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Lower Itchen Fishery 0830 - 1800 Bright and breezy. AT around 15ºC all day. River low and clear despite overnight rains. 30 Grayling with around two-thirds in the ¾lb - 1¼lb class with the rest not much smaller. Biggest 1lb 6oz. 10 Brownies between 1½ - 3½lb plus dozens and dozens and dozens of parr fish - a real nuisamce in the same way minnows can be! Lovely day - especially as I practically had the whole fishery to myself with only one other angler booked in. A real game of 2 halfs - when I stopped for lunch, having worked my way down the top half of the fishery in the morning, I'd caught just 3 ladies and a gazillion trout and salmon parr. This made the afternoon a maggot free zone - and was a case of eeking out what sweetcorn I'd brought with me with the emergency rations that live in the bottom of my tackle bag being pressed into action. Grayling of a remarkably similar stamp - amost every fish a few ounces either side of the pound mark made for a busy afternoon. No chub - though bright conditions and low water might explain that one!

Lower Itchen Fishery 0830 - 1730 Bright and sunny all day - quite breezy at times. AT -2º -> 10ºC. River looked in good nick. 16 Grayling: most around 8-10oz with 4 bigger. Best went 1lb 5oz. 1 Chub 3lb 10oz. 6 Brownies; 1½ - 2½lb. 2doz+ Salmon Parr! Since Paul's passing in 2015 I've organised (or tried to) a couple of fish-ins a year to a couple of our favourite venues - and places where Paul himself used to organise get togethers of the Internet Angling Club. This was the first Itchen trip for 3 years however. 2020 succumbing to Storm Dennis & 2021 to Covid so it was nice to catch up with friends old and new and raise a few pounds for Duchess of Kent Hospice. Some of my party had never seen or caught a salmon parr before, and after today I don't think there'll ever want to see one again! Blighters were every where - in the same way that minnows can be! At least it meant no-one blanked - even Glenn caught one! Grayling however were a little thin on the ground - half of mine came from the very last swim I dropped into (along with the chub). Best of the day that I heard of was a 1lb 9oz fish to Phil - with one of Steve's mates getting one of a similar size. I think the bright conditions made the fish a little spooky, shame it didn't have the same effect on the Salmon parr. A BIG thank you to everyone who came - and to those that didn't but still gave me a donation for Sue Ryder - MUCH appreciated. Will post final total in the next day or so but it is already over £350 after paying the fishery. Final contribution to Sue Ryder came in at £365.

Lower Itchen Fishery 0800 - 1800 Bright and breezy, clouding over in the afternoon. River quite full (though has clearly been a lot higher recently) 20 Grayling; 9 over lb - best 4, 2lb 2oz, 1lb15oz, 1lb 12oz, 1lb 10oz. 4 Chub; 3lb 13oz, 3lb 6oz & 2, lbers. A dozen plus (too many!) trout to 4lb+ - mainly browns with a couple of silver tourists! 2 Salmon Parr. Very slow morning followed by a lively afternoon. My first half a dozen swims produced just one decent grayling (first cast of the day as well) and a LOT of trout. In hindsight I should probably have stopped using red corn - my favourite bait for big grayling but the trout were just insatiable on it! By lunchtime I'd fished all my favourite spots and was feeling a little disconsolate as I dropped into a pool I've never fished before. A couple more trout we quickly banked but a switch to single red maggot then produced an instant result in the shape of the 2lber - just what I'd come for! 3 more new swims were then visited during the rest of the day - all producing good grayling - and chub to boot!

River Itchen 0830 - 1700 A rather 'lively' day weather wise - dry but windy until 1100 then 2½hrs of heavy rain (and even windier) followed by 2½hrs of dry weather with even heavier rain for the last hour - by which time the river was colouring up. First day of rain after a fortnight of benign, calm conditions - poo! 17 Grayling; 8 over 1lb - best 5; 2lb 1oz, 1lb 14oz, 1lb 11oz 1lb 10oz X2. 3 Chub 3lb 6oz X2 (not the same fish!) and 2lb 13oz. 4 Brownies to 3lb and a salmon parr. Question: is Costa Coffee trying to take over the world - or at least highway food service? Plan B to get a decent 'full English' was again thwarted by said chain taking over the franchise on the M3 Winchester services. So fishing in somewhat challenging conditions without even a cooked brekkie inside me - pah! The morning though wasn't too bad - very windy but the rain arrived a little later than predicted. The river was quite pacey - in fact too fast for a couple of 'banker swims'. However I eventually found some fish - and had a decent spell when I had 4 of my 5 biggest grayling in under an hour from the same swim - all on trotted red corn - which caught nearly all my fish today. The 1-14 in 'mid flick'. Best of around a dozen shots! Smiling AGAIN!!!

