The past weekend was a bit mental to say the least – fishing three chalkstreams in two days, all done on the whim of excitement… and anticipation of large grayling. For any river angler – especially at this time of year when the conditions can be somewhat challenging – a single, large lady can make any ones day.

Friday evening Kristian and I decided to travel to Southampton to meet up with Wesley Boyd for a chalkstream filled, fishing weekend. We arrived pretty late Friday evening so it was a quick cuppa and off to bed, ready for an early start to the River Test at Timsbury.

I’d been playing around for a whole week with the new Nymph-It material from Funky Fly Tying, basically a thread with either UV, Copper or Pearl supporting strand. It’s ideal for those who haven’t got a lot of time to sit down and tie, simply use it as your thread, make the body out of it’s 20 delicious colours (60 in all with the different blends) and you’re ready to go.

The Test and it’s carrier fished fairly well considering the conditions, with 20 grayling just like the below gracing my net alone. Kris and Wes both got plenty of fish, but at 1.30pm we had the chance to jump ship and head to the Itchen, an offer too good to refuse. A short 20 minute trip down the motorway and we were there, fishing by 10 past 2.

The conditions were much the same with a slight colouring in the water, but the clear patches were easily identifiable and we caught plenty of trout and grayling. The grayling weren’t as big as we’d caught on the Test, not until Kristian came up with this…

Sunday we headed over to the Lambourn, much higher up the system than the two stretches of river we fished the day before. The river was crystal clear and absolutely full of fish. The Lambourn was somewhere I’d never fished before, so it was a great treat having a day on there.

The average size of grayling was much larger than I first anticipated, so I spent the majority of the day chasing these larger grayling. The biggest however, remained elusive to whatever I threw at them, they’d even turn their noses up at the worm… but this is what makes you want to go back for more…