Just to add a little to the tale.
today I had an invite from the owner of "my Beat" on the Kennet to bring family for lunch and a little fish .its something he and his wife do for his trout fishers to celebrate the end of the season .
Hugh my now 6ft 2 son who caught his first ever grayling here some 10ish years ago ,I have the photo tucked away in my filofax organiser of a 4foot tall grin holding a halfpounder,also accepted the invitation ,with end of school exams and other 17 year old interests he has not been fishing for well over a year ,and he has just left home to spend a year working in Industry ,mind he is home every weekend so far for home cooking and use of the washing machine .
We left a grey chilly over cast London ,a trek across town to the west found us into some good sunshine ,and the trees just beginning to take on their autum colours ,some 40 miles out of London Boy and I looked at each other and I knew it was Coffee time ,me i drink one maybe at a push 2 cups a week ,down from vat loads 20 years ago ,but I enjoy watching the lad drinking the latest coffee confection .Left the service area only to find they must have given me a triple extra shot , nervous twitches and slightly "high". Thankfully the roads were fine and the rush subsided.
we arived ,tackled up and had a delightful stroll down the central path which takes us to the bottom of the fishery , talking away ,mainly about his new growing social life away from home .
we have a look at the short section of the main river ,and are impressed with the narrowing of the channel carried out by English nature,but find no rising fish ,we head up the road arm where just above the first weir pool we find a few rising grayling .all small and very quick ,Hugh being rusty from his long lay off from fishing ,missed the risers and spooked the rest of the shoal ,so we went on up the road arm the same dry brought him a exquisite jewel of 5 inches of grayling magic and from then on the rust fell away and he out fished me just .
The rest of the morning past in a whirl of fish spotting casting ,fighting trees ,and some fish .
Lunch with Nigel the beat owner was fun, folks we have met before and new faces all bound by a love of fishing and some tales of this bit of river and others from Iceland to New Zealand ,all ages from I guess 8 too well over 80 , time to go farewells made , a stroll down stream hugh sees a rainbow casts a perfect line the nymph is inhaled and its shortly back in the river to live on hopefully to entertain the trout fishers next season .
tackle broken we slightly sadly drive away , Hugh to be dropped at the station to catch a train to his new weekday home me back to Highbury ,.
I have to say despite being outfished by my pupil ,the day with Hugh is one I will treasure .
Oh yes all my dryfly fish of the day came to Jaxes Roughy as did Hugh's,though as most times a nymph is the killer for grayling !