River Itchen - Gaters Mill (Lower Itchen Fishery) 0830 - 1730 Mild and overcast all day 2ºC -> 10ºC. Calm, becoming very breezy by mid-afternoon. Heavy drizzle for last 2 hours. 24 Grayling (15 over 1lb - in order of capture - 2lb 1oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 13oz, 2lb 7oz, 1lb 8oz, 1lb 5oz, 2lb 0oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 8oz, 1lb 14oz, 1lb 11oz, 1lb 12oz, 1lb 7oz, 1lb 12oz, 2lb 9oz) 9 Brownies to 2½lb, 1 Sea Trout 1¾lb, 2 Salmon Parr, 3 chublets & a small roach! Had to work MUCH harder than our previous trip in October (see entry for 8 Oct) but all the more satisfying for that! Fished 7 swims in rotation - 'catch a couple and rest the swim' was order of the day. A switch to banana flavoured (I kid you not!)sweetcorn brought 11 grayling and 9 trout to the net in the last 2 hours - from swims that had stopped giving me bites on maggot. Wished I'd switched to trotting corn earlier!!! Paul managed 'just' 6 Grayling (3 after I told him to switch to corn!), however his biggest fell to red maggot - a stunning fish of 2lb 14oz & his new PB! Below is a (not very good!) pic of my 2.09. Paul's whopper.

River Itchen - Lower Itchen Fishery 0830 - 1745 Bright and sunny start - clouding over in afternoon. Max AT 13ºC. River still quite high and carrying a surprising amount of colour given that we've had no rain for a fortnight. 16 Grayling (10 over 1lb - in order of capture: 1lb 2oz, 2lb12oz, 2lb 6oz, 1lb 4oz, 2lb 10oz*, 1lb 5oz, 2lb 1oz*, 1lb 10oz, 2lb 11oz, 1lb 7oz*), 1 Chub 3lb 3oz, 2 small brownies. Hard (well harder than usual!) but very rewarding day's trotting. All fish on sweetcorn except * which fell to single white maggot. No fish caught at all on red maggot! 3rd, 4th= & 6th= (!) biggest ever grayling. 2lb 12oz 2lb 11oz

Lower Itchen Fishery 0830 - 1730 Bright and cool with sunny intervals. River high and carrying quite a bit of colour (alas). 8 Grayling - 3 over 1lb - 2lb 4oz, 1lb 15oz, 1lb 12oz, 2 Chub 4lb 1oz, 2lb 13oz, 1 Rainbow trout 1½lb, 1 Brownie, 1 Parr (Salmon or trout - hopefully the former as it will mean another point for the species race - pic to be submitted for adjudication!!!) IAC day on the Itchen - and a bit of a grueller with bites at a premium - everyone caught - though I think 11 ladies was the most by any one angler (Merv). Didn't hear of any other 2lbers, most had fish to 1½+lb - and Paul had one of 1lb 14oz along with chub of 4¼ & 3½lbs. Nearly all my fish fell to red sweetcorn - except the bigger chub and the 1-15 grayling which were on white maggot. First ever (and hopefully last) Rainbow from the Itchen.

River Itchen 0830 - 1730 Mild and overcast all day. AT 13ºC Max. River at near normal levels though carrying quite a bit of colour. 22 Grayling; 12 over 1lb, with 6 of those over 2lb - biggest 2lb 7oz. 2 Chub 4lb 3oz, 3lb 8oz. Thanks to Paul's excellent networking skills (& silver tongue) we had exclusive use of this lovely bit of river for a second time (see blog entry 13/10/08 for the first). Bites at a premium and quite hard work at times - but if you stuck at it the fish would take - eventually!! About half my fish on red sweetcorn - most of the rest on white maggot (4 of the 6, 2lbers on corn). Paul managed less well on the grayling front with a dozen fish to 1lb 10oz - mainly beacuse chub kept turning up in his swim (or sea trout). Think he had ½doz chub and a suprise 2lb perch along with some salmon parr - much more of a mixed bag than I managed! A couple of Paul's fish - including his Itchen stripey!

