Stuart fishing for grayling on the Itchen

Stuart comes from part of England that doesn’t have rivers that contain grayling so he had asked me to guide him on the Itchen. It’s such a beautiful river with some stunning fish. They may not reach the size of 3lbs however there are some large fish in there. Certainly you are in with a chance of a 2lber.

So I met Stuart early in the morning and we started in a swim which was not taxing for Stuart as he not trotted before in such a fast river. He was surprised about the crystal clear water and the number of fish present. Everywhere we looked trout could be seen hugging the bottom before launching themselves up to take the numerous flies drifting down in the current.

So we started in a quite long glide in the river incorporating a deep bend. It wasn’t long before Stuart was grasping the concepts of basic trotting. All this was happening while he caught grayling trout and having a great time.

Beautiful brown trout

The weather was warm and overcast at times. The grayling fed for most of the morning as we tried different swims that became more of a challenge for him. it’s no good fishing the difficult swims first a gradual increase in difficulty level was required.

Stuart and a 14oz grayling

As we moved down the beat he started to get more confident. Showing him the features and swims was needed as he was fishing the next day on his own.

One swim we fished was just off a deep bend and it was here where he hooked a couple of beautiful sea trout of about 1.5lbs. These were silver demons that spent more time out of the river than in it.

Then in another swim Stuart hooked a salmon that jumped clear of the river vertically. It was easily over 10lbs. He did very well to stay hooked up. Then the reel started to hum as the fish powered downstream. I suggested we follow. Once we had reached where it stopped it began running upstream. I only wanted for him to see it however the 3lb line soon parted.

As we moved down the beat we came across a place where the grayling could be seen freely feeding on the maggots as they drifted downstream. There were some good fish holding in the depression.

The river was quite pacey here and Stuart did really well controlling the float. He caught 3 large grayling from here including a new pb of 1lbs 3oz.

However like most small stream rivers you can only fish for so long before they become spooked.

Moving on down we found another swim which contained a good few bigger fish. The maggots were taken again as they drifted down in the current. Stuart again did well in this swim as the flow was at your feet but then pushed the float out to mid river. He managed a couple of great fish from here including another pb of 1lbs 6oz.

New pb 1lb 6oz grayling for Stuart

Stuart was feeling the effects of trotting for long periods of time. Light tackle and fitness levels improve over time and as it was his first attempt he was doing well. After a few breaks from sport it was approaching evening.

Stuart finished the day on a very fast piece of river and did well to hook several hard fighting fish. There are normally a few large grayling here when the river is higher but not today.

I had a great session with him. He also contacted me to say he had about the same results the following day.

Stuart and the Lady of the Stream

Think that Stuart will be a regular down there in the future.