For many anglers, a grayling is one of the best looking fish an angler can catch, so you can imagine Dominic Taylor's joy when he banked 25 of them in a recent session, capped off by a huge 3lb fish.
Upon arriving at a stretch of the prestigious River Test, Dominic found the river to be much weedier than he was expecting at this time of year, which ruled out a lot of the hotspots he has caught grayling from before. Undeterred, he scoped out some other likely looking glides and had fish from the off in an unforgettable days angling.
"After walking along the river, I finally made my first trot down and couldn’t believe my luck when the stick float shot under, and I hooked what was obviously a large fish," Dominic told us.
"I wasn’t expecting one this size on my first cast, but it weighed in at 2lb 2oz, matching my personal best. On my third trot down, I landed another good fish weighing 1lb 12oz."
"After roving the river and fishing multiple glides, the action continued throughout the day, with no fewer than 25 grayling landed, only two of which were under 1lb. I managed to catch another hefty fish at 2lb, then set a new personal best at 2lb 4oz, before landing yet another big one at 2lb 1oz."
"I stumbled across a nice, short, deeper glide running along the inside edge. After landing a couple of trout, the float dipped, and I assumed another trout was on the line, given the intense fight. However, as I brought the fish closer, I couldn’t believe my eyes when the unmistakable dorsal fin of a huge grayling broke the surface."
"After a few jumps and final attempts to escape, the struggle swiftly ended, and there, caught in the mesh, was the fish of a lifetime—a true monster of the depths: a grayling measuring 50 cm and tipping the scales at the magical 3lb mark."
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