Big Welsh grayling.

A 3lb grayling is a worthy target fish and with a personal best of 2lb-13oz that has been on my radar in recent times.  Plans had been made and a couple of potential venues sorted out with phone calls to local tackle shops and angling clubs, all I needed was suitable conditions.  Probably this winter would rank very high in the top ten of times when those conditions were at a premium, cold is not a problem but floods are and there seems to have been one continuous flood since last October.  With time running out I wanted to make an extra effort, I leave for Guyana on the 27^th of this month so once the forecast looked good I was up for it.  The first trip would be to the River Taff in south Wales, a river known to hold big grayling and in fact there have been occasions where the grayling championships have been held there.  Over the years there have been reports of 4lb plus specimens although most, if not all of these fall to the fly fishers that frequent the river.  It is not a long river but with a catchment area of the Welsh Mountains it comes as no surprize that it also a spate river, very fast to rise into flood, but dropping back to acceptable levels just as quickly.  With no rain for four days or more I knew the river would be at normal level so come Monday morning I set out with a bucket of Lane’s maggots, a feeder rod and a float rod; let us see what is waiting for me in the upper reaches of the river.

The local tackle shop was as on most occasions very helpful, though thank goodness for the Tom-Tom since it would have been difficult to find in the middle of a built up area on an industrial estate.  I got the day ticket and directions to the stretch and set off.  He had explained that maggot fishing was not the normal method in the area, and although frowned on it was ignored to all intents and purpose, I was to see why as the trip unfolded.

The first problem that hit me was finding somewhere to fish; it seems an easy option but not here.  The river runs mile after mile though built up areas and the steep banks reminiscent of the height of the Teme are to a large extent lined with brick or concrete against possible erosion.  The few areas I did find where it was possible to go to the bottom of the bank were mostly very shallow, fast and the bed of the river covered with pebbles and boulders that would make it a tackle nightmare.  Too shallow to float fish, too snaggy to ledger, I was nearly on my way home already.  That decision was delayed when I found a sort section that offered a small length of back eddy by a weir and a few hundred yards of slower and deeper water above it where I could access the bank, at least I could fish.

                                              Accesable bank but shallow and snaggy.

I began with the maggot feeder in the weir, but although it was not quite as bad as just a few yards below there were still plenty of snags and after the capture of three bullheads and a few lots of lots tackle I decided to move above the weir into that deeper water.  I could not see into the depths, but there was no reason to expect that this section would have a different river bed to that where I could see so legering was out, trotting was the only way to fish this river.

                                                Only ounces but just imagine if it went 50lb.

With shallows above my position and the weir below I had little choice as to where to fish, maybe two hundred yards of bank.  Positioning myself about halfway I began to just catapult a few maggots out into the stream at regular intervals, I enjoyed a cup of tea whilst doing so since once I began to fish the chances for tea would be less.  After twenty minutes of this I began fishing and by slowly raising the float I found a depth of maybe three and half feet, a nice pace and an upstream wind, perfect for my level of ability.  After just a few trots through the float dipped and I was playing a fish that kept deep, I could only hope it was a grayling but when it surfaced it proved to be a trout of about 1.5lb, beautifully marked but the wrong species.  Trot after trot was completed but without result, those few maggots were constantly being trickled in, but the fish density was not the same as the River Test where by now I would be catching every trot through.  Another trout of similar size was taken and as the evening drew near I finally got my grayling, at about 1lb it was not the target but at least I caught one.

                                                           Nicely marked brownie.

                                                                 My grayling prize.
I had arranged to stay for two days, but following the comments of a couple of lads that were spinning along the length I went to look at a section a few miles further downstream.  They had suggested that where I was not noted for grayling by the fly fishers but they gave direction for a section further down.  I went after dark but being a built up area I could easily see the banks and river not that it helped.  Again sheer banks more reminiscent of a culvert than a natural river was all I could find in more than a mile of bank that I followed.  Add to this I could see the broken water that strongly suggested it was very shallow and thinks did not look good.  With chest waders the fly angler could go out into those shallows that were accessible and fish away, I’m sure there will be coarse fishing for the grayling somewhere on this river where big specimens can be caught but I failed in my attempt to find them and at getting on for 8.00pm I decided to come home beaten this time but there is always the next time.

