December Grayling

 

I'd been very aware that the autumn was rapidly slipping away and I hadn't managed to get onto the river for a session after grayling. Now it was December and after a morning spent in Burton buying a Christmas tree and then the dutiful erection I decided to head off to catch the last couple of hours. I was quite optimistic and that only increased as the sky clouded over as I drove up the Dove valley after a bright start.

 Two hours is about right for me when you're in the river at this time of year. Yesterday was actually quite mild but by the end of the session I was glad I had donned my neoprene socks.

I set up with a three fly cast using a hand made French style leader, the flys were two soft touch shrimps and a PTN with a tungsten bead on the top dropper. One of the shrimps was pink the other natural with an orange hotspot which from what I've read is proving a real winner.

So it wasn't long before I was into the lovely 38cm fish below, it felt like I hit the stream just right.

In less than a couple of hours I bought ten fish to hand, and one of the more pleasing aspects was three or four fish that were only a few onces each, that bodes well for the future. There were also another three or four that I practised my long distance C&R on, including a couple of lunkers, doh!

The river is now looking quite desolate but was at a good winter level yesterday at 0.26m on the gauge at Rocester. So Christmas is just round the corner now and many chores beckon over the next few weeks. I can deal with those now though safe in the knowledge that that little window of opportunity was well worth making the effort for, my best grayling session for a while.