravels, simply teasing me as countless attempts to add to my great start slipped by without as much as a flinch.

2lb 2ozs, first Grayling of the day!

 It took some getting used to the constant assault from the Trout with some of them well over five pounds and putting my very light but well balanced trotting setup to the test, often beating Grayling out the way to the double/treble white maggot, some were really stunning too in great autumn condition. I did get another chance at a big Grayling but through all the control I had at the start of the fight the last ten seconds went horribly wrong as I lost concentration and the hook pulled as the fish turned on the frame of the net and dislodging the hook in the mesh. 

 Plenty of Trout action continued to marginalise the Grayling and in the end, the Roach. It took most of the day to find a Roach, but when I did I watched two monsters easing across the other side of the river to a slack under a bush, nothing much I could do about it as the Roach had already made me. Seeing them gave me my plan for dusk and concreted my hopes about at least targeting one or more.

 Having struggled with the "Ladies of the Stream" I had a little blast at the pike and was treated to five in a short spell, nothing big which was to be expected, nevertheless good fun and then it was back to the Grayling to tie me over until an hour before dark when I changed tactic to a small 10g cage feeder with mashed bread in a marginal slack.

A pristine Test Valley Esox.

A few in the end came along, I seemed to get into my groove, not before time!

 My wait for dusk had been patient as I could see Roach starting to appear from downstream of where I was sat and as the light began to fall the delicate liners began as the now fifteen strong shoal of redfins, some which were way way way over 2lbs sifted through the weed on the bottom, only to get a quick tap on the quivertip, followed by a brutal wrap around, I really thought for a second or two that a monster Roach was on the other end, that hope was quickly dashed as large trout, possibly 7-8lbs bow waved across the river backwards and forwards, much to the irritation of the Roach that after 30-40 seconds slowly drifted away downstream to whence they came. One shot to catch the seemingly impossible was done, but not without one last go.

 Having seen them already make their way upstream once the hope they would repeat that feat now the commotion had settled was firmly in mind. I settled a new feeder full of mashed bread down on the same crease and sat back listening to the Tawny Owls in the trees behind me calling away as a fox harked across the fields for its partner. A lovely atmosphere to be immersed in, all I could wish for at that point was the serenity to be broken by a blabbering wreck of an angler as a monster Roach lay in his net...

...but no matter how much I wished, my time came and went and once again these leviathans eluded capture, more often than not this is the outcome when targeting such weary and measured fish. I will be back to give them another go, the cards may well be stacked in my favour on another day.

Fluff Chucking Madness!

 Canal carp have taken up most of my angling time this spring, well, a trio of tench trips have possibly taken up the rest, so any time targeting trout has had the kibosh put on it. Why after all this time that I finally decided to dust off my 4wt was because the preceding evening I took my daughter for a walk along the river to just see if the river was in good condition and generally just to do my bit to let out-of-season anglers know they are not supposed to be fishing.

 With the sun out and a pleasant evening and armed with the DSLR I hoped I'd get some photo opportunities and how glad I was that I did. I was treated possibly the best taking of flies ever in my life, the Trout didn't care about me and I snapped a good few pics off. This show of fish got me thinking. The next evening after work I shot off home briefly and grabbed that 4wt and a couple of boxes of flies, it was game on!.

Just a couple of about twenty keepers!

 Not wasting anytime I drove up to where I saw this healthy group of trout. Now I know there are few through this river but stocks seem to proliferate in the upper reaches and I only needed three casts at my first sighting and a stunning cock-brownie around a pound was in the bag "so to speak", only catch and release in my mind.

Strike One!

 The "Daddy Long Legs" falling victim to this awesome looking fish and it didn't take long for this deadly fly to claim another spotty!

Strike Two!

 Then, after a lull of possibly twenty minutes where I had to go looking for more fish as those in that pod became very spooky and its not hard to see why!

