Des Taylor’s

Ladies of the Stream come out to play as two great blokes invite me over to fish

Diary of a Countryman

TALK about bagging up! The weather is still is up and down like a yo-yo but in between times I have had some great fishing.

I realise I have an advantage in that I can go fishing when I want, but there are enough good spells at the moment for you all to have a few fish. As I have said a few times in this column, you have to get out there to catch – it’s all too easy to make excuses not to go fishing.

Here’s how my week went...

WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY

Two guide days for perch, although I did find some ‘Des time’ because the lads I took wanted me to fish and leave them to it.

All in all we had over 120 fish up to just over 2lb – great sport, with a number of double hook-ups too! I love to see my customers having such a great time. One of them, Luke Edwards, is a highly accomplished carp angler and thanked me at the end of the session for showing him there was something other than big carp.

It was nice to see an angler who has caught carp in this country to over 60lb enjoying the bend from a perch in his little drop shot rod.

One of the other anglers, Matt French, caught on the drop shot, by ‘walking the worm’ and with jigs. He had the time of his life! For him, fish don’t have to be big to be enjoyable. He just enjoys the ‘take’ and I respect that. After the sessions we had a pint together – I even tried to get these southern softies to try a pork scratching, but that was just one step too far. All geared up for Test grayling. Happy days!

FRIDAY

Grayling on Hampshire’s River Test! I have to say it was one of my best sessions for many a year.

My hosts were Bob Taylor and son Andy from Shropshire, who I have got to know well from fishing the Severn at Coalport.

Today was about catching grayling, of course, but a lot of other things came into play to make it very special. For a start, the venue is very exclusive. It’s usually only open to fly fishing for brown trout, but syndicate members are allowed a few days’ grayling fishing with maggots and can also invite a guest… which is where I came in!

It started in the Grade 1 listed fishing lodge with a cup of coffee and a nip of very fine whisky. We then strolled across the mown lawn to the swims and caught grayling. In fact we caught grayling all day long, ‘one a chuck’ as they say in the Black Country.

Bob and Andy fish the water a lot in the summer. They know where the grayling lie and directed me to the best swims. There are lots on this little river.

We fed the swims very lightly, as too many maggots will always attract trout, but even with this approach we still caught and returned lots of brown trout to around the 5lb mark that fought like tigers on the float gear.

At midday we had hot soup, sandwiches and fine wine back in the lodge, and talked about how the day was going and hopefully what was to come. The afternoon went quickly, with grayling over a pound to a best of 2lb 11oz. Then it was back to the hotel for a quick change and shower before heading out for an Indian and a few beers.

We stayed in Stockbridge, and there were Christmas lights along the high street. A section of the Test runs through the town, and even there we could see trout to over 3lb holding in the flow.

We leaned against the brick wall, looked at the fish in the shallow water for about 15 minutes – as anglers do – and returned to the hotel for one last drink.

As I lay in my hotel bed I thought about the day and how lucky I am to have such lovely friends and the chance to fish such great places.

Thank you Bob and Andy.

SATURDAY

After saying my goodbyes to Bob and Andy I made my way home from the Test after a hearty breakfast and a pot of strong tea.

It took me a while to get home, as I stopped off to see a stretch of the Thames I intend to fish for chub this winter. It looked good, and after Christmas I will be casting my bread baits and cheese-paste into its depths to see if I can capture one of its huge fish.

Of course, it’s great to have good fishing when you go, but it’s also nice to have something to look forward when you are sitting watching TV on a winter’s evening. Many is the time my wife Maggie has asked: “Where are you fishing tonight Desy boy?” as I stare at the wall instead of the TV.

She knows me so well!