The lady of the Stream

For a change, i decided to leave my pike rods at home today, and head for some fast clear water. Upon getting there, i noticed the river was up a bit and pushing through hard. I attempted to float fish for a short while, but found it difficult. Out came the quiver, a swimfeeder and a pint of maggots. Initially i dropped it in near some weed nearside to see if any chub were interested, unfortunately i got minnowed out...

In the meantime i'd been dropping a constant stream of maggots going in along a crease that had formed in the water, where fast met slow water to see if anything was feeding (see pic)..

Conditions were cold, and my setup was a size 20 on a 1ob 10oz hooklength, to try and breed some confidence into the bites. However my patient feeding provided it's reward, as dropping the swimfeeder into the crease resulted in two instant grayling, a fish which are to my mind the most beautiful around (note the teardrop eye).

It was a nice, cold morning fishing, and in such conditions few fish feed as well as the grayling - the lady of the stream.