Falling In Love With The Lady Of The Stream

As coarse fish, grayling have no close season so Matt Cross visits the river Annan in Scotland to learn the art of Czech nymphing

I fell in love twice in the same day. First, with a lady at the Lockerbie truck stop. I’d had an early start and a long drive and by the time the river Annan came into view I felt a profound emptiness in my soul, which could only be addressed by caffeine. So when she handed me a paper cup with tea strong enough to strip paint, I loved Marion a little bit.

But as I have a fickle heart, my affection for Marion was soon replaced by something else: Czech nymphing for grayling.

It happens every year; the leaves drop, the returning geese scribble their skeins across the sky, salmon fishing fizzles out and the trout season closes. Rods and reels give way to guns and dogs. That’s fine if you are handy with a gun, but my pretty meagre fishing game is still a good bit stronger than my shooting one and, fun though it is to miss high pheasants or lose control of a spaniel, I miss fishing. So, this year I decided to try something new.

In Scotland the law considers grayling to be a coarse fish so they get no close season. Some river owners and managers aren’t keen on people fishing for them in the trout and salmon seasons, but in the depths of winter they are considered fair game. Grayling are dotted about in various Scottish rivers: the Ayr has them, so do the Tweed and the Nith among others. The Scottish record, a 3lb 13oz fish was caught on the Clyde, but somewhere in the back of my mind was a story of a very big grayling caught on the Annan.

Contribute to science

 So I made enquiries. My first plan was to get myself on to one of the River Annan Trust’s grayling days. Throughout the winter the Trust organises days where anglers can contribute to science by catching grayling. Sadly, there wasn’t a date that would work for me. But Trust director of fisheries Tony Donnelly offered to show me the river.