2010/11 Drennan Cup Winner Neill Stephen with a 3lb 6oz Grayling – part of a stupendous brace of 3lbers winning a weekly Drennan Cup award!

Neill has spent considerable time this Winter travelling south to fish various famous chalk streams, often enduring rubbish river & weather conditions.

But it all came good during the last week of the river season! Neill began the trip with trotting tactics, but despite spotting some huge fish, was unable to provoke a bite. A masterstroke switch to flyfishing tactics subsequently produced first the 3lb 6oz fish shown, and then a 3lb 1oz example! Both Grayling were caught on Goldhead Hares Ear Nymph on 4lb Drennan Fluorocarbon Flyleader material.

“Most nerve wracking fight from any fish I have caught” Neill told us. “I could see it all right from the take. It was charging across the river with its vermillion dorsal cutting through the flow like a shark, backwards and forwards for about 3 or 4 minutes, then it went under a tree and snagged the point fly on a branch! Amazingly it broke off (fortunately I’d tied it on with 1lb lighter line to a tippet ring). It then got below me and I just couldn’t bring it up in the flow. And then it started jumping! About that point I was just like ‘I can’t take this anymore’!”

Neill was using a Drennan Floatmaster Combo 13/15ft rod for his trotting (although caught both the big Grayling on a Fly Fishing set-up). For full details on the Floatmaster combo click here.