Nearly 3 years ago now I managed to catch a lovely Grayling from Warwickshire which went 1lb and 7 ounces on the scales. A fish I really didn't think I'd catch especially from where it was located a short drive away for me in Bards country.
But just goes to show doesn't it, from information that was shared, to actually catching one, to be honest the Grayling fell to the maggots far quicker than I ever thought it would, but this bit of river was never forgotten, a small river is mystery and Tag Barnes wrote a whole book about it, there is plenty waterways to explore in ones vicinity, this was one of them that needed exploring from time to time.
So I was back before the season ended where this river seemed in decent fettle so I thought I might as well give it a go. The mission had been ticked off, I had the badge, but were there any bigger to be had ? (I've caught smaller ones btw)
To be honest I was twiddling my thumbs wondering what the heck to fish for the night before so it was largely spur of the moment, and as usual a quick undercover smash and grab session. A couple of hours trotting in the cold is about all I can muster up anyway.
Now do you see that very small fin behind the large dorsal fin? Do you know what that signifies? It is the badge, the stamp of the fish aristocracy the Salmon family.
Yet the Grey Lady is barred from her heritage because she is born in the wrong season of the year! She is born at the same time as the roach, the carp, the bream and the rest of the coarse fish.
She has always reminded me of the heroine of some Victorian melodrama, cheated of her rightful position, disdained by her family. The Grey Lady can be fussy for she won't have anything but the clearest and fastest water.
Hook her in when she has got over the spawning and she'll give you a fight which the aristocratic trout cannot equal.
The Grayling shakes the line something like a dog shaking a rat, and bores downwards at the same time. She won't give in.
She has to be absolutely played out like a barbel, completely exhausted, before you can steer her over the net. She is no fair weather friend like many anglers seem to be these days 👀
She will give you sport from the opening day of the season until the end, although, of course, she isn't at her best until she has regained her strength after spawning.
There's no doubt about it, the Grayling is a beauty. Thymallus vulgaris is the Latin name because, it is said, she has a smell of wild thyme. Some trout anglers say they do not welcome the Grayling in trout water because of it.
They say the wild thyme smell drives trout away. I don't believe a word of it. The rivers Test and Itchen are full of grayling, yet they also hold the biggest trout in England.
On many occasions (well of a handful) I have sniffed at a grayling immediately upon netting it (yes really) and not a whiff of wild thyme could I smell.
A light trotting set-up, some maggots oh and some sweetcorn to try, better get fishing !!
Now it's an early start venue this so I arrived at 7.30am just before dawn unloaded the tackle and was heading up the field to the stretch of river. It was around 1 degree so all being well the rod eyes wouldn't be freezing up like they were the other day. That was a right pain in the proverbials so I've ordered some glycerine to prevent that happening again.
The swim I chose has a lovely glide where you can vary the line of the run to either a fast or medium run of the stick float. It's not very deep at all with the float to olivette around 2ft with the 3lb hook link and size 16 hook dragging bottom.
I've fished it enough times now to guess the depth and then gradually increase the depth till it starts to drag under. Back it off a little and all good to go. What I didn't expect that the second run through a float buried straight under and I've hooked in to a decent grayling that succumbed to the 3 maggots 😎
I don't know why but every time I hook one of these fish my heart is in my mouth all the time because I fully expect it to come off especially when it breached the surface a couple of time, but no after a slowly slowly catchy monkey fight the fish was in the landing net, the size 16 wide gape hook holding firm.
Oh yes, I can relax now. I thought it was bigger the way it fought but this one went 1lb and 3 ounces which is my second biggest Warwickshire Grayling. I'm sure there are bigger fish to be had, there must be but then I'm unlikely to track the bigger ones down unless I spend more time trying to find the specimens. A fish species other that a chub which seems the only species of fish biting at the minute, happy days.
For the next two hours I managed another two more Grayling however the first one landed was the biggest of those, the other two were hovering around the pound mark. Still nice to see mind you. I switched to corn from time to time and actually picked up five small chub, the grayling didn't seem to be interested in the corn and oddly the chub didn't seem to interested in the maggots. I scaled down as well for half an hour, but that didn't help whatsoever. I did also bump a couple of fish off I think, grayling or chub ? well I'm none the wiser.
Anyway after two hours the bites dried up completely however I carried on for another hour before deciding to call it a day. There is another couple of swims I could try but this definitely seems to be a dawn raid before the fish switch off. Back in a another 12 mths for another go ? well a stupid question, I'm still amazed there is this small pocket of Grayling in Warwickshire, but just goes to show what is hiding in the most unlikely of places.
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