Had a rare visit to the office in the week, so took the opportunity to go to Matchman Supplies in West Bridgford - my most frequented tackle shop pre-COVID, simply because of its proximity to work.
Raided their newly stocked freezer for some more deadbaits then got chatting with the staff. Glad I did because I received an interesting piece of news that could bring my grayling fishing even closer to home - as in five minutes from home! Not to get ahead of myself though as it still needs a bit of research, I had a brief window of opportunity this morning while the wife waded through a load of school test papers, so headed off to the lower Derwent in the van once more with the float rod and the remains of a pint of maggots.
Was surprised to see another vehicle in the usually empty carpark when I arrived, but when I crossed over the footbridge I could see its owner sat in the first armchair swim downstream with two rods out for the pike. Therefore turned upstream and made for the swim where I'd found a few grayling at the end of my last visit. The river had dropped considerably since then and the sand bar where I had been stood knee-deep in water a couple of weeks ago was now high and dry, so it took a bit of adjustment to get the float running nicely all the way to the tail of the swim. However, after twenty minutes I had only had one small grayling and was getting itchy feet, particularly after seeing another angler cross the footbridge and head upstream.
Therefore did likewise, cutting across the field instead of following the river to get to my "banker" swim before anybody else dropped into it! Seemed to be the correct decision as the float disappeared on the second run down, although the fish came off after a couple of seconds. Had a dozen grayling over the next hour, including a couple of nice males, before the bites petered out. Tried a few new spots on my way back downstream, but either drew a blank or just picked up the odd fish and soon found myself back where I started.
Squinting into the sun, which was now shining straight upstream, I added a couple more small grayling to the tally before I had to leave in order to get back home at the promised time. Whilst it had only been a short session I'd still not been able to locate the fish in any numbers. Also, rather annoyingly, I could feel water in the left boot of my Daiwa neoprenes, purchased only last October and worn just a few times. Normally I would go throught the tedious process of filling the leg with water, marking any spots where water was seeping out and then sealing them. However, as it seemed to be a pretty slow leak and I'd be wanting to wear the waders again soon I just ordered a pair of mid-length, waterproof socks off Amazon when I got home instead - bit better than my usual solution of a plastic bag!
Staying cold with frost overnight for the next few days, so perhaps time for a recce closer to home - fingers crossed.
Skee-Tex boots used to always wear on the heel (bike/moped travelling) so, as you say carrier bag over the thermal inner and drain the boot every so often. Still stayed roastie-toastier
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