River Itchen 0800 - 1815 Mainly cloudy with sunny spells. 11ºC -> 15ºC -> 9ºC. 41 Grayling; 18 over 1lb, best 5 - 2lb 4oz, 2lb 2oz, 2lb 0oz, 1lb 14ozX2. 2 Chub 4lb 6oz, 3lb 7oz. 10 Brownies to circa 1¾lb. A 2lb crucian and a 2lb grayling in the same week!! River was low and consequently the fish were quite spooky so it was a case of catch a couple and rest the swim - my biggest 2 fish both came from swims that had already been fished 3 or 4 times. About half my fish on trotted red corn - including most of the bigger fish, the rest of single red maggot. Paul had a frustrating morning - but did much better in the afternoon once he changed down his hook size (!) - think he ended up with a couple of dozen ladies to 1lb 14oz....(and a couple of chub too ) Piccies of one of my 2lbers, one of Paul's chub and a belligerent cow who took exception to where Paul wanted to fish and refused to budge!

River Itchen - Twyford Meads 0800 - 1100 Itchen Navigation - Winchester 1130 - 1430 River Lambourn - Shaw - 1530 - 1700 WET. Rain, continuous, unrelenting rain. Mild - 10ºC and no wind (so that's alright then).Did I mention the rain? Twyford Meads - 9 Grayling, best 2; 1lb 5oz & 1lb 3oz the rest all small.16 Salmon Parr, 1 Brown Trout. Itchen Navigation - Blanked. Lambourn - 4 Grayling 1 small the other 3 12-14oz. 1 Brown Trout, 1¼lb Late passes granted to both Paul and I from TWMBO - but Paul's impending Grand parenthood had meant we hadn't booked in anywhere. Even 24 hours out the trip was in some doubt. In the end Paul got the all clear so we went off to explore some new water. A couple of locations we'd heard about and even done a bit of recce-ing in the past - but never fished. And Paul had an alterior motive - he needed a salmon parr for the species race he has entered this year! So 1st up was Twyford Meads - a lovely looking bit of river - though we were a bit unsure of the fishing boundaries (still are in fact). That didn't stop us and before you could say 'Here's the bailiff' Paul was landing a pound and a quarter grayling. A great start - though he wouldn't get another!!!! I was quickly into some small ladies and kept losing goodish fish before managing the 2, pounders in quick succession. Paul and I leapfrogged swims back down to the road - but pretty much the only fish that would bite were salmon parr - they were everywhere - bit like minnows in the summer - so Paul got that box ticked! 3 hours and we'd fished the length of it so it was back to the car for a coffee and some respite form the rain - before moving up to Winchester to another free stretch we'd heard about. Arriving and looking at the river didn't exactly fill us with anticipation - it is a canalised stretch of water and pretty featureless. We walked the length of it hardly dropping a float in - and it probably would have stayed that way if we didn't see some encouragement in the margins - this took the form of a dead roach - freshly dead it was a LARGE dead roach - not quite a 2 but certainly north of 1lb. The top part of the section has at least got a bit of flow and it was here we concentrated our efforts - I fished down the stretch without a bite but Paul managed a very decent lady of 1lb 11oz and lost a much bigger one. So back at the car for a late lunch, another drying out session and a debate about what to do next. Avoiding the rush hour seemed a good idea - so we headed back to Newbury to finish off with some 'easy' grayling - and maybe just maybe the rain will have passed through by then. Wrong on both counts - I only found fish in one swim and Paul didn't find fish in any and if anything the rain got even heavier! Twyford Meads

River Itchen 0830 - 1815 Bright and sunny all day. River VERY low and gin clear! 51 Grayling: 27 over 1lb of which 8 were over 2lb - biggest 2lb 6oz., 4 Chub: 4lb 11oz, 3lb13oz, 3lb5oz, 2lb 6oz, 20+ Brownies to 2½lb. Lovely day spent trotting the river with Paul - who had a similar return - though he managed to all but avoid the trout. Most fish on maggot - a few to corn - though the brownies seemed to get to the corn first.

River Itchen, Gaters Mill 0800 - 1900 Overcast, mild and becalmed - shirtsleeves all day. (Perfick!). River 'full', gin clear with LOTS of debris - mainly ranunculus coming down. 74 Grayling ( 26 over a lb of which 17 over 1½lb and 5 over 2lbs - best 2lb 9oz). 10 Brownies (best also 2lb 9oz), 1 chub 3lb 10oz. River Itchen back to its best - most of the fish were in the faster, streamier water. Paul managed 71 grayling (we both do returns for the EA's national grayling survey) and had 6 over 2lb - his best a fish of 2lb 6oz. Trotted single red maggot (double mag reduced bites significantly). Wrist and elbow rather sore this morning! Brilliant day!