© The Journal of The Grayling Society Volume 27 - Number 3 • Winter 2016 © CONTENTS The Official Journal of Editorial Bob Male 2 The Grayling Society “What a Roller Coster of a Weekend” (Symposium) 3 ISSN 1476-0061 Chariman’s Report 9 Free to all our Members in - Symposium Fishing Day R. Avon near Amesbury Dave Southall 10 Australia Lithuania Austria Luxembourg GS AGM 2016 Letters and Comments 13 Belgium Netherlands Canada New Zealand Wilderness Grayling, an Adventure George Lockhart 16 China Norway Denmark Poland Poet’s Corner 24 Eire Portugal England Scotland An Innovative Fish-friendly Landing Net Dave Southall 25 Finland Slovenia France Sweden Area 6 & 7 Fishing Day Report 26 Germany Switzerland Italy U. S. A. Grayling from a Lake Greg Payne 27 Isle of Man Wales Uttoexeter Fly Fair 28 Editor - Bob Male Ton Up Kris Kent 30 Telephone: 01722 503939 e-mail: [email protected] Area 4 Fishing Day 35 Advertising - Rod Calbrade Response to Stan Cios Article Les Jervis 36 Subscriptions per annum: Full £28.00, Joint £47.00 Senior (over 70) £22.00 “Simply the best graylnig fishing that I have ever experienced Junior (under 16) £5.00 anywhere” George Ashton 37 Details available from the Yorkshire Ure Rivers Trust & Grayling Day Dave Southall 45 Membership Secretary Mike Tebbs Telephone: 01985 841192 Fishing in Finnish Lapland Chris Bond 48 e-mail: [email protected] Bookshelf 56 Design and Production Peter Silk Design e-mail: [email protected] Minutes of the 40th AGM & Accounts 60 Society Web Site 65 www.graylingsociety.net Treasurer’s Report © The Grayling Society, 2016 Officers of the Society 66 Printed by Printed by Cambrian Printers Aberystwyth SY23 3TN The copyright of all material in this edition of ‘Grayling’ remains with the Authors, or the Grayling Society, and may not be reproduced, by any means whatsoever, without the copyright holders written permission. The Grayling Society and members of the Executive Committee accept no responsibility for the accuracy of any article or advertisement herein Cover Illustration and no guarantee is given for any product or service being offered. Contributions, including photographs or illustrations are always welcome, but the Society assumes no responsibility Grayling for the safety of contributions, although all reasonable care will be taken. Views expressed (Courtesy of Martin Smith) by contributors are not necessarily those of the Editor or of the Grayling Society. All enquiries about articles in ‘Grayling’ should be addressed to the Editor. Grayling – Winter 2016 1 Editorial Bob Male The 40th Symposium is, inevitably, still fresh in It was a great weekend, and many thanks are my mind, especially after having to miss last due to the Committee and local Secretaries, year’s. It was a great success, even by the high especially as they are already hard at work standards we have come to expect, with good planning next year’s – its going to be on the accommodation, good food and good company. 21st and 22nd of October, so watch out for news. Our best ever attendance and some high quality, if sometimes challenging, content to keep us up Society Publications to scratch. On a related matter, the Society’s publications The fishing day was blessed with decent weather will be changing from next year. As the digital and the famous Southern chalk streams lived up age has remorselessly progressed, important to their reputation, at least for those people who news has become ever easier and quicker to have contacted me since and sent photos of fine access, and our Newsletter has become less grayling and beautiful autumn scenery. “newsy” and more of an extension of the “What a Roller Coaster of a Weekend” The content this year was heavy on the Journal. After considerable debate, it was conservation and science side, with Dr. Mark decided that we would move to three Journals a There were great expectations for a tremendous The doors opened at 8.30am, both for Everard doing a great job of making habitat year, instead of two. These new Journals will Symposium weekend at Marwell and we certainly registration and for viewing and buying at the management comprehensible to all of us, and probably be slightly smaller, depending on how achieved more than expected. The organising Trade Stands; there were some early birds getting Steve Gregory and Vanessa Huml managing to much material I receive, but we will still be committee had worked hard over many months their hands on the merchandise from the “off”. make matrix statistics and serious genetics concentrating on substantial articles and putting the event together, taking the extra 9.20am (earlier than usual) arrived and Steve equally relevant and meaningful. All three reports, and maintaining a high standard of strain as it was realized that the weekend was Skuce welcomed the audience to the weekend’s