After a break from game fishing for a while I decided to go out this beautiful February day to try and find some Winter Grayling. The banks were barren with Snowdrops bursting through in the sunshine to make it feel like Spring was just round the corner.
The Chew holds pockets of Grayling in a number of areas mainly where the current runs fast but they are not prolific and the fish rarely exceed a llb. The river was low and clear with little in the way of woody debris. It appears the recent high water has cleaned the gravel but also washed down any debris. First fish was a small Grayling to the nymph which gave me comfort after covering numerous runs without success. I had missed a rise through a turbulent riffle but things were slow to say the least.
Noticed lots of Otter or possibly Mink tracks on the silty berms on the inside of bends - I had convinced myself they were the reason for lack of success. Next fish a good wild Brownie quickly released - it was slow and lethargic but definately a wild fish taken close to the bank and roots of an Alder. Unfortunately my leaky waders were beginning to numb my feet so I had to leave but it was nice to be back out if only for few hours on the nicest day of the year so far.
