The Mrs and little pimps decided they wanted to go to one of the "fun pools" today... they know i dispise these places so it was suggested i drop them at the rapids in Romsey and then sod off to the itchen for a few hours...

well it was mid afternoon and a little on the hot side, i had intended to go over and fish the evening rise but in the interest of diplomatic relations a made some agreeable noises and off we went..

as i pulled up in the carpark i thought it had cooled off a bit, however when i opened the car door i realised that i was just enjoying the Toyotas excellent aircon.

The wind was a little stronger than i thought it was gonna be so i opted for the 5wt

i had tied some nice size 14 hares ear klinks last night so i opted for one of them... then realised i had not brought my polaroids... (amazing how you take them for granted...)


i fished about 20 mins and then saw a rise, covered it and hooked in to a pretty itchen brownie of a couple of pounds.

Not a great deal was moving, it was still too early and deffo too hot, i decided to change my fly, literally as it touched my hand i saw another head and tail around 8 feet in front of me.. i cast over it but fudged the cast, lifted off and flicked out again, the fish rose and i brought a second fish of around 2 pounds to hand, this one had a couple of nasty looking fresh lacerations , he had obviously had a run in with one of the beats herons...he was unhooked and returned quickly...

i prospected for around an hour with nothing moving... as i was wandering along to the next pool i noticed a rise on the far side of the river close to the bank... , one cast and i had a nice little bonus grayling......

it was getting close to time to go and get the kids so i started to head back to the car.... as i got to the point where i was to turn away from the river to head for the car i decided to have "just one more cast" i had cut weed here on thursday and had takn note of a few features that i felt would make good holds for fish... the very first cast the fly had barely kissed the water, as i was putting a mend in the line i missed a rise... it was one of those barely touched the surface type rises which betrays the location of a big trout. I lifted off and recast, getting the mend in early as the fly drifted over the same spot i got the same rise and connected with a VERY nice fish, my loop multi was arcing over nicely... the fish stuck it head down and ran... it made a good account of itself and showed no sign of tiring. i was convinced it was a trout , powerful, staying deep and fighting like hell, as i took some line back and turned the fish i got a flash of silver... sea trout maybe... the fish obviously saw me and didnt like what it saw (cant blame it) it fought hard for a good 5 minutes, i didnt want to fight too hard as i didnt want to lose it, eventully the biggest grayling i have ever seen broke the suface... i couldnt believe my eyes, i have caught big grayling on the itchen before but nothing like this, i netted the brute and took it over to the grass... it was huge, a male, covered in wounds and scars, massive dorsal fin with a saw tooth edge and a couple of splits in it...

The hook came easily, i then realised tha i had left my camera with my polaroids on the fly tying desk... i had to thin fasr so i laid the fish on th grass and put the landing net handle along side him then scratched off a mark at the point where the foek was in the tail... well i just measured it...

54 cm

Fish of a lifetime...

i slipped the fish back into the current and held him there until he was ready to move.. it just slid slowly back into the current, turned and pulled up behind a patch of weed and just sat there... i just sat too and watched him...

eventually mrs pimp phoned... where are you ... we have been waiting 15 minutes...

Back to earth with a bump

what a great day.

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Thanks for that, enjoyed reading, your just reward for all that weedcutting and tactful handling of the family outing!

Trish

It's great when you get something that good when you least expect it. Great little tale I.P.

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Derek

You looked things over and were not yet beat
Then changed flies again and were ready to repeat
The next try was poor because you rushed the cast
You hold your breath in solemn anticipation
You must be a fly fisherman!

~by George W. Harvey, A Fly Fisherman (last 20 lines), in "Fly Fisherman" magazine, December, 2002~

>>>>>>>MEMBER OF THE S.S.F.D.<<<<<<<<<<

That's a great day that you will remember for years.Well done.

Aye icky, but you also think you have a 54cm penis! Come on mate, mine's only 48!

Well done though, anyone got a rough poundage for 54cm grayling?

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Chris

Gott weiss ich will kein Engel sein

Hell of a fish Icky... I reckon that anything over 50cm will be 3lb plus .....

yes the table i looked at at lunchtime today had it at around 3.1 to 3.3lb

0,5 kg 34 - 38 cm ; 1,11 lb 13,38 - 14,96 inch
0,6 kg 38 - 42 cm ; 1,33 lb 14,96 - 16,53 inch
0,7 kg 42 - 44 cm ; 1,55 lb 16,53 - 17,32 inch
0,8 kg 44 - 46 cm ; 1,77 lb 17,32 - 18,11 inch
0,9 kg 46 - 48 cm ; 2,00 lb 18,11 - 18,89 inch
1,0 kg 48 - 50 cm ; 2,22 lb 18,89 - 19,68 inch
1,1 kg 50 - 51 cm ; 2,44 lb 19,68 - 20,07 inch
1,2 kg 51 - 52 cm ; 2,66 lb 20,07 - 20,47 inch
1,3 kg 52 - 53 cm ; 2,88 lb 20,47 - 20,86 inch
1,4 kg 53 - 54 cm ; 3,11 lb 20,86 - 21,25 inch
1,5 kg 54 - 55 cm ; 3,33 lb 21,25 - 21,65 inch
1,6 kg 55 - 56 cm ; 3,55 lb 21,65 - 22,04 inch
1,7 kg 56 - 57 cm ; 3,77 lb 22,04 - 22,44 inch
1,8 kg 57 - 58 cm ; 4,00 lb 22,44 - 22,83 inch
1,9 kg 58 - 59 cm ; 4,22 lb 22,83 - 23,22 inch
2,0 kg 59 - 60 cm ; 4,44 lb 23,22 - 23,62 inch

to be honest i dont care what it weighed was just awesome to catch one that big... i reckon it will be a good while until i see one so big again..

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