A Cold day on the Avon...

[Greenheart]

On the continuing quest for a few more species hunt points & in view of the icy & clear weather conditions, I decided that my best chance was to try for a Grayling. These are one of the few species of fish that are generally happy to feed however cold it gets. I had a chat with Bananna Steve as to the best venue for this species & the decided options were the River Nadder at Tisbury or the Hampshire Avon at Amesbury. As Steve had never fished the Avon at Amesbury, we decided this was the place to go. I picked up Steve from his place at about 9am (No point in starting too early when it's -5 outside & arrived at Amesbury about 30 minutes later. Stopped off at the local tackle & Bicycle shop to get a couple of day tickets (£3 each... Can't be bad for a day on a southern chalk stream) & we were soon down on a cold & frosty river.

As well as Grayling I was also hopefull of catching Chub, Brown Trout & Dace so I headed for a swim that had an overhanging bush that usually had a resident Brown trout or possibly a Chub hiding beneath it. Steve opted for a shorter walk & selected a fishy looking swim by a confluence with a feeder stream. My usual tactic here is to fish a ledger rig with a long maggot baited hooklength & cast upstream of the overhanging bush, so that the hookbait drifts below the snaggy bush for the Brownies or Chub. But the river was higher than usual & a combination of faster flow & a cold downstream wind was making things difficult. I tried this technique for about an hour without so much as a nibble. Then a passer by informed me that a bloke fishing downstream (Steve), was catching a few Grayling. So I set up a float rod, with a wire stem Stick float, loosefed a few maggots, cast out & was immediately into a hard fishting Grayling & my first points of the day.

This really set the pattern for the rest of the day, with plenty of good Grayling up to around the 2lb mark which gave a good account of themselves in the strong flow.

Sadly the other hoped for species (Chub & Dace) did not show, however I did also manage a couple of unseasonable Brownies, which were photographed & immediately returned for another 1.5 points. Steve only had a few small Grayling from his initial choice of swim, but upon moving further upstream, was soon bagging up on Grayling & Brownies too.

By 3pm, it was starting to get really cold again & the bites were starting to slow down, so we decided a warm fire & a pint in a local pub were more inviting. So ended a fun, but cold day by the river...

[mithrandir]

Looks like you had a good day, river seems a bit lower than when I was there. Glad you both got into the grayling and trout.

[Twiddler]

Great days fishing guys, well done.....you right Ian, that small stretch is brilliant to get the Grayling and trout, almost guaranteed, hence they are putting the day ticket price up to £5 as from the 1st of March

[Greenheart]

Originally Posted by Twiddler

Great days fishing guys, well done.....you right Ian, that small stretch is brilliant to get the Grayling and trout, almost guaranteed, hence they are putting the day ticket price up to £5 as from the 1st of March

Yes the guy in the Tackle shop did warn us about the increase, however he also said it was the first price increase for 15 years & when you consider that the opposite bank is £100 a year to fish, I think even £5 is still reasonable for some top class fishing... I guess you'll just have to make some of those moths in your purse homeless Claudia

[Twiddler]

Originally Posted by Greenheart

Yes the guy in the Tackle shop did warn us about the increase, however he also said it was the first price increase for 15 years & when you consider that the opposite bank is £100 a year to fish, I think even £5 is still reasonable for some top class fishing... I guess you'll just have to make some of those moths in your purse homeless Claudia

To be honest, I can't remember the last time I fished Lords walk, has been a while.

To the moths, I already hold shares in our local tackle shop and I know the bailiff.....I get away with murder here

[Catfish Virgin (Still!)]

Great report and pictures.

To me, the first image is a top class example of a prime winter fishery and with grayling of that quality available, must be a real bargain of a ticket.

Talked to Mike and Claudia about this venue (while watching my motionless rod tip ) and your report just confirms their opinions. Must try and sneak a visit before the season ends!

[Norfolkboy]

Nice one guys, looks like you had a good day.

[silverfish]

Great pics,& nice fish.Well done lads.

[BaggieRich]

Well done Ian. Some really pretty fish there mate.

Like the sounds of the fire and pub bit as well.....

[fishypaul]

some nice fish there ian,what a lovely looking stretch of river