 

Autumn Leaves and barbel.

With the forecast giving a big drop in temperatures, I decided on a trip north to try and progress my barbel river doubles target.  Currently it stands at 23 different rivers where I caught such a barbel, but why stop there?  I have already tried the River Goyt on a few occasions and have indeed caught some nice barbel from its depths, but not the double, perhaps this time it will reward my effort.

I had seen that Des Taylor would be giving a talk to the local branch of the Barbel Society so I decided I would go up to Stockport early on the Tuesday morning and fish though to about 7:00pm, then I could make my way the couple of miles to the meeting room ready for the8:00pm start.  I would stay in the van overnight ready for another try on the Wednesday and back home late that evening.

                                               The leaves show the crease line quite nicely.

My first choice of swim showed the one thing I had forgotten to allow for, it is autumn and the leaves are falling causing major disruption to any line laying in the flow of the river.  In just a few minutes the line would be clogged to the limit and a recast would be needed, worse was that it often moved the swimfeeder a this invariable found one of the many rocky snags which litter the bed of this particle venue.

I moved to a swim that had a nearside crease and slack water to give a little sanctuary from the pesky problem and it seemed this would work as within moments of my first cast I landed a small barbel.  The leaves still came into the slack but without the push of the flow they were an acceptable problem.  I had bait dropped hemp and casters as is one of my favoured methods and it seemed to have worked, but I thought too soon that my ship had come in.

                                                The first cast and first of many I hoped!

It was now mid-morning and I quickly took a small grayling to give a mixed bag so obviously fish were feeding, maybe that time had come.  It came and went just like that and the constant rebaiting and attention to detail gave me no favours with the 7:00pm deadline coming with no further action to report.

                                                  Alway a welcome fish to my net.

I arrived at the talks venue to find it well attended and Des’s talk went down very well as one would expect from such and angler.  Lots of chance to talk to local lads and friends made over previous trips, and we caught lots of barbel in the room – would the next day work its wonders, I retired for the night and that was my question as I fell asleep.

One big advantage of this period of the year is that dawn comes at a respectable time, around 7am I was making my way to the new choice of swim, again a slack but further down the river and hopefully there would be a resident big fish waiting for my bait to arrive.  I fished hard and even stayed until a bit later, but all to no avail as just one small chub took the bait and it seemed that no one on the river caught barbel – maybe next time when hopefully the leaves will all have fallen and been swept away.

                            The chub lays on a bed of leaves taken out of the slack.

Kennet doubles and Test roach.

Last week was quite busy in that following the fishing on the River Severn on Sunday and Tuesday that had produced double figure barbel on both days, I had a trip south planned from Wednesday through to Sunday evening.  The basis for the trip was that I would help John Found with a Barbel Society fish in week-end on the Kennet, and at the same time have a trip on the River Test on the Thursday.  With an early start needed for that Test day I decided I would go down on the afternoon of the Wednesday hence the long session.  I normally only fish maybe four days a week but this would be a comparative marathon that would hopefully produce some interesting fish.

Mid-morning on the Wednesday I set out on the 100 mile journey down to the River Kennet and upon arrival I found the river to be in perfect condition for my barbel attack.  I had made a stop at Lanes tackle shop in Coventry and I picked up bait that I hoped would see my through four days on the Kennet and another day on the test.   Ten pints of casters and a gallon of red maggots – expensive but you only live once and I was sure that this would give me a better chance of success than either boilies or pellets as the main bait to be used.  As always when barbel are the target I had also boiled up a gallon of hemp and this would form the main attraction with the casters keeping the fish occupied once they arrived in the swim.  The maggots were mostly for the Test, where trotting through with maggot is always the approach to be used with great effect.

