Huge grayling aren't a species you typically associate with summer, but that didn't stop specimen ace Daniel Bouskila from landing a brace of massive grayling on a recent trip to a favorite venue.
Opting for fly fishing tactics, Daniel waded through the clear water, searching for opportunities to present his nymph pattern to an unsuspecting grayling. After numerous casts without a response, he stumbled upon a deep pool where he landed a monumental pair of grayling weighing 3lb and 2lb 8oz.
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"My friend Tom and I had been roving a good mile and a half stretch of chalk stream, exploring new and old spots. The clarity of the water was crystal clear, with lots of crowfoot obscuring the fish and making it a challenge to drift a nymph through uninterrupted," Dan explained to us.
"I came across a spot I hadn’t seen before, but because of the clear water, I could see the far bank was deeply undercut."
"I carefully waded over towards the area. There was a bank of weed there and a sliver of a clear run between it and the bank."
"I very carefully ran my nymph through, and out of nowhere, a dark shadow came out from under the bank and snatched my offering!"
Although it was heart-pounding enough watching the huge grayling take the fly, Dan then had to watch the fish as it battled for freedom in the fast water and abundant weedbeds.
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"The fight was pretty epic. It went like a rocket to get back under the bank! I had no choice but to pull back fully, wincing at the pressure on my light lines whining in the breeze, but thankfully, I managed to get the better of it," he added.
"But it wasn’t over. It then went on a run upstream, heading towards another big snag of a fallen tree! This time, I could move a bit easier. With trees directly overhead, it truly felt like a fight in a phone box!"
"Eventually, after a very spirited fight, it came to the surface and drifted back towards me. I lunged and landed the beauty. In the summer, I don’t really expect to catch a very big grayling, but that’s what I had in the net."
"On the very next cast, I landed a slightly smaller 2lb 8oz fish in a mind-boggling brace," he said.
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