In January Stacey, Dad and myself celebrate our birthdays and with a little more free time this month we decided to have a couple of days away targeting grayling on the river test. The weather was glorious despite being rather cold to start each day. the river was in great condition and long trotting (some may say cheating) was main method of choice.
We stayed in a nearby house the night before so we could arrive at the river nice and early without leaving at silly o’clock in the morning. The forecast was for temperatures to rise after several days of them being sub zero. however we arrived to find the track to the car park under several inches of ice and water. Dad was ever so pleased to forge a path through it in his land rover although it perfectly manageable in other for the other cars as it happens.
This style of fishing is well suited to travelling light and roaming up and down the river bank trying any fishing looking glides. Due to the conditions the beat was the busiest we had ever seen it though and so we decided to stick in one place rather than following each other around the beat in some sort of fishy procession. Many other anglers did move around, although it didn’t seem to result in many more fish I am sure they kept warm!
We were the first ones to crunch our way through the frosty meadow to watch the sun rise through the mist rising from the river. It didn’t take long to realise that fishing would be hard work until the sun gained some height in the sky as our lines were freezing to everything. The eyes on our rods were frozen up pretty quickly too which added another element to the days fishing. bites didn’t come quickly for myself or Dad at first. A steady trickle of maggots fed upstream meant that soon enough I had my first couple of bites. unfortunately before I could get a fish to the bank it could see Stacey and Stanley catching me up. My new gillie is very keen but at 18 months old not the most patient yet and he is very keen to net the fish! as soon as he knows we are fishing he keeps shouting for the net whether we have a fish on or not! I had a move around to try and keep him occupied, he had a lovely time playing on the frozen puddles in the meadow, seeing the ducks and eating the frost. Stacey was in charge of the rod now under the guidance of uncle Steve (bless him) surprisingly enough she still didn’t catch anything! after a while I decided that it was time to head off and make the bacon rolls. with a belly full of food my gillie was soon dosing in the truck before an afternoon at the local swimming pool. This left me to get some serious fishing in. thankfully temperatures had risen enough that the water was no longer freezing up the rod eyes all of the time. I had several grayling that afternoon along with a few roach and a couple of perch. The trout were very obliging for all of us although their charm can wear off when not targeting them and especially when they keep trashing hook links. Of course everybody else had a good few fish too before the sun began to sink and we headed off for dinner and bed.
The second day we were joined by our friend Steve hill who had driven down for the day to try his luck at a grayling for the first time. Once again the night had bought sub zero temperatures and ice everywhere, particularly in the rod eyes! Steve hill set up near myself and Dad to start with while uncle Steve opted to go and try the opposite end of the beat to where he had fished before in the hope of a large roach.
Dad and I started in the same stretch we had fished yesterday and there were signs of life from when we first arrived today. Steve Hill tackled up and trotted through with the hope of working out depths ect and on the second run through he managed his first grayling! He jokingly said ‘job done I can head home now’ but of course continued fishing for more, bigger and better fish as any angler would do. I wasn’t far behind with my first grayling of the day either and between us we had several under our belts before Stacey and Stanley had caught us up. After checking in with us they visited uncle Steve for a while. Uncle Steve had mostly caught trout at this point so Stanley tried to help him as best he could. It would seem that Stanley is very keen on using a lot of ground bait! He likes to throw it in to draw the fish closer. Judging by where he throws it he wants the fish very close to his feet! Uncle Steve did as he was asked with no luck and once all of the bait was gone Stanley was ready for lunch. We headed back to the cars and made some bacon rolls for the lads again. Of course these were most welcome and after lunch Stanley was tired out from being such a busy gillie so he had a nap. This gave Stacey a chance to get some proper fishing in while I kept an eye on Stanley. I had a small feeder stream to keep me occupied in the mean time anyway. After a couple of visits from both Steve’s and an hour or so later Stanley woke up and was keen to get back on the bank. we made our way towards Stacey passing Dad on the way. Steve hill was playing a fish as we reached him so Stanley and I netted it for him. We had a chat with him for a while and failed to notice Stacey playing a fish further along the bank. by the time we reached her she had already landed the fish which happened to be her first grayling. To be honest Stacey was a little underwhelmed with the grayling and said the trout she had caught ‘looked prettier’ and so she preferred catching those.
Well there were plenty more trout caught that afternoon and several more grayling too. We all had a lovely time in some picturesque surroundings on a beautiful (although a little chilly) winters day. as dusk fell we packed up and headed to a lovely nearby pub for dinner before heading home. We couldn’t resist stopping for a selfie in the village named after us though. We will be back again next year to make more memories.
Back on the boating front, the work on Galloper is nearing completion and we will be back in action in February. I have space for individuals and boat bookings so please get in touch if you want to join us.
Certain dates and tides are also filling up throughout the summer so if you require something specific please get it booked in as soon as you can to avoid missing out.
I have individual spaces and possibility of full boat bookings over the coming months if you want to get out.
Please be advised that a steady trickle of dates are filling up for 2023 so please get in touch asap if you require a specific date.
Remember it is often worth giving me a shout if you are cancelled else where and still wish to get out, as we have lots of sheltered fishing available and a big catamaran which makes it even more comfortable.
Spaces as follows
12/02- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490 possible offshore trip upon request
18/02- 8 spaces £60pp
19/02- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
25/02- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490 possible offshore trip upon request
26/02- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
05/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
for more information visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk or please call 07956411528