© The Journal of The Grayling Society Volume 27 - Number 1 • Winter 2015 © C O N T E N T S The Official Journal of Editorial Bob Male 2 The Grayling Society 39th Symposium and AGM; Chairman’s Report Steve Skuce 4 ISSN 1476-0061 39th Symposium and AGM 6 Free to all our Members in - Poet’s Corner 14 Australia Lithuania Austria Luxembourg Grayling Fly Fisher’s Paradise Dave Martin 16 Belgium Netherlands Canada New Zealand Drag? - An Annan Revelation Alan Ayre 20 China Norway Denmark Poland The Novice Angler - Part 2 The Novice 21 Eire Portugal England Scotland Area News and Fishing Days 24 Finland Slovenia France Sweden My First Area Day Paul Deaville 26 Germany Switzerland Italy U. S. A. Not a Grayling Sunday 27 Isle of Man Wales Update on the Fate of Grayling Editor - Bob Male in North-East and East Yorkshire Dave Southall 30 Telephone: 01722 503939 e-mail: [email protected] Big Grayling 2 Robin Mulholland 34 Advertising - Rod Calbrade Arctic Grayling Haven Dave Radcliffe 35 Subscriptions per annum: Full £28.00, Joint £47.00 What do Fish from the River Alyn Eat? Led Jervis 38 Senior (over 70) £22.00 Junior (under 16) £5.00 The Perfect Line? J.S. Davison 44 Details available from the Membership Secretary Unica Grayling Dave Southall 46 Mike Tebbs Telephone: 01985 841192 Cannibalism in Grayling Stanisław Cios 50 e-mail: [email protected] Book Review Bob Male 53 Design and Production Peter Silk Design e-mail: [email protected] Officers of The Society 54 Society Web Site Minutes of the 39th AGM 56 www.graylingsociety.net © The Grayling Society, 2015 Society Accounts 2015 58 Printed by 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 Fishing the Alyn - photographs or illustrations are always welcome, but the Society assumes no responsibility See Les Jervis’ article on what the for the safety of contributions, although all reasonable care will be taken. Views expressed fish here eat. 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 – Summer 2015 1 A relative newcomer to fly-fishing Steven The Righyni - Roose Trophy Editorial Bob Male started as a coarse fisherman in early life before The Righyni - Roose Trophy for 2016 will be becoming distracted by football and later golf. He awarded for photography. has now returned to his basic hunting instincts Entries should be sent to Steve Skuce, the and is a member of three clubs in South Wales Society’s Chairman, by September 16th 2016, with the majority of his fishing being carried out and may be in printed or digital format. Welcome to the winter edition, and another Treasurers – on the Pencoed & District AC waters on the very varied and international magazine it is. We farewell and welcome River Ewenny. Grayling Society Publication Schedule 2016 have a splendid range of articles about grayling Members will know that Keith Mason stood Steven admits he is To improve the flow of articles, reports and in Alaska, Canada, Eastern Europe and, of down this year after more than 20 years as the unlikely to, and has no advertising, I am suggesting the publication course, here in the UK. Many thanks go to all our Society’s Treasurer. The Committee decided to ambition to, serve schedule below with deadlines for copy. contributors, regular and new. give him a parting gift at our September meeting, longer than Keith and is I’d also like to encourage new contributors and The new Society Sales Catalogue is included, as a token of our appreciation, and, as you can keen to get younger reinforce good practice for our stalwarts with a with a very tempting special offer of classic flies. never have too many rods, we got him two! members into the few guidelines: It’s the time for Xmas gifts, and we hope that The first one society to preserve it for I will publish any material that is appropriate you will find something suitable for friends, presented was a the future. Having spent and relevant to Grayling Society members. family or for yourself. very small, very the majority of his life in The Newsletter and the Journal are important When I moved to Wiltshire, one of my motives cheap crab- industry, after training with top four firm Ernst & services to members, and reflect our mutual was to be closer to my fishing (naturally!), and I catching job, and Young, he is hoping that his commercial interests and aspirations. So, essays, stories, am now within walking distance of two rivers. A for a moment we experience can be applied to helping the Grayling recollections, poetry, photographs, research long-standing dream achieved, and I find myself almost had him Society to achieve its aims as well as position materials or fly patterns, all are grist to the mill. spending as much time on the rivers without my convinced that itself for a future of growth in membership. If you are unsure of how to present your fishing gear as with it; a very fortunate position this was his Steven can be contacted via email at materials, just give me a call and I will help in to be in. This year I have been much involved farewell gift, but [email protected] any way I can. with a restoration project on a rather neglected Steve produced stretch. One aspect of the work was the the real thing and 2015 AGM As a rule, separate photographs, of fairly high introduction of new gravel, and a group of us Keith looked I couldn’t be at the AGM and Symposium in resolution, are preferable to ones already volunteered to spread the stuff over the selected much happier. Scotland this year, but everything that I hear embedded in text. Most digital cameras and area of the riverbed. We had put in about ten indicates that it was a great success. Many thanks smartphone cameras will now produce one-tonne bags of gravel and raked it out, with to all who have sent photographs and reports for publishable quality pictures. By keeping them all the inevitable disturbance – you can’t do that this edition, as well as the essential minutes and separate from text it just makes the job of laying sort of job quietly. Before we had even finished financial summary. The Society is clearly in very out easier. Jpeg format is fine, and keeps file size the spreading, we noticed that there were two good fettle, and long may it remain so. more manageable, but please remember about good-sized grayling exploring the upstream edge resolution. Even printed small a low-res photo Apology of the new gravel no more than twenty feet doesn’t look good. away from us. This was a sunny day and with When I receive articles from contributors, I always Files are easier to handle in .doc or .docx format, very clear water, so the fish were aware of us and try to keep the relevant details, who wrote it, and rather than pdf. Its hard for me to edit in pdf, as I if we came too close they retreated upstream, but when, with the article. In the case of “Not-a- haven’t got the software (very expensive!). they were willing to approach very closely as Grayling Sunday” my usual high standards slipped, If you feel like contributing, give it a go. Your long as they didn’t feel threatened. I’m willing I reiterate our sincere thanks to Keith for all I mislaid the key details, and I have had to publish ideas and experiences add to the value of the to bet that they would not have taken a fly, had those years of dependable careful work, and hope the piece anonymously. My heartfelt apologies to magazine and I hope that you will enjoy sharing anyone tried to tempt them! that he will have even more time for fishing now. the author, and if he or she will contact me, I will with fellow members. Steven Kavanagh publish a proper acknowledgment in the next issue. Bob Male Something else that counts as a reason to be is taking Keith’s place, cheerful; there seems to be an abundance of having been elected unopposed at the Lockerbie Publication Copy Deadline Target Publication Date little 0+ grayling this year. Some of them are AGM, and here is a brief biography and a photo Copy Deadlines for 2016 already 3-4 inches long and willing to take a size to introduce him. Welcome Steve, and we look Will all officers and contributors please note Spring Newsletter Friday February 19th Monday March 21st 18 nymph intended for their bigger relatives. The forward to working with you. these dates. I have allowed some lead time Summer Journal Friday May 20th Monday June 20th gentler flows of last winter and the spring of this Steven is a member of Area 14 (South Wales) and for final layout, proofing and printing, but as year seem to have favoured grayling spawning has been a member of the society for two years. you see, these timings are tight.