Sometimes you can be just lucky, sometimes the stars align, sometimes it all works out… and you catch the fish of a lifetime without warning! Like this grayling, which cracked my PB for the second time this year!
I did not have time to go fishing yesterday, or at least not much. But between all the things I needed to do, I managed to slip away for an hour and swing some nymphs for grayling. To maximize my time at the water, I did not bother to take my polarized glasses or my waders, but wearing my casual jeans and all, I just grabbed my rod and backpack.
At the water, I wasn’t suspecting much. The weather had changed, the water was slightly foggy and I did not see any fish. So I casted blind into some riffles, between weedbeds and alongside overhanging banks. I changed the nymph and the depth, had the nymph sink and rise and tried all sorts of variations.
And then the bite came. It was a dynamic take like I am used rather from trouts. The fish also fought like a trout, and was very strong. When I finally saw the sail on its back, and realized that it is a grayling, I admired the power of this fish. Never in my memory had a grayling fought this hard… but without polarized lenses and in murky water, I saw the fish not very well and it did not seem remarkably big at first. Only when I had it in front of my net, did I realize what a giant this was! And before I had the time to become nervous, the fish was in the net!
The grayling measured 57cm (22.5 in) and is the biggest one I ever caught! What a beautiful beast!
