Put To The Test

I'm no kid but today was a little like a Christmas morning
the chance to try the new rod !! The rain had held off
and the weather turning cold now means you can
fish the River Dane without the plague of Minnows
attacking every run of the float . A little late ''traffic''
I arrived and made my way to a area that produces
a good amount of Grayling . On the way it was
Mushroom city all types and hundreds lined the
meadow.
The tension mounted and I could hardly wait to set up
and run the the float. The water was up but no colour
and quite cold ,I tried my banker glide for Grayling nothing!
gutted I just wanted a fish. I then hooked one in my second
swim ,at this point I realized my net was in the car
anyway the hook slipped as I brought it to hand, a nice one
over a pound but no photo .
Not to worry I have spent a lot of time on the Dane so I changed
swim again and had quite a few Grayling I then bumped a much
better one .
The rod is nice and I could tell it had a good bit of power
lower down but with a fine enough top action to make the Grayling
and Dace good fun in the fast water .
First photo of fish and rod ...... It felt good !
A typical glide on the Dane , at around 3ft deep ,always
look for a gravel bed with a swift flow if you are after
Grayling , normally you get a couple of small ones
the bigger specimens hang off the back .
If you rest the swim and feed a little between
fish you can take quite a few fish from a glide
rush and they spook I got eight from the spot.
Tried a new swim first cast a Dace quite a good
one not quite a pound but after a brief juggle dropped
it before a picture ''oops'' not going to plan .
Next cast and bang !! a great big solid lump was not
expecting a Chub in the fast water after a great fight
landed what was my best from the Dane in over
20 years of fishing her! well over 5lb plus my guess,
not very long but deep thought it was a Carp as it
turned , got a picture need some scales .
It was getting late so thought I would try a spot near
the car, I got a cracking Grayling, I put it down next
to the rod for a nice photo blumin thing jumped in!
Ended as I started but what a lovely day the Chub
put the rod to the test................''Quality''.