Jump to content

Grayling Fishing River Test Timsbury


Tony U

Recommended Posts

Well I'm now home, dried out and warmed up after a very wet, cold and blowy fish-in. Having said that, I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Like Will, I managed a pb on a new species - the grayling - with not one but two, both of which were about 6ozs. I also managed a couple of smallish roach from the slow carrier to round off a great day.

 

I would like to thank Tony and KAYC for organising the day and Lyn and Sue for treating us to a super spread at the end of the day. I would also like to thank all the AN forum members who, despite the atrocious weather, still turned up to fish and made it a special day. As Alan's (Meatballs) brother I was touched by the many warm comments that were made and I know that Alan would have felt honoured by the turnout.

 

The toast at the end of the day was "To Absent Friends" as we also remembered Gerry in addition to my brother. On the way home it struck me that we probably all have someone special who has been instrumental in either passing on their knowledge and love of fishing to us or whom we have spent many enjoyable times sharing angling adventures. Maybe we should have the "To Absent Friends" toast at the end of every fish-in, irrespective of whether it is dedicated to someone special, so that we can all say our own personal 'thankyous' for precious memories.

 

Regards,

 

Steve C.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 157
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

Sorry to here the weather wasnt too good.I didnt torture my self reading this thread as things developed as I had decided against going to Timsbury this year,Had to look in tonight though to see how you all got on though.

 

Grayling fishing wise Ive come to the conclussion that Timsbury isnt a patch on the Lower Itchen Fishery that we also visit BUT that said there is something magical about the place that the Itchen (for me anyway) just doesnt have.I normally start on the main river in a "favourite" swim then venture onto the slow carrier.Its the sort of place that time just flies past and as some one else said on this thread you never get enough time to try all the possibilities.

 

One year an AN member will get one of those magic roach on the fish in!

 

Hopefully be up for the Itchen fish in though.

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I must also appolgise for shooting off early, but as you know I forgot my waterproofs and was absolutely soaking after an or so fishing in the rain but stuck it out for as long as bearable. I was so cold and wet by 1 o'clock I had to get off to get warmed up and dried off. :headhurt:

 

One lesson learn't though, always double check you have everything. I would rather have forgotten my rod than the waterproofs as there would have always been somebody there to lend you a rod for the day.

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had a really good day, thanks mostly to Leon who very kindly volunteered to show me round the place. He also taught me to trot a float properly, and within a few minutes I had my first ever grayling. What a lovely fish, though I quickly found out they're not the easiest things to hold.

Five or six more followed until like a few others I decided that the afternoon should be spent as dry and warm as possible under a brolly on the slow carrier. Caught four lovely perch, but unfortunately by the time I got back to the car park, most people had left or were leaving. Was great to meet those of you who I did, and thanks so much to Tony, Sue and Lyn for organising and feeding (oh, and the cognac!).

 

David

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi

 

It was great to meet everyone yesterday. Tony and Sue many, many thanks for arranging the day, though you booked the decent weather one day early!

 

Lyn, thanks for the tea, bacon roll and pies. Gave me heart to face the long trip home.

 

The mulled wine hit the spot, and allowed us all time to reflect on absent friends.

 

Fishing wise. I started with the float on the fast carrier and to a small extent to main river, taking a decent Brown and a Salmon Parr. I should had keep a trickle of maggot feed going but my blue fingers would not allow it. My faithfull waterproof jacket was not so faithfull. Memo to self, invest in something better. Giving in I went for the last resort and swopped to a feeder rod and sat under an umbrella for a while on the main river but soon moved to escape the wind.

Christian and Dave decided that a trip to warm up in the local pub was an excellent idea and for once I was keen go along . . thinking of a warm hand dryer. The dryer worked a treat but the locals must have though it strange I kept making repeated & protracted trips to the gents. I had several layers to dry, honist!

After warming though, we returned to have another bash with the float rods. Christian decided to kip in the car while Dave and I braved the elements. The fast carrier was calling, but the weather and cold beat us back. Oh and casting into a tree did not help.

 

Hope everyone had a safe trip home.

Andrew Boyd

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Firstly, many thanks to Tony, Sue and Lyn for all the organising and catering (the mulled wine may have just saved my life) and Steve for the speech and toast to absent friends. It was testament to Alan that we all stayed till the bitter end to raise a glass to him.

 

Secondly, I don't think I've ever fished in such terrible conditions! I have to admit, if I'd been planning a 'normal' day's fishing, I'd have looked at the forecast and forgot about it! It really was horrible, gales, driving rain and bitterly cold. The old wax hat kept my head dry and waterproof trousers kept the legs from a soaking but water poured down my coat sleeves and neck and soaked me from inside out. When I made a fist, icy water poured from my gloves :headhurt:

 

The conditions also made the fishing very hard. The strong blustering upstream wind made the line stick to the wet rod, so trotting was very frustrating, and the amount of dying weed and other debris floating down (in huge clumps!) made the feeder tricky.

