some really nice grayling..


scuse poor quality photo

I explored one of the new beats on the itchen that is on my new club ticket, a mile of double bank ...

The fishing was hard work, the wind was killing, i am glad i was fishing barbless as i had to pull the fly out of the back of my neck ...

i took 9 grayling the smallest was approx 1.5 pounds and lost another 4 whilst playing them, all but two fell to an elk hair sedge emerger, the other 2 on a bead head hares ear

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Nice one Martin. I bet you're well chuffed with the new water then?

Chuffed aint the word... 4 trout beats, 2 salmon..., car parking... opportunity to get involved in the river management... worth every penny...

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You forgot the word out of season.

Having said that with your new river management skills maybe you will be taught how to retrieve them from the trauma just before they spawn.

What an angler

Thats 3 words Einstien...

Of course they are out of season... i have targeted rising fish... they turned out to be Grayling, does that mean that i shouldnt appreciate a fine looking fish.... well i did, shoot me...

The weather conditions were such that the insane wind and fact that the water was fining down after the rain of late last week meant you saw the rise and not what it was.... are you seriously telling me you never caught an out of season fish ? ...Yeah right though not

Who proclaimed to have any skills as a river keeper ?... i said there was an opportunity to get involved...

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Your right Icky i have caught 3 out of season Grayling.
And you make a good point ,as a result i change tactics,flies, location,the type of water i was fishing and took more care about the rises i cast to.
I also tried to release the fish in the water albeit on one occasion i couldn't so stopped fishing deciding the spawning fish were more important than me catching.

Fine looking Grayling they are, but that not my point. Did you know in some states in the USA they allow fishing for spawning Salmon , they are great looking fish in their full "dancing" livery?

Icky,
ignore the comments------ Grayling take a size 6 treble salmon fly "out of season" aint much we can do about it, but photo them and put them back!!
get into the management bit.
Having read a lot of your posts i know the fishery will improve!
regards
bert

Thanks for the positive comment bert.

Just to clarify for buzz... the fish were spread out over a whole days fishing, on 2 separate beats totalling some 2.5 miles of bank covered, i fished riffles, pools, shallows and deep glides, i changed tactics and flies numerous times throughout the day, the only things hatching were sedges and that is what caught, doesnt mean i didnt try other flies ... had a few refusals of an olive klink... and as i said the GRHE took a couple of fish...

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