Monday was the coldest day of 2014! -5 was the the number displayed on the dashboard when we stepped out the car. This was perhaps my last opportunity for a proper session before i have to knuckle down to work after new year, and was also James' first opportunity to test his shiny new Drennan IM9 float rod.

We hit the banks early and took a few snaps of the sunrise (just a little distraction from the lack of early bites).  
My attempt at "Art" (shame about the pylon

Nice photo of me stick float fishing taken by James.
Due to the cold weather I had decided to target the Grayling, a fish famous for feeding in the coldest of conditions. After spending an hour or two trotting in the faster shallow water (totally the wrong location for the day) I settled upon a deeper glide around 6/7ft in depth.  After a few minutes of trotting through at half pace the float finally dipped and i struck into a nice grayling.  The next time the float went under i connected with a heavy fish which took off upstream.  The fish forght hard, and with two pound bottom i could do little to stop it pulling when it decided to swim with the flow, after several minutes a tired chub was netted.  The fish weighed exactly 4 pounds - my biggest fish on the stick float.                             
My highlight of the day was when James decided to test out his new rod, before the line had hit the water with a bait on two hooks had already been lost, one in the bank and another in an overhanging ash tree.