Grayling season off to a brilliant start

Grayling season off to a brilliant start.

It was a date that I was really looking forward too, Nov 1st, as this see's many trout beats on our southern chalk streams opening there doors to grayling fishing.

Having spent numerous years visiting expensive day ticket stretches of the Itchen and Test for an elusive two pounder it was time to venture back to the Frome. Although last year saw me treading its bank I had left it till the turn of the New Year to start grayling fishing and as we all remember it was a time when the rains came and sent most rivers into flood. A couple of trial sessions showed its potential as quite a few near two-pounders graced the net but unable to fish much of the river due to the river being in the surrounding fields meant it was time to start early this year.

Arriving around 8am after a good trip down, myself and Chris weren't surprised to see a few others anglers already on the bank. With miles of river to go at this was not a problem and travelling light we managed to walk from boundary to boundary locating lots of potentially un-fished swims. Using corn as hookbait and trotting through using a centrepin I was the first to score. Straight away I knew this was a big grayling and initially thought it was a high two, if not a three as it looked massive in the water and even launched itself clear of the water twice! It was adrenaline pumping stuff and a quick photo recorded the capture and within minutes of arriving I was already contented for the day. Centrepin problems saw me soldier on, fishing far from as well as I would have liked but still more grayling fell and although we didn't catch from every swim when we did the average size was big. Another two graced my net later in the day plus a few high one's also fell along with the odd brown trout when we switched to maggot.

The day was really to iron out any problems, like realising I have to buy a new centrepin, find a few new swims and really test maggot against corn. All in all one of the best days I've had this season and looking forward to plenty more to come.

If you are interested in spending a day on the Frome with myself and enjoying catching such beautiful hard fighting fish then why not email me – duncancharman@me.com for prices and availability. Don’t worry if you haven’t got the right tackle as this can be provided along with bait and tickets and transportation to the venue.