 When the stream is just over a rod lengths wide! But what an awesome place it is and that wasn't all either as I crossed paths with a big trout, so big I didn't know what do in terms if I got the chance to tempt it! Surely any inclining that it was in trouble would have me going berserk, now, that fish after a few casts did come up and stare at my fly, a take looked likely and on the very next cast I got the line just to sit straight and the fly was slurped off the top by a large cock-brownie, in water nearly as deep as it was is mind blowing and my fly rod started to piss line as it screamed off. Just ten seconds into the fight all of a sudden my line went completely slack and he was gone.

 On closer inspection as I retrieved the tippet the fish had cut the line above the fly! I was gutted and rightly so, that would have been an incredible fish from this diminutive stream.

 With my heart rate still through the roof and my Polaroids still steamed up I got off the bank and gathered myself to go again. Even after just ten seconds any other fish there would be long gone in the crystal clear water. I pushed on up above a small weir roughly 30 yards upstream where I hoped the commotion wouldn't have put the trout off feeding. Having chilled out for a few minutes I got the fly rod back out and retied another DLL size 10 on and began to stalk the water again.

 Tight against the far bank margins I could see a shape of a fairly large trout, just under the overhanging ivy, having only tasted defeat so soon I only decided to flick a fly out and allow it to drift when I felt confident that he or she had come away from the foliage for me to stand a chance at being successful, five minutes later and my pain was replaced with elation as my little trout pan was filled with a monster male!

 That will quench my fluff chucking thirst for another year! What an evening it was.

Time For Fat Dace.

 As February the 1st comes along my mind starts to wander from what I have been targeting and slowly the want to target Dace kicks in. They are great summer sport with bags often weighing 10-20lbs can be had on good days with smatterings of Chub and Roach thrown in. Now is the time though for anglers serious in attempting to achieve the dizzy heights of specimens of the pound mark and possibly beyond.

 In my lifetime lady luck has shone brightly as I approach double figures for pound plus specimens (currently eight) and many back up specimens from 13oz and up. It was time for lady to shine once again. It is time once again. This time I want to see if some of my past leviathans can be beaten or will they simply be a memory, to never be beaten. A loaf of Hovis certainly is the sort of bait to winkle them out.

A 6gr avon wire stem, just to keep on the creases.

 I got down fairly late as all the people on the damn roads didn't realise I had fishing to do! inconsiderate people I tell you! After finally battling my way through the hoards the river trundled through in front of me as I parked up. Gin clear but carrying a nice bit of water which wasn't surprising as since 1st of Feb came along we have been catching up on all the rain we should have got from January. It was from recollection the 7th driest since records began and it did seem that way.

 The conditions filled me with hope and not before long my 6gr avon wire stem was hurled out towards the far bank where I hoped Dace would be holding station, just out the flow, hugging the creases. My plan sounded great but the Chub didn't get the memo as I netted one after another, good sport, not the target. Try as I did they would not leave me alone..after the third or fourth run I started to think the Chub were simply in a ravenous mood and that Dace simply wouldn't get there first and I was very nearly right, that was until this cracker turned up. Best of the year so far and hopefully the first of many (If I get the time).

My one and only of the day at 13oz flat.

 Not to cut it short but for the Dace, that one fish was my lot, so much so that I changed target and headed downstream. It wasn't just a big Dace that I'd get my hands on. It took nearly half an hour to start getting bites, hitting them was another problem, the sheer speed that the bait was being hit in the fast pace of the water provided another problem that I had to negotiate, I'm all on for problem solving but I did very nearly give up nearly an hour in until one finally slipped up and it was a lovely Roach of 1lb 7oz, then I had obviously done something different, as I hit another five in the next dozen or so trots, a couple more around the pound mark. The best was to come and just as dusk was settling in too. Oh and this little fella popped along too.

Love a gonk.

 Doing nothing different by this point it was obvious that the bigger fish were switching on as I connected with a ripping pull of the float, in the flow all the fish felt good but this one didn't feel like a Roach at all, such was strength. As she rolled on the surface I could see it was a very good one and looked to be over the magical two-pound mark, the remainder of the fight was played with caution. In she went !

 Excited to see if I had caught my first two pound plus Roach of the season I put her straight on the scales...

 ...One Pound Fourteen ounces...oooooohhhh that was close and if I had lost her I'd have sworn it be a "two". Full of excitement I slipped her in the keepnet and got the bait back out there. Three trots later the float began to reach the end of the run where it shallows up to a weedy/gravel bar, as I began to retrieve the float some 25 yards it dipped and vanished, for a split second I thought it was a little fish as it swam upstream, straight up to me. I didn't think for a second that I'd be connected to yet another Roach of fantastic proportions! This one looked bigger than the fish, not in length but the girth was nothing that I have seen the likes of before! With jelly legs still only just recovering from the first I had its sister in the net! This one felt heavier and again I wasted no time in weighing her.

 One pound fifteen ounces.....oooooooohhhhhh thats even closer :), I didn't know what to do with myself, to know and catch Roach like that is good for the soul, especially where they came from and it's past pedigree is slowly being rediscovered and enjoyed. The light was failing fast and I really wanted to get a couple of pics before the sun set, disaster set however when I had a flat battery which I possibly ran out photographing my Dace earlier on...I must charge them as a matter of habit because its not the first time...

 What a day it was, challenging is certainly a way of describing it, trotting 15-40 yards with 25-30mph cross winds and 6-10 inches of additional water to contend with, not to mention a very achy arm after a day of constant trotting, been a while since I fished that hard and I had to. It was a case of effort equals reward.

 A brace of Roach for 3lb 13oz and a few drams, 13oz Dace, Trout to 3lb+, Gudgeon to 1oz made for an enjoyable trip.

Happy as a pig in....

The Dutch Maestro.

 For a few days back in October a friend of mine, Yannick, made the journey over from the Netherlands to taste a little of what England has to offer in regards to angling. Funnily enough, Holland has pretty much every species that we do, however, certain species such as the Barbel and Grayling are not as widespread as they are here in the UK and makes targeting them back home a real challenge, so the plan was to target a different species every day that Yannick was here.

 As time drew closer to his arrival I was watching the weather and river levels intently, this single aspect would make or break certain waterways and their targets, Barbel love a bit of coloured water, on the flip side the Grayling aren't so keen, finding feeding Grayling in the coloured water often proves fruitless unless you as the angler is comfortable with a maggot feeder approach and await the enquiries, I am not so comfortable with it. Not a purists approach in my honest opinion.

 Thankfully as Yannick arrived at Luton for me to meet him we had our first named storm of the season (put sarcastically) where everywhere got a good drenching and the strong winds forced most of the trees to shed their leaves.........oh joy :), The plan was to find a couple of areas to drop some bait in and come back to them around dusk to see if any fish were home, the time leading up to that we went on a mobile approach. When covering such large distances between feeding pods of fish its the only way, my preferred method for certain.

 After an hour or so of trying my Mark IV Avon was bent over backwards as a furious Barbel opted to head for cover rather than play nicely. The combination between my match aerial and 6lb line made for a great fight, not the biggest I've ever caught but a good reward as nothing up to that point was showing and the anonymity puzzling as I can often find fish, even with difficult conditions. Maybe 5lb 8oz I had a quick snap and off she went, this trip wasn't about me so continued on in search of more to give Yannick the chance to experience the fight a Barbel can give.

 For around four hours we continued to search but our efforts weren't rewarded like we thought they would be, with dusk looming we both got prepared for a couple of hours of static fishing. Knowing that dusk is often the best time to get an opportunity if its going to come we prepared everything and got a bit more bait out so that the baits were in the water for "prime time".

 Not twenty minutes later, the outside quiver tip sprung into life and slammed around, like a snake poised, Yannick was on it and his chance of a Barbel had materialised! The only question was would it come to net and surrender?

Never in doubt !

 A happy man indeed and weighing in at 8lb 1oz, not bad for his first.

 Not long after that Barbel went back the heavens decided to open, we kept our minds focused for another hour without incident, with that we decided to beat a hasty retreat to my house and we got ourselves warm with a firm eye on the next day!

 A nice early start and we were in the car on route to the Hampshire Countryside for a days Grayling, this was one trip I was thoroughly looking forward to as I haven't fished for the Lady of the Stream much of late, conditions weren't terrible but plenty of rain was in the forecast, along with 18mph winds the forecast didn't disappoint and was bang on......by 11am we were battling the elements, cracking on early doors to get the best fishing done was order of the day and after slow starts for us all Brian, who joined us two caught a couple of stunning specimens to a smidgen under two pounds and after finding his feet Yannick got amongst the bigger fish with the best weighing 1lb 12oz which turned out to be his personal best and he delighted with that!

 For me, the trip wasn't as successful as I hoped for but to see the boys catch well I was more than happy. 

 Oh and a few out of season Trout also made their presence known....

 After a swift trip back to London we planned our next days fishing and although I knew we had a lot of rain I fancied a trip to the tidal Thames for a days predator fishing, something that I thought would be great fun, just one issue with that particular plan was that I hadn't envisaged the river was heaving through and coloured more than I thought it would be.

 Not to be deterred, the boat got set up and off we went, in waters that maybe we shouldn't have......it was more like a washing machine than a weir pool, but we were there and to fish, to begin with we fished the little slacks amongst the rolling water in the vein hope of a take. With small Chublet on the business end it was a matter of time. 

 Out of the blue around 2pm my float slipped under and I was met with a solid Pike, followed by another within just 5 minutes. Things were starting to hot up and not after long the flying dutchman also got his reward for the constant roving around. 

Not the biggest there but mint condition.

 As always is the case on the Thames action usually comes thick and fast in little spells, we knew bites wouldn't come much easier and had to make the most of it. For us though bite time appeared to last just 20 mins and all four runs came off a patch of maybe a meter square! such was the precision required to get a fish, crazy as its not a small area to work, to get it down to an area that small and catch for us was quite incredible as has we not found that tiny area we would have blanked, no doubts about it.

 The last day before Yannick was due to go home was spent targeting a species of fish we have many of here, but in the Netherlands they aren't as prevalent, that species...the Chub. For us, they are in practically every waterway from the far southwest of the country to the lower regions of Scotlands and Northern England.

 For me four pound Chub are dead easy to catch and I know many places to target them, so, with that knowledge I "expected" us to catch a hat full. Obviously I was chuffed when on the second trot of the day resulted in a nice Chub around 3.8, that was exactly how I wanted it to start, for the next 4 hours bites came steady as did the Chub, a nice bag of fish up to 4lb 4oz was a good day, however the larger fish remained elusive as I know it does fish over 5lb and some in excess of 5lb 8oz, luck of the draw I suppose. Not bad for a first time!

Itchen Grayling Best.

 A week or so ago myself and Brian hot footed it down to the Itchen with Grayling in mind. Our 75 mile trip typically takes around an hour and thirty minutes on a good run, our destination? unknown. The plan was to park up where we could on a part of the river where free access was granted and fish our proverbial tits off. The only issue with that was the snow had already began to melt as we set off into Hampshire, we were certainly up against the clock because once that melt/runoff begins to enter the river it's practically game over.

 Knowing we had possibly a couple of hours we decided to get some fish on the scorecard, however, this wasn't an easy task either as trout were posing as a real nuisance, fly boys I apologise in advance, but they were eating everything before the grayling had a chance.

 I think I began fishing around 8am and took me nearly 2 hours to get my first grayling to the net. It wasn't the sort of response I was expecting to tell the truth, sub zero nights for possibly 7 or 8 consecutive nights really should have had the grayling feeding hard but I failed by and large to get a head of steam, problem was myself and Brian were having a grayling comp' and he was already pulling away.

 The hours ticked by fairly quickly and I slowly chewed into the early pace setter with a couple fish here and there, most were around the 10-12oz mark but as the day drew to a close I hit a heavy fish at around 40 yards downstream and I dare not push it. All day I was hoping to get something half decent but it never materialised, this was my chance so I played the fish cautiously as for most of the fight I thought it was a very good Roach.

 Roughly ten yards from where I began my trot a large dorsal fin cut through the now cloudy water, the unmistakable beauty of a large grayling came into view, just what I came for. It looked a two-pounder all day as she crept gingerly over the lip of the net. Weight in truth means very little when something this awesome has just graced your net but I am a stickler for facts and figures so I couldn't go without knowing.

1lb 13oz 8dr

 My day was complete and my desire to continue fishing ebbed away after that, I proceeded to watch Brian pull further ahead to complete the scoring at 15-11 by the close, a good day had all around. Not to mention that was my best river Itchen grayling to date.

River Test Roaching.

 For more than a week leading up to last Saturday I had dreams every night about monster roach, specimens over 3lb certainly live here and the numbers of 2's are amazing, catching them however has proven so far to be a very difficult task. I like to think I know a thing or two about catching large roach as over the last 17 years the number stands at 28 over the 2lb mark, my ultimate fish of a lifetime would be a three-pound specimen, for me, that would be the pinnacle of my angling achievements regardless of what I achieve thereafter.

 Trotting waters where these creatures reside just gives me goosebumps, the deep glides amongst the far bank tree-lines and swirling pools are the real lures when I begin fishing them. These very swims are where I began my pursuit last weekend. 430am wake up call and on the road before 5am sounds crazy and yes, it might be, but with a 80 mile journey ahead and a sunrise at 720am time was and always is of the essence. Roach simply have that ability to captivate me like no other species. Armed with all the best winter baits for roach I felt confident that should their location be found I stood half a chance to get amongst a few, however, the game fish ( Brown Trout and Grayling ) are also in good numbers here which does make targeting the roach even more of challenge.

Sunrise to rival all, truly magical, but cold at -4c.

 Grayling seemed to be playing ball early on as a few came in quick succession to just over a pound before the Trout moved onto the loose feed and proceeded to trash the run, it was soon time to move on as once the trout really get feeding the competition is so one-sided, everything just either moves up or down or as often is the case shut up shop until the trout ease up. I find with roach they feed best when the trout aren't present at all, so floating trout out of a trot with bread crust often works wonders, not fool proof by any means but better than nothing. Throughout the next four runs all I could find was more eager trout until I came across a nice slow deep run which typically isn't a natural holding area for trout, a couple of maggots were flicked out before fishing and my second trot down resulted in an above average grayling of a pound or so, not bad but not as big as the next one.

 I sent my 7BB float, bulk shotted, down the run again and as it reached a dead spot where the float eased off the flow it sailed away, I struck into the fish and it leapt clear like a trout, it looked like one too, so to keep it out of the swim from ruining it further I played it fairly quickly, luckily for me it didn't come off, as it approached the net out of the deep water it quickly became a big grayling! it wasn't panic stations and all that but that could have gone wrong easily, not this time though. A stunning 2lb 2oz grayling lay in the net whilst I waited for a gap in the rain to take a photo, it wasn't easy either.

 Not a monster roach but a big grayling are a very pleasing substitute, it wasn't the only one either, an hour so later, a couple of hundred meters downstream I landed another exactly 2lbs which took maggots just 10-12 inches under the surface in four feet of water, I could have sworn it was a trout for a few reasons, alas, I was very happy to see it nestled in my net. The session had taken a rather expected turn in relation to the grayling showing in good numbers, the roach population still remained completely anonymous.

2.02

2.00

 When roach are difficult to locate I tend to just fish areas where I can't see the bottom, on the Test there aren't many areas where this isn't possible and often a nice tree-line would also play into my hands, both of which were present on this next run, I decided to spend the rest of the day fishing and had some success on the redfin's front as a flurry of activity over the course of a forty five minute period saw seven roach to 1.07 come to the net before the trout realised there was food available, bane of my life! But a great day in what initially started in appalling conditions after sunrise and the weather closed in, as the forecast predicted.

Little beauties.

Chalkstream Trout.

 One thing I love about the river closed season for coarse fishing is the fly rod makes the odd appearance and I really enjoy casting a piece fluff around with the vein hope in fooling one or two Trout, to be honest I'd like to try a couple of lakes for some Trout as I feel I have done okay on the rivers for wild Brown Trout.

 I finished work nice and early on Tuesday and thought as I had a rod in the motor that I should pop on the waders, grab the camera and go for a wander. At first I struggled to find fish of any description but as I looked harder in the small depressions I began to spot the odd fish, this scenario played out for a couple of hours and was successful twice in getting a Trout to commit to my pheasant tail nymph along with a small rogue Chub weighed probably a few ounces.

 I must say the Trout here are in great condition and a joy to catch on such light tackle, I may give it another go sometime soon if the time presents itself.

Immaculate Brown just over 2lb

My second Trout around the 2lb mark, well spawned out.

Pleasure Fishing with the Mrs.

 The last week has been very hectic with work and trying to find time to do some Barbel fishing after work had been impossible, so much so that I only looked forward to the Saturday to see where I could go to get my fix before another very busy week starts. I thought I'd swing an idea past the Mrs and she was more than happy to join me on what is a probably the prettiest setting an angler could find him or herself in this country. Diminutive but home to some truly special fish, but today as I was out with Lucie, my partner of nearly 10 years the intensity level of today's fishing was dumbed down.

 It has been kind to me over the last few years, good Grayling over two-pounds, Roach touching the magical mark and ample Trout to fill a larder thousands of times over, sometimes they can be a nuisance but on an occasion like this where anything will do, the Grayling however were our main target. As we both walked the bank with a rod between us and both donning a spiffing pair of polaroid glasses the Grayling were visible on the vast gravel beds and it didn't take long for Lucie to latch into a decent fish, unfortunately a Brown Trout intercepted the grain of corn before the Grayling could.

 A healthy spotty made the Mrs work hard as it stripped yards of line off the spool on a couple of occasions, not quite the power of a 60lb Mekong (which was her last fish) but in a river like this it made use of all the space it had, great stuff.

  We planned to only fish a few hours, or whenever the significant other became bored with proceedings, much to my surprise that didn't happen, we happily fished numerous straights, bends and pools which provided some lovely sport, I even came across two separate shoals of Roach both of which comprised of huge specimens approaching the 3lb mark, the average weight appeared to be low two's to high two's, as much as I tried though their sizes were to remain mere guesses, out of maybe forty Roach I managed one of the smallest around a pound.

 Yesterday was a day of strange going's on, the weirdest has to be the capture of a pound plus Grayling caught fair and square in the gob on a 4g spinner which was intended for a Perch or Pike, something I couldn't believe as it charged at the gold spinner with complete focus, amazed was the initial feeling then perplexed that a Grayling would be attracted to something like a spinner. All in all it was a lovely few hours fishing in stunning surroundings and shorty enjoyed it too which was most important. Dare I say it but she may one day fancy another trip out......I may soon find myself dusting off the clubs.

My best of the day, with some serious dorsal fin.

Lucie's first Grayling.

Stunning Brownie

Otter damaged Rainbow, fought like stink.

Blondie's PB Brown Trout of nearly four pound.

Young Pike, certainly knew what to do to evade capture, this time it failed.