Having lived in both hampshire and Wiltshire, I often used to drive past the Wylye and think "One day I'd love to fish that river". So when the opportunity came up at a joint fundraising auction for the Roach Project and the Barbel Society to fish the Wilton stretch for two rods for a day, I couldn't resist.
Reg and I were gretted by Pat MacManus, our host (and contributor of the new book Chalk Stream Roach). Pat suggested areas where the grayling were prolific and gave us tips on bait and presentation. Again, I long-trotted again, but with a little more aplomb than the previous day.
My first fish was a small wild brownie, then I started catching grayling brought into the swim by frequent feeding of red maggots. By lunchtime, both Reg and I had had about 15 grayling apiece, so we decided to move to a new swim further up on the opposite bank. The grayling sport improved and by the end of the day we had caught over 40 each with the best topping 1.5lb. It was my turn for the unusual today, and as I tightened onto one "grayling" I could hear the line sing in the wind. At first I thought it was a big grayling, then one of the larger trout, then I saw a long shape and thought pike. But no, after having the fish on for several minutes, using a size 14 hook and 4 lb line, I caught a glimpse of a bar of silver; it was a hen salmon. After a few more minutes, I walked the fish along to Reg who tried to net it for me. Now was the problem; the net was a small pan style net and much too small for the salmon, and as Reg tried to scoop the fish, it had one final leap and broke the line at the hook.
I was amazed that the fish wasn't blackish, or a kelt. It has been suggested that it may be a hen fish which didn't spawn and was returning downstream, but it was in excellent condition, and what a wonderful way to end a red-letter day. thanks to Pat for enabling me to fish such a wonderful river in the beautiful Wiltshire rolling hills.