 

However, I did catch a new pb grayling of 1lb 10oz on breadflake and was lucky enough to see Goosequill's amazing 4lb+ chub - you couldn't imagine a more spotless, mint conditioned fish. We were fishing at the end of the beat in the deeps hoping for roach, but it wasn't exactly roach weather :rolleyes: In hindsight I'd have fished differently, but that's easy to say now.

 

It was great to meet up with people again, and apologies if I wasn't very chatty by the end - all I could think about was a hot shower and dry clothes :)

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Elton,

 

You didn't fish there yesterday by any chance did you? The fast carrier was full of floats in the trees :lol:

 

Yeah, I've got a new tactic now: I just go down the river and throw my floats up random trees. Saves a fortune on bait :D

Anglers' Net Shopping Partners - Please Support Your Forum

CLICK HERE for all your Amazon purchases - books, photography equipment, DVD's and more!

CLICK HERE for Go Outdoors. HUGE discounts!

 

FOLLOW ANGLERS' NET ON TWITTER- CLICK HERE - @anglersnet

PLEASE 'LIKE' US ON FACEBOOK - CLICK HERE

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i had a great day ,fished a few of my favourite swims managed to tempt a half dozen or so from the wierpool at the end of the fast carrier :thumbs: ,i thought it was nice of dear andy (the bailif) to put the christmas decorations up (although i was realiable informed he was probably helped by our own elton :P ) worked my way back to the sanctuary :clap: ,we built a bonfire :clap2: (inside a kelly kettle) leon whittlng away making kindling ,leafs & twigs went in and a copy of the angling times

managed to get it all to light (several times :whistling: ) but it never quite managed to managed to boil up (after a hour of pyromania fun :black_eye: ) but i got my cup of tea in the end thanks i think to the bailif taking pity on us (from his nice warm cosy shed :yeah:) what a dear he was ,waited for a bit of a slow period in the down pour to try and show sue how to cast her new centrepin but the weather was against us but i hope i managed to get the basc's accross ,this mght be of further help : http://www.angelfire.com/sd2/chavender/centre-pins/cp05.html and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgyExVbzkl0 .

 

had to go before lynes cook-in feast as i had a long way to go ,in the rain & traffic (and sleet & snow !) to get home

but it was a fantastic day the weather couldn't dampen our spirits :yahoo: .

owls22dx.gif

Chavender
I try to be funny... but sometimes I merely look it! hello.gif Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all, what a day, I don't think I've ever been that cold and wet before. My day, after a quick chat, started on the main river. My plan was to wander downstream almost to the bridge, but as usual I found a swim that I couldn't bring myself to walk past. It was a good move, as I was soon into my first brownie of the day. For the conditions I thought I did well in that swim, catching another brownie about 3 1/2lb, 2 nice grayling and what I was told later could have been a salmon parr. I probably would of stayed there all day but decided to go back to the car park and heat up some soup when I lost the feeling in my hands and fingers. The uncontrollable bouts of shivering didn't help either.

Back at the car park I met up with a few of the regulars huddled under a shelter. Here we were entertained buy Tony, Chavender and Leon trying to light the kelly kettle.

After a tin of hot soup, another layer of clothes and fresh hat, I was ready to venture out again. I was going to give one of the carrier streams a go, but as I was walking over to them I was overcome by the draw of the main river and found my self in the swim I fished last year. I soon caught another brownie but the bites really started coming when I started using sweetcorn and regularly throwing in mashed bread. My total for that swim was 6 brownies and 3 grayling.

Even the excitement from the antics of the acrobatic displays given by some of the hooked trout, could not hide the fact I was getting colder and wetter. While I could still think straight, before the onset of hypothermia, I decided to call it a day.

When I got back to the shelter I was met by most of the others, only a few hardy souls were still on the river. After a brief chat there was a call for what could only be described as a life saver....hot mulled wine, bacon sarnies and a comfy seat in Lyns camper van. Thank you Lyn and Sue for those.

 

Although cold and wet it was a great day, especially as all my fish were caught on the centrepin I made, on it's first outing. It was also great to meet up with everybody again. I'd also like to thank Tony and KayC for organising the fish-in.

 

 

Here's a few piccies from yesterday.

PB180235.jpg

PB180233.jpg

PB180232.jpg

PB180231.jpg

PB180230.jpg

PB180229.jpg

PB180228.jpg

PB180227.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We and our partners use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences, repeat visits and to show you personalised advertisements. By clicking “I Agree”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit Cookie Settings to provide a controlled consent.