Phil,Matt,Glen and Guy hit the upper Severn and a 3lb Grayling!!

Well i did the live blog and it looked to be ok with the phone pictures not so bad as i thought, it something i will do now and again...

Its quite mad these days with all the tecnology, yesterday i could just email to my blog with a picture attached and it would post itself directly onto the blog!

I have met so many fisherman from the blog and had loads of help and info from fellow bloggers, i even met my mucker Woody who i fish with all over these days..

I had been in touch with Phil (thymallus thymallus) off the forum for a few years and finally we arranged a trip out together on his stretch of the Severn...

Also Laddfa mate Guy (Orvis fan) Matt and Wesser fancied the trip out, Woody could not make it due to family comitments so we all arranged to meet around half nine on the river..

I was up late on Saturday banging flys together, hoping to tye and new killer! but always drifting back to tying my favorite killers by John Tyzack... Its funny how you can start to tie mad patterns and i usually end up with loads of one offs that just never get used....I have bagged up all year using Jts patterns and cant see why i should change to anything else, my box is just of four different patterns in differnt size and weight and this is how i shall stay...

I woke up around 6.00 am and peered out the window to see a good 4inch of snow!! the main road by my house was thick with it and my heart sank... I rang wess and he said 'youth im going back bed' this was my first thought so i lay back down gutted...Matt rang and he turned back around as his car was all over the place! You wait all week buzzing about going fishing then the weather just ruins all your plans..

I then had a call from Phil, I asked him what he thought? He was already half way there battling through the snow! He said 'I am hardcore and going for it' That was enough for me, if Phil was going for it so was i.....
The roads in Stoke were horendous, i was all over the place, skipping past lorries stuck on banks and all sorts..I often thought to myself that i must be insane but the thought of hitting into them Ladies on the Severn just kept me going!!
As soon as i hit Shrewsbury the roads were loads better, they had only had a dusting of snow so it was plane sailing from there...Guy and Matt had also hit the roads...
We all got our tickets from the Spar and headed off to meet up with Phil on the river who had already caught a few fish..
The river was looking very low from my previous session, it was also gin clear so i new that it was going to be hard fishing..
We all introduced ourselves to Phil who gave us the low down on the river, Phil is a member and his knowledge was going to be a huge help to us..
I walked down to the river with a 3 nymph setup, i just glanced over to see at least 40 Grayling all packed up in a shoal, Phil had seen these fish and like a true angler he left it alone for us to all have a go, what a top bloke.....this was amazing to see and looking how these fish behave is a real lesson, i was slightly too heavy on the JT flashback as the flow had gone out of the river and i was stopping on the bottom, lazily i decided to stay with the point and did small lifts down the run, this induced a take with a proper zip in the line, a strike downstream and a bump....i was into a fish after 5 mins fishing, now these fish fight better than any i have had, usually after the first run they come to the net, these fish take line off your drag!!!
After a hard scrap i landed a 2lb 2oz PB, a fish which i can only describe as a old dogger , no pectoral fin and heron dents down its back, not perfect condition but this is what i liked about the fish, it had true character on was a pure 'dogger'
The shoal could be seen and flys could be run through but its obvious that this section gets some real hammer and these fish have everthing put past them by anglers...I noticed that you could drop the flys infront of these fish and they just shuffle to the side and ignore them...I was not going to stand there all day flogging them so i moved upstream with Phil..
The odd rise was seen in shallow water and this just gets my heart racing, i could not help myself to get out the dry so Phil and myself had a good go at catching one but nothing was playing..
We met back up with Matt and Guy, Guy had taken a few pounders out of the first stretch so he was buzzin his head off...
We all headed off downstream with Phil taking us through the pools explaining all the spots that hold fish, infact he pointed a pool out to me and i waded over and caught on my first cast!! Phil just gave that cool look and smiled saying 'hows that for guiding'!!
We all spread out and started to fish downstream, i chose a spot that produced well for me and Woody last time but on arrival the pool has disappered and gone to nothing with the low level of water...
I soon started to wade up a exellent glide looking for likely holes, I could see Phil coming down the stream towards me czeching away... phil gave me a quick shout as i saw his rod hooped right over, i then saw a huge bar of silver do a dolpin dive, fuck me what ever he was into was big!! the fish shot upstream of him taking line off!! now i thought trout as Grayling always come back down the flow, i waded over to him and  took the mclean's net out to do the deeds, we soon got a glimpse and yes it was a huge Grayling with its dorsal at full stretch holding in the flow!! I shouted the 'fuck me its a  3lber' Phil heart must have been in his mouth as he was shaking! a top experienced angler like Phil knew he was into a fish of a lifetime and he got his head on and started to play it like a dream, he never got in trouble, only the first run but the fish was holding current to the side of us, there was no rushing, he just kept nice tension and after a good 5min scrap she swept straight into the net!! Buzzin, we just held the net in the water and i gave phil a brother handshake before we got a proper look as we knew what he had just caught...
Well Guy had come down to see the comosion and when we lifted the net Guy said 'Its like a Barbel' and how right he was, this fish was fin perfect and hook prick clean, a fookin huge! We rested the fish for a minuite and then got the camera out for a few shots, I picked it up to hit the scales at bang on 3lb, not a oz under or over...i am sometimes funny with scales so i tested them last week with wezz on site and my net at a wet weight is bang on the mark which is a credit to Mcleans from New Zealand who manufacter these nets, i cant recomend a weigh net like these enough as most anglers have nothing, if Phil had caught this he would have had to guess the weight and he would never have known he was now a Grayling man of the 3lb possy!!
Well we put the fish back and it was time for a fag, if you look at the picture of Phil on my blog u will see a picture of him buzzin after the fish... This fish was very much deserved for a time served angler like Phil, i was buzzing that much for him it felt like i had caught it too, i would love to have one of them one day but for now it was just as good seeing one and gives me more hunger to get one...
We now told Guy to get in and fish the same pool as we knew what else would be paired up with the 3lber, and sure enough on Guys third cast he hit into a very hard fighting lady which was netted after a right good scrap!! Another clunk weighing in at 2lb 2oz, another personnel best for Guy...Well done bro...
We all took a stroll down the river plucking a few fish here and there, most around the nice pound mark and a few nice 4oz young..Phil was on cloud nine and we were all enjoying a perfect day in exellent surroundings..
On the way back up i had a flick into the holy pool to hook another Lady which fought better than any Grayling ever, it would see the net and bolt off again and again, 5 mins later Phil netted me another clunk weighing in at 1lb 14oz!! What a day this had been, one of them days that come around only now and again and we all went back to our cars with big smiles on our faces, Matt had caaught fish and loved it, he wanted one of the clunkers but luck was not on his side today, his time will come very soon.....
I would like to thank Phil for showing us around his great river, a lad whom has the same buzz as me, and that takes some doing! his knowledge of Grayling fishing is vast and he was willing to show us all his pools ect which is something not many anglers do these days..
Well done Phil you are a member of the 3lb possy!!!
Nice one
Glen