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WHERWELL QUALIFIER – Saturday 2nd February 2019.On the Friday afternoon I checked the environment agency, Roadwatch and called the fishery to check the conditions as there had been some quite hefty snow fall in the South West.At 4pm it seemed all okay and I let the 22 anglers know what the conditions were to decide if they were happy to make their way down.By 5pm a snow bomb had hit the area of Wherwell and 4 inches of snow had fallen and the area was in a state of seizure!Overnight the roads were cleared and Saturday was to be cold but sunny.On the day all 22 anglers arrived in the car park for the draw – some travelling from quite a distanc,e including one from Doncaster!The river was clear and in fine fettle and the draw took place and the anglers were on their way to start to fish crunching through the snow.Action started almost straight away in the area of the lodge and it seemed that rods were in action in other areas to. Obviously the bright sun made the fish skittish and anglers had to work hard for their fish. Halfway through the morning a 42cm Grayling was landed. Anglers were using various methods but French leader with a couple of mini nymphs seemed to be favourite and the ‘Klink and dink’ a good standby. It seemed that the Grayling started to switch on towards the end of the session.The first three hours finished and the cards handed in. Clearly Ben Bangham was by far and away ahead of the pack with an incredible 25 Fish! He had worked around the straight above the hatches near the hut. But fish had been taken in other areas.After a quick turn around the afternoon session started and there was quite a few anglers congregating around the area that had produced for Ben. I suppose it was inevitable that the fishing would be harder in the afternoon and so it proved. Although another cracker at 43cm came out and right at the end a 46cm Grayling was recorded.As said the afternoon did prove harder and no big catches. The top three had seven fish apiece.The morning anglers recorded 65 fish and the afternoon 31. Two rods in each session had a relaxed time.Chances were there for all and of course there was the tales of ‘The one that got away’. It was good to see some new faces and hopefully they went away with a better knowledge and enjoyed the competition.A credit to all anglers who braved the ice and snow to get there and made this a really enjoyable event.As an aside, Wherwell has a new keeper, Paul. I had a chance to have a good chat to him about his aspirations for the fishery. He is a keen Grayling man and he anticipates some river work to enhance the spawning of the Trout and Grayling. He is keen to foster a good relationship with the Grayling angler and we wish him well for the future at the fishery.Baz Reece ................
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