A Cracking Grayling Trip

 I usually go on a grayling expedition when the days are longer but with the recent frosts I couldn't resist it, naturally it's sods law that there's no frost for the fist time in weeks as I started up the car, but I'll take that although almost two hours later I was setting up in unforecast drizzle, however the river screamed "FISH ME" it was pushing through but not too high, clear but with a touch of colour. I wished the rivers near me flowed like this, it looked perfect.

I set up in a spot I hadn't fished before, using the usual 4 no 4 stick, this one actually taking those shot and not the renegade float from a few trips back that took double that, probably far too light but that's how I roll, and grayling try to roll too, I just find the way I fish I lose less with a lighter float, mind you I got to hook one first and you never know. Grayling are pretty reliable though and It didn't take long as the second or third run through the float dipped at the bottom of the swim and it was clear what was on, twisting turning in the clear water I kept it off the surface and slid the net under the perfect start to the day. I always take a photo of the first grayling and they are usually small, this one was pretty decent though and getting on for a pound.

A great start and five minutes later a similar result, that familiar flash in the water although this time I just watched the rod bend with that unmistakable thud, I could see and feel this was a better fish. I slid the net under a long heavy fish at around 2lb easily the best fish I've had from this stretch, just to think I would have been happy with a few small ones. Just check out that dorsal - Beautiful.

I then lost what felt like a rather large trout snagging me up in the nearside rushes after I had it on for a while, a good fish that I didn't even get a glimpse of. On retrieving my set up I realized I could have gone further onto the rushes upstream to get more leverage but It wont be the last time a fish nearsides me, the worst kind of snag but not worth falling in for.

As I was setting up again I poured a coffee and watched a kingfisher fly by and land in the tree upstream, all dark and wet looking and a stark contrast to the sunlit blue of the one I saw on my local river last time. Unlike myself earlier it was in full concentration with it's head down fully focused on what lies below, whilst my head was turned I heard the unmistakable plop only to look up and see the blue flash as it dashed through the trees on it's way further upstream. I then took out my lunch and reflected on the morning, there was no place I'd rather be right then than here, it's amazing how fishing can make a nobody feel like the king of the world.

Downstream I went following too many runs through without a bite after restarting, perhaps I stayed too long there but it did produce a better stamp of fish than normal so was worth the effort, I was keen to add to my tally of just 7 fish, trying spots here and there and getting a grayling or small trout in each of them finally getting through to a few of the smaller fish with their big eyes and even larger appetites.

Once again there were some more good grayling where, in one spot I was perched precariously on a load of branches getting one a chuck in a swim which was like a whirlpool, my float hardly visible until it was ripped a good foot under the boils, however it was very visible when it pinged off a small trout onto a nearside alder. I took a bit of a gamble getting it back (so much for not risking falling in) but did so without going through the mix of water and wood was bearing my weight, my metal landing net handle coming in more than handy as a wading staff. I set up once more and decided that balancing on the mud and branches fishing this spot was more trouble than it was worth, no doubt a reason it was little fished, I also concluded I'm getting old as I ventured somewhere more comfortable for the last hour.

I encountered a couple of other anglers and had a bit of friendly chat and also a walker who saw me earlier in the day who told me where a large dace was caught, we chatted as I caught a couple of half pound trout that teased me all dace like, but they weren't my quarry today so on I went to finish up near the car, hopefully for another grayling or two to finish off.

By now the kids were coming out of school all lairy and I could hear "He's caught a fish" Naturally I couldn't unhook this one quick enough and slip it back. The next fish was played gently under the surface as it was getting a bit too busy down there, a weird feeling keeping a fish out of sight but it's something I do when I don't want a crowd, not good ploy really as it came off but I wasn't too bothered, I was tempted to count it for a laugh it but didn't of course, and that was how the day ended. I packed up with enough daylight to get most the way home with a decent tally of 27 grayling and 5 trout, only losing a couple including my last ditch escapee, I'm not sure that version of catch and release will catch on mind.

I may not return this season but that would be ok as this grayling fix will last a while.

Impossible To Blank Here

 There's not many rivers that can offer a bite regardless of the conditions so I was interested to see if my old River Gade still produced in this weather, It's all relative remember so anything would do today, gone are the days when a dozen chub would be the quarry here as it's more of a dace river now but dace would do nicely. I was hoping for a minus temperature reading in the car but it was sitting in the sun by the time I used a new found warm bag of water hack from the internet to clear the screen, instead it was a balmy 0c at 10am.

Cue temperature shot...

Half an hour later I'm at the river and it looked totally gorgeous with it's frosty banks and low sun. I started below some shallows with a little egret working above me, one minute it was there and I was thinking about a zoom shot and the next it was gone, I had no (r)egrets though

A small stick with a single red on a size 20 to 3lb bottom with the most basic of shotting was all that's needed here, the maggots were a bit old and lifeless but I've found they seem to be better in cold conditions than brand new ones. I waded out and fished a 'hole' that had a good two feet of depth (deep by Gade standards) and the first bite was welcome as a medium sized dace twisted and turned in the current, like a large spoon twisting in the sun, a blank avoided instantly.

Two parakeets made their noisy flypast for the second time as did a group of canada geese, then a kingfisher went along the sunlit rushes of the far bank catching the sun with an iridescence the parakeets could only dream of, there can't be many better sights in world wildlife, yet we have this bird, often in our towns and cities and as anglers see them in close quarters on a regular basis.

I then stopped to take some pictures of the gravels in the clear water so as to use them as reference for drawing backgrounds for my next fish drawings. Maybe I'll have a group of gudgeon on these shallows or perhaps some dace, who knows.

In the distance by the canal I could hear the constant whizz of chainsaws and upon hearing a crash saw a whole tree disappear from the skyline as if it was munched by some sort of mythical beast below. Then what looked like snow drifted across but it was fluff from the bull rushes opposite picked up in a gust of wind that was ever so cold, as was the difference when the sun went in behind even the smallest cloud. It was grateful for the sun today, "Won't be long til spring I thought" as I pulled the woolly hat over the cold ears once more.

I then had the only perch of the day, last time out on a carp pond I had a stripey close to 2lb whereas this one was closer to 2oz, It still looked great in the sun with lovely colours courtesy of the clear water.

I stopped for lunch and the missus has made me chicken tikka sandwiches - Bam! It may have been freezing, my feet were numb but I was sitting down to eat like a king, at times like this after a nice morning's fishing you realise how lucky you are.

Then an elderly Polish chap stopped for a chat, he was pleasant enough but sometimes I think I have a sign on my back that says stop and chat if you are a little bit wacky, some of things he came out with would be worth a blog on their own, but he left me as I tucked into the rest of my lunch and poured a welcome hot drink from the flask, my feet starting to get a bit of circulation back as I could feel my toes again through the double thermal socks.

After lunch I moved further downstream getting three half pound chub to show that they are still in there plus a few small roach and as ever more medium sized dace some fairly big but not massive, twisting in the clear water, splashing on the surface, before being scooped out by hand, it was classic dace fishing, this one seemed to have quite a large tail.

I could and would have caught more were it not for a panic moment when I realized my wallet was gone, this left a bit of a numb possibility that it fell out by the boot of the car when I was trying to get my thermal clubfeet into the waders. Suffice to say I packed up early and retraced my steps wondering also if the elderly gent was some sort of Artful Dodger, the drive home was one of hope that it was sitting on the side at home, and thankfully it was, so all thing considered a good end to proceedings even if I did have another couple of hours fishing left in me.

The tally showed 7 roach 1 perch 23 dace and 3 chub which wasn't bad at all for 3 hour's fishing, whilst the river is past it's best it can still produce enough for a good day out, the dace were a nice mix of sizes which bodes well for the future. I know whilst it stays clean it will continue to be impossible to blank here if you set your sights low and just go for a few bites, like I say It's all relative on a river that's always dependable.

Wild Winds & Fine Fishing

 My maggots had been sitting in the fridge saying "Use me" for the last couple of weeks, or rather sending a message in the form of a scent too strong to disguise with repeated doses of flavouring. So I racked my brain on where I could go that could be comfortable in this relentless wind we have had of late.

I decided on a pond, where I could sit in the corner tucked away and fish alongside a platform in a recently discovered perch spot hoping for a big stripey to start the year, failing that my usual remit of anything will do, would do.

Following the rains the pond and it's platforms were under water and my little pole float looked strange as it bobbed along in the chop next to a platform that had more water over it than some of the rivers did this summer.

I fed my old smelly, over spiced maggots at regular intervals but the float remained motionless aside from the aforementioned wind induced bob, after an hour of nothing doing I was the one that needed to move. It had been a cold night and I was in the shade getting colder as I wasn't as out of the wind as I thought I would be, so off I went to somewhere sunny to stretch my legs and warm the joints.

I moved round to the tench pond just for a bite from the hordes of hungry rudd as I was now well into the 'anything would do' stage, only to be greeted by a chap on the pole who was on a blank bemused by the lack of bites but pointing to a cormorant he saw as the main reason. As a result of this info I ventured to another corner and we both agreed to holler in jubilation should either of us get a fish no matter how small.

I tried two swims to no avail before doing a reccy of the pond throwing a few maggots here and there from my bait bib. Into the clear waters they went before slowly hitting the bottom untouched. 

Where were those fish?

On walking back I finally spotted some fry right under a platform in tight ball and sure enough my loosefed maggots started to dart about so off I went to get the gear as If I had spotted a pb carp or tench. I lowered my float set pretty shallow and it dashed away as a tiny silver looking rudd broke the blank. I called out to the pole angler who was so wrapped up in his woolly winter wear he couldn't hear a thing, I felt a bit daft yelling 'fish' with such a token offering so I just left it to the coffee break to have a chat.

An hour later he passed me on the way home after blanking and watched as my float dipped time and again with small rudd, seeing the funny side as I was too. I was also conscious of how it can pay to be mobile this time of year, something that suits my style of fishing anyway.

However it wasn't long before I was getting bored with these ruddlets with nothing else showing aside from one rogue roach, but the confidence of blank avoiding tiddlers cannot be underestimated, with this knowledge that they are feeding I ventured back into the wind to try for another hour where I started on the main pond.

With new found optimism and the water hopefully warmed up a little my float was back by the submerged platform with the tow taking it away into the direction of the wind, a tactic that worked well in this swim that last time I fished it also on a blustery day. The float went under almost instantly and I played something decent before the head of an F1 appeared and the hook somehow came out, I couldn't recast quick enough and sure enough the next one was soon in the net, a small F1 that was twice the weight of all those rudd combined.

Next bite was another similar sized fish but it felt more 'jagged' and a flash of green signaled my quarry was on, I could see it was a nice one as I struggled in the wind and spray to net it, my persistence was rewarded with a cracking perch, my quarry for the day.

Bites followed at a really good frequency although they were tiny dips and very hard to hit in the wind despite being under the rod tip, I also lost an unusual amount of fish, once again the combination of the wind and the shy bites leading to a bit of foul hooking I suspected, proved by the next small carp hooked near the tail that went up and down on the spot making the water boil like a weirpool.

The shy bites didn't stop me getting more F1's and carp nor did having to wade out onto the flooded platform right above where I was fishing, sloshing along in my wellies to land each one being careful not to over step the edge. I had hoped for another perch but when the carp were as pristine as they were today I didn't mind one bit. 

Getting around 30lb of fish in the last two hours after scratching all morning for tiny rudd made the day more memorable. A brief chat to another who struggled revealed the lake was fishing hard and a recent match was won with a similar weight so all in all the day turned out pretty well. I imagined me sitting there on my little stool fishing a match, catching loads but putting them straight back, although the more likely scenario would involve me looking equally ridiculous catching tiny rudd with a smile on my face like I was earlier in the day. I left with both the sun and that smile on my face for the drive home.

A few days later the wind was still howling and I got to a river in the afternoon thinking I was mad with the few others who had braved the elements in the sheltered swims nearer the bridge, I was dying to run a float through some pacy water, once again anything would do but a nice roach or chub would be more than welcome, or even a bream or barbel, but not tiny rudd this time please. I set up different float to usual, a 4 no4 float that somehow took 4 no1 instead, not sure how that works but the extra weight lessened the effect of what was the worst kind of wind, blowing downstream across, in the face and flipping cold. Throw in the bright sun and the high river this could be a test, bring it on I thought as it's better than being on a low river and at least it's not raining for a change.

It was awkward fishing as I needed to stand to get the feed out into that wind, not ideal in such a narrow swim but the water had enough colour to hide my haphazard attempts at finding water instead of bank with my loosefeed, as for the float well it hit the spot and I mended the line the best I could, holding back now and again which resulted in a plump roach early doors.

Then more fine roach followed, with quick bites in the boily water that were hard to see as the low sun flickered through the trees opposite, so much so that I had to take a no6 off to see the float, far from ideal but a compromise on presentation for visibility, It's no good getting bites if you can' t see them. The roach on this river aren't caught much and pull like chub in the fast current, rewarding me for sticking with a set up that was probably too light for the conditions.

Then a few small chub that pulled like big roach turned up just to confuse things but there was no doubt what the next fish was as it tested my roach gear to the limit, its always great catching barbel in winter even if they do own you for the first few seconds.

I'm glad I only fished for a few hours as it was knackering, packing up as the crepuscular light started to darken further, windswept with a headache but all this is negated when the mat and net are soaking wet from a good session. I talked to another by the bridge who had blanked which showed once again how fortunate I was although I played down what I had caught, not out of secrecy but as to not rub anyone's nose in it. 

Two good trips to kick off the year well after a long break, who knows when the next trip will be with work and all this flu going about so I'm glad I've got some great memories to fall back on already this year.