It is fair to say Kris Kent enjoys an auction. He spills the beans on a few of the days he has enjoyed through various auctions over the last few years.
I love an auction. eBay has been a disaster for my bank balance. I love trolling through the lots looking for bargains, unusual items, rare rods and reels, or just those things that catch your eye from time to time. Watching items to see who will bid and how much, it fascinates me. The sense of anticipation as lots reach their deadline.
Will I be lucky and win? Will I get sniped at the last minute and miss out? What will it go for? Endless entertainment. And whilst it might be draining my wallet I have over the years picked up a few bargains and filled some gaps in my collections of rods, reels and other fishing tackle. I’ve even sold a few surplus to requirements items and made a profit. One lot paid for a fishing holiday, so not all bad news.
But my passion for an auction started long before eBay. It all started on the 21st April 2007. I had joined the Wild Trout Trust some time previously but had never really engaged in any of the Trust’s activities. In 2007 the WTT’s Annual Get Together was at Langford Lakes, Wiltshire Wildlife’s site on the Wylye between Salisbury and Warminster. As this was a short drive from my home I thought I’d make the effort and go along. It was a thoroughly stimulating day of presentations and discussion with lots of opportunities to meet the WTT team and other members, chew the fat and generally try and put the riparian world to rights. In the evening there was a lovely meal with a few glasses of wine to lubricate proceedings.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the after dinner auction. I now know these to be a feature of such gatherings but back then this sort of thing was all new to me. Lots had been cobbled together from donations by those attending the event and from friends and supporters of the Trust.
There were items of tackle, days out fishing, a bottle of whisky or two and a case of wine I seem to remember. Bidding was slow to start, people seemed reticent to commit. So I threw in a bid. As a novice I didn’t realise that this was a mistake. Nobody was bidding because everyone else knew that no one else would bid and that you would get stuck with the item if you did bid. So people only bid on the items they really wanted.
I ended up with a Sage rod that I didn’t really want or need, but it was only £200 and of course the money was going to a great cause. This was an important lesson. Although I’m not really sure I learnt from it.
Since that first Annual Get Together I have become a regular attendee, travelling the length and breadth of our fair land to catch up on the Trust’s good works, share a tall story or two, eat and drink a little too much and of course bid on a few items in the auction. I’ve also started attending the Grayling Society Annual Symposium with its after dinner auction and the Monnow Social which has the same. Lots of opportunities to get my auction fix.
Rob Denny comfortable in his role as Auctioneer at the 2014 Monnow Social
Whilst I’m always happy to buy another rod, reel or other sundry item of tackle I’ve found that the most rewarding auction lots are the fishing days. In 2011 the Wild Trout Trust Annual Get Together was held in Wales courtesy of the Monnow Rivers Association. Rob Denny, stalwart of the MRA, volunteered to act as auctioneer and did a grand job of separating us from our hard earned cash aided by a surfeit of beer and wine. As usual I did my best to push the prices up by putting in a speculative bid here and there and as usual I got stuffed with some lots I didn’t really want or need,
Sage rod all over again! But I did win the lot fishing with WTT Conservation Officer and all round thoroughly good egg Tim Jacklin, originally advertised as ‘a day fishing for gudgeon’.
It took Tim and I some time to find a mutually acceptable time and place to fish but eventually we settled on a date. So mid November found Tim and I pole fishing for roach and dace on the Trent & Mersey Canal near Burton on Trent.
Now I know what you are thinking, wasn’t it supposed to be a day fishing for gudgeon? As it turns out good gudgeon fishing is hard to come by so instead Tim suggested we go for zander. And to catch zander you need bait. So this is why we ended up sitting by the Trent & Merset Canal near Burton on Trent pole fishing for dace and roach. The plan was to fish for bait in the morning and afternoon and then set out the bait towards dusk ready for the zander as they get more active. I probably enjoyed catching the bait as much as I did fishing for the zander. It took me back to my school days drowning worms on the Kennet & Avon Canal around Newbury. And we caught some really quite nice sized roach and dace in the process.
The really nice aspect of the day was the opportunity to sit by the river and just chat. When fly fishing with friends you often don’t have that much opportunity to natter whilst you are fishing. Tim is one of those people who appears quite quiet and introverted when you first meet him but spend a day with him on the river and you discover that he is a man of many stories. Get him going and he’ll entertain you from dawn till dusk. I laughed so much at one point I started crying.
A cracking perch from the Trent & Mersey Canal
As the light faded and temperatures started to drop we put out our bait. The trick seemed to be to get the bait over against the far bank where the zander would lurk waiting to intercept the shoal of fish. Contrary to my expectations we did catch a few zander and a nice perch before it got so cold and dark we lost the will to carry on. We retreated to the bright lights of Burton, a few pints of beer and a stonking curry. It was a thoroughly wonderful day all in all and one that we have now repeated on a couple of occasions.
Tim with the best zander of the night
At the 2014 Monnow Social, another cracking opportunity to get together with like minded anglers arranged by the Monnow Rivers Association, Rob Denny was once more in the Auctioneers chair. Actually it was more like on the Auctioneer’s table.
Once again I picked up some tackle I didn’t really require, but fly lines and kneelers will always some in handy, won’t they? I’d spend that day fishing with local angler and birthday boy Lee Evans on a private beat of the Monnow so when Lee threw in a lot to fish with him on his home waters I jumped at the chance and bid hard.
Lee’s auction lot gave me a chance to scratch an itch I’d long suffered with. The chance to fish the River Usk. How I’d managed to not fish the Usk for so long is beyond me, but fish it I had not. Lee lives in fabulous cottage a few hundred yards from the Usk, lucky bastard. So after a full Welsh breakfast and a strong black coffee we tackled up outside Lee’s cottage and then strolled the short way down to the river.
It was a warm muggy June day. The rain held off, just. The river was a touch high and coloured. A few mayfly and yellow May duns struggled to hatch off but the fish didn’t seem much interested.
Lee Evans french nymphing on the Usk
As not much was moving at the surface Lee suggested we try the french nymph. A single small nymph delivered on the end of a long leader with little or no fly line off the reel. It was slow going but Lee and I both picked up a few small brownies as we worked upstream chatting away as we went. As the