speakers were able to point to trends and production. The Newsletter will appear once going to be an exceptional one. events with the patterns that will be valuable to those of us who only, and that edition will be dedicated to the Many members arrived on Friday and there shortest welcoming must plan for the future of grayling stocks in our AGM and Symposium plans for that year – the was a constant procession through the speech ever. His first rivers. I’m a bit prejudiced here, being science location, the Application Form, fishing matters, restaurant during the evening and chat in the words concerned trained, but we cannot over-emphasise the etc. We expect the schedule to be as follows: bar until the early hours of Saturday. Norman Shippey, an importance of having “hard” evidence to hand Spring, Summer and Winter Journals will go Eight speakers were carefully shoehorned into ever cheerful when dealing with those who have the political out in early April, August and December the Saturday programme, more than usual, and, member who was power to change our rivers for the better. respectively, and the Symposium Newsletter as you would expect, all performed excellently always the first to send his booking in Happily, we had Alex Jardine and Lewis Hendrie in June. and exactly on time. With 100 plus members in attendance, it was our largest Symposium ever for the Symposia and to get us involved with the intricacies of modern As this edition is a big one, I’m going to keep and the Marwell Hotel coped admirably with our who has sadly died nymph fishing, and Neil Patterson to liven up the my piece short, and will simply wish all members constant demands. during the last year. post lunch session with anecdotes and a very happy Christmas and New Year, with many The precise timing of the talks and other His cheery face and adventures, so balance was achieved, I thought. good days on the river. activities during the day was a challenge for all enthusiasm will be involved but all the speakers had a bright and sadly missed. Steve and Paul with that book... COPY DEADLINES FOR 2017 Publication Copy Deadline early start and got proceedings under way on time. First up on Saturday was Dr. Mark Everard, It was Steve Skuce’s last Symposium as who enthralled us with tales of the riverbank, Will all officers and contributors please note these Spring Journal Wednesday March 1st Chairman and after 23 years on the Committee which included grayling ecology and the role of dates. I have allowed some lead time for final layout, as Sales Officer, General Secretary and finally the river habitats with the 3 ‘F’s which fish need proofing and printing, but as you see, these timings Summer Journal Saturday July 1st three years as our Chairman he was standing to survive – Feeding, Flight and Reproduction. are tight. Your help, as always, is much appreciated. down. He was also launching his new book He talked, amongst other things, about the Editor Winter Journal Wednesday November 1st entitled Grayling Flies . bucolic bliss of the Bristol Avon, his local river. 2 Grayling – Winter 2016 Grayling – Winter 2016 3 Stephen Gregory explaining the Wylye grayling project. Steve signs....with a future member? Alex Jardine and Lewis Hendrie explaining ther techniques Secondly, we had Dr. Stephen Gregory who Chalkstream Chronicles , who took us round the has recently taken over work on our ongoing world with tales and experiences referring River Wylye Grayling study, which started in 1984. regularly to his great pal John Goddard “The He has recently been analysing 9,500+ grayling Great”. As well as living on the banks of the by length, age, population changes and other chalkstreams, Neil also has a property in Welsh dynamics. The Study also includes the effects of Patagonia close to the land of Butch Cassidy and weather, particularly the effects of flooding the Sundance Kid. His further adventures took us which mostly affect younger fish. This study to the banks of the River Varzuga in Russia; from must surely be worthy of a David Attenborough Marc Petitjean and his cul de canard patterns to BBC production when it is completed! George Melly on the Usk and finally to a meeting Next was the young duo of Alex Jardine and with “The Fridge” and a very sexy lady in Cuba. Lewis Hendrie, part of the burgeoning number of Grayling Research Trust young globe trotting fly fishermen who excel in Following the introduction of David Mee as the modern fly tying and fishing techniques and new Treasurer of the Grayling Research Trust, enthusiastically chase grayling as a species. Robin Mulholland gave a brief resumé on the Primarily centering on the techniques developed current state and activities of the GRT; their in Europe they showed many older hands the involvement in the Wylye Study, the Genetics newer ways of catching grayling.