Well I start at the beginning and relate the Wednesday action; yes there was some which is not always guaranteed on this venue.  Arriving early afternoon I made my way to the river leaving behind my normal boilies and pellets having invested too much cash in the caster to ignore them.  I dropped my tackle off as soon as I reached the river, it seems to get heavier by the day but that is probably just age catching up.  Then I walked most of the length looking at swims and how the venue had changed since I was last here the previous season.  The floods had left their mark in washed out banks and fallen trees lying in the river, it looked quite inviting and certainly good for barbel.  The river appeared to be at what I would call normal winter lever, a little extra water and colour, but not excessive.  I chose a swim with a nice flow under my feet and with the tips passed on by John I knew there would be six foot or more of depth in that position, spot on for bait dropping accurately.  I know I have mentioned this many times but it does stand repeating, accurate bait dropping catches more fish, if you cannot do it then practice until you can since it will pay rewards later.  I mixed two pints of casters into the hemp at about 50/50 and then put about twelve droppers of the mix into the swim perhaps 4ft from the near bank, now I could set the tackle up at my leisure since I was already into the fishing mode and the bait could work its magic.

The day was quite pleasant and it was very nice to be out on the bank with that chance of a big barbel just waiting to be caught.  I am sure you know that feeling and once ready I bait dropped another five droppers before casting a bait into the swim.  Tackle was as I normally use, this being the Drennan 1.75lb test barbel rods with 12lb main line and the usual combo hooklink going to a size 12 Pallatrax hook.  The hair carried three natural casters super glued in torpedo fashion onto the hair, if small fish proved too much hassle I could change to artificial but in the event it was not required.  That was it, and now I cast out ready to wait for the three foot twitch that is so exciting to see, any size fish could be responsible.

I had hoped for a quick response but it was not to be and as I approached the 7.15pm kicking off time I was ready for a blank.  Extra mix had been put into the swim at regular intervals, perhaps in the order of every 45mins or perhaps the hour, but so far nothing had even twitched the tip an inch let alone three foot.  Then at 6.50pm the rod slammed round and I was into a powerful fish that gave the impression of being far larger than it eventually proved to be.  When the scales went to a very pleasing 11lb-2oz I was well happy with the first double off the river this season and I still had three more days to go on the venue.

                                                     11lb-2oz.  It was still light but flash makes it dark.

 

Day two had an early start and John and I made our way down to the River Test via a very nice full English breakfast.  Once there we passed an hour talking with our host the now famous author and big fish angler Dave Steuart who has the most wonderful front garden you can imagine.  Again the river looked in fine trim though perhaps a little more of the weed had survived than I would have liked.  This of course limited some of the usual swims making trotting extremely difficult, but there were still plenty of other sections that would respond to the tactic.  The day was fine, warm and dry giving both John and I the chance to catch lots of fish, grayling to 1lb-8oz and roach to 1lb-4oz, not the 2lb of either species that are present in the stretch but I did see the big roach.  There are a number of big brown trout in the section since Dave has always insisted on the browns being returned quickly to the water.   To help these fish and for his own pleasure he has made a couple of sections of the bank out of bounds for fishing, it almost goes without saying that this was where I could see half a dozen roach that were the best part of big two’s or possibly even three’s.  With those browns present it was a fair certainty that we would lose the occasion monster on the tackle we employed for the roach, but never the less we did land fish to over 6lb having had a terrific scrap off them.

                                                         Lots of these.

                                                       Some of these.

            Along with a few of these.

                                                   Dave feeds the trout in one of the banned sections.

 

Day three and I was back on the Kennet again this time on my own since John had other business to attend to.  No problem and there were several other anglers that came on during the day some just for the late afternoon having finished work a little early.  This time I chose a swim a little bit further down the river, a nice smooth glide going past a snaggy section on the opposite bank.  I decided to fish two rods, a maggot feeder fished across to the snags and the caster/hemp down along the nearside bank.  It seemed a long time from my early start until the 5:30pm time when at last I got the first bite of the day to the maggots, again one hell of a fight and yet again the scales showed 11lb-2oz.  A nearby couple of anglers came along for the weighing and to help with photos though I was fairly thoughtful it was the same fish as I had caught on Wednesday.  In actual fact a later look at the photos showed they were definitely different fish, not that important but still a nice touch.

                                             The second double at 11lb-2oz. 

There was the Barbel Society fish in over the next two days but as I left the fishery on Friday evening the rain was just coming in and overnight it chucked it down.  Floodwater is not a problem for barbel but this was absolutely full of rubbish and many swim were impossible to fish.  Five minutes was a long time to keep your tackle in the water before it was swept away with crap on the line and the result was disastrous, two small barbel did get caught but that was the total for the two days.  I retired on Sunday evening happy with the two doubles, but sorry for the missed chances that rain gave me and all the fellow anglers that did not catch.  We did console ourselves with the thought that this is the nature of fishing and we do it because we enjoy it – but!

                                                     At least it was a pretty blank day for me. 

Three days in the South. Part 1

A day on the River Test is always one to look forward to, but with the day’s forecast to be at, or near zero temperature, it was not really my first choice for trotting with a float.  Taking a nice leisurely approach, the start for the day’s fishing was finally made about 10:30 am when the very sharp cold had just moderated slightly to one of being just cold rather than bl**dy cold.  The trouble with trotting is that I cannot do it while wearing gloves so within a very short space of time my fingers were frozen but this was offset by catching fish at very regular intervals.  As could be expected the conditions had made most of the coarse fish reluctant to feed but trout and grayling seem to disregard the cold and were well up to taking the maggots that were drifted past them.  The set up in use was a simple wire stem Avon float of 5AA capacity with the bulk of the shot set 18 inches from the size 18 hook and a single No 1 shot placed just a couple of inches from the hook to act as a tell-tale.  With 4.5lb main line and 2.6lb hook link the scrap off the bigger trout was exciting, then as always grayling of 1lb and 1.5lb gave lots of sport as well.  I had just one medium size chub and a small 8oz roach but just being there with the chance of 2lb roach always makes it interesting.

                                                    1lb-6oz & 1lb-9oz typical grayling on the day

With dozens of fish caught on the day I could make my way down to Bournemouth and contemplate both the success of the sport and the failure to catch those target roach, but that is fishing.   My pans for the next two days were to fish the Dorset Stour on the Thursday and then move up to the Hampshire Avon on the Friday; it was on the way home anyway so it made sense to do it in that order.  Still cold, and there was a slight frost overnight but not too bad so an earlier start was made getting to the venue about 8:30am, and without any surprise finding no one else there.  This can be a double edge sword in that with all the swims available it can be more difficult to make up your mind where to fish.  I’ve not been on this section of river for over a year so I do not know how the swims have fared and in the end I went in the one that gave me my first ever 6lb chub all those many years previously.

                                                                 Dorset Stour in winter.

I would be using the swim feeder maggot approach over both days – too cold to carry on trotting – for me at least – 6lb main line passing through a 50gram Blackcap feeder as previously described within this blog, ending with a 4inch 3.2lb hook link to a size 18 Drennan Superspade hook.  With a Drennan 12ft medium quiver rod carrying a 2.5oz glass quiver I was set for bear and ready to go.  My swim was a smooth glide passing bushes on the other bank which I hoped would give shelter to the odd chub.  They can be quite active even in these cold conditions and since the cold has been around for a couple of weeks they should feed normally – but would they, am I in the right swim? The questions remain to be answered over the coming hours.  I feel the use of hemp is essential on most occasions, but being so cold I will cut its use to a minimum and hence just one dropper of the hemp went into the swim along with three droppers of maggots, that will do for a start and I’ll top the hemp up perhaps every couple of hours.  By regular casting the maggots are automatically kept topped up, and with the feeders being used quite regularly in this area I’m sure the constant sound of it going into the water is like a dinner gong to the fish.

                                                                                          Ready for chub.

As always with this fishing style you are just waiting for that first knock on the tip to show you have fish in the area.  Today the knock came after perhaps an hour but things did not develop as I expected from that point.  I continued to get the occasional indication of fish, but even though two of these were enough for me to strike there was no fish caught, most annoying.  After some hours of this and perhaps six or more positive indications I was beginning to think that perhaps roach or even gudgeon were responsible, but then about 4:00pm I finally hit into a chub and following a very good fight on the light gear I landed a 5lb-12oz chub.  Big enough in its own right, but I had been convinced it would be a medium six when I first looked at it laying in the net so I could not avoid being slightly disappointed at the lower figure.  A better look at its body showed it was definitely light in the thickness and no doubt given another month it will gain those missing ounces when next I might meet it.

                                                                   5lb-12oz Beauty.

That was the last bite of the day and I left the river about 5:45pm well satisfied to have least have caught on a day that was far from perfect conditions.  The forecast did not look good for tomorrow, snow overnight and -6C temperatures, would the Avon fish? Only time would tell.