Hardy & Greys - Alnwick, England

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1. Flyfishing
   1. Flyfishing
   2. Coarse

Fin and Fly has seen a lot on grayling this month and I thought it was only fair to give you what are my top contacts for the species. In the south, it's hard to beat some of the waters controlled by Simon Cooper at Fishing Breaks. Simon is full of good ideas and you can contact him on 01264 781988. Get in there, of course, before March 14th when the season for Grayling ends.

Whilst we're concentrating on the south, it would be ridiculous not to point you towards my old mate, Bob James, star of the immortal Passion for Angling. Bob guides on some hallowed waters where the grayling AVERAGE a pound and three quarters in weight. Give him a bell on 07973341296.

I also love Dove Dale. Although the valley gets busy on high days and holidays, if you're out in February, especially in the week, you can easily escape the crowds and enjoy this fabulous stream. I've seen grayling in the crystal clear water here that have made my eyes pop. Phone 01335350555.

Finally, of all my grayling destinations, my happiest memories have probably been up in Scotland on the River Tummel. The excellent Pitlochry Angling Association controls miles of prime grayling water with plenty of fish over the two pound mark. I think I might get up there myself before the end of the season.

Of course, every article you read at this time of the year talks about getting your tackle up and ready. But I've got a tale that really reinforces this and makes the message far less trite. A lot of us use multipliers for our salmon fishing and this is a mighty useful tip. I've just come back from my annual Indian expedition and I led ten fantastic guys. One of them, David, nicknamed The Vicar, bought from me one of my Ambassador 10,000 multipliers. It had been spooled with fifty pound breaking strain line the year before by one of the top ghillies and I hadn't bothered to check it since.

Everything went well until the last day of the trip when The Vicar hooked his monster. It ran and it ran until it came to an almighty tangle three quarters of the way down the spool. Somehow, over the course of a year, the line deep down had entwined with itself and the reel, under pressure, simply seized. The line parted with a pistol shot report that echoed round the valley. My fault? The Vicar's fault? His guides fault? There's no point blaming anybody and hindsight is the most useless of mental exercises. But the message for all of us is loud and clear and should be taken on board. CHECK THAT LINE.

I recently went round to a fishing mate's and we went down to his shed to check out some flies. Blimey. Was I impressed. All his gear was there in five perfectly-organised Hardy tackle bags. One bag was his reservoir / stillwater kit. Reels, spools, tippets, leader material, flies...just everything you'd need for a day out on Graffham.

Bag two was his river kit with everything you'd want for wild browns or grayling.

Bag three was his salmon gear. Big fly reels, multipliers, fixed spool reels, Flying Seas, serious fly boxes and everything you would need for a trip to Scotland.

Bag four was his UK salt outfit. Zane reels. Sand eel patterns. Crab imitations. The lot.

Bag five was his foreign saltwater kit. Just everything you'd need for a trip to the Seychelles, the Maldives, Cuba or the Bahamas.

"Easy," he said. "Doesn't matter where I'm going, I've got the kit in the car in a matter of seconds. It's a busy old life and we're not here for a haircut." I'm just glad he didn't see my tackle shed. You'd think it had been trashed by hooligans. Another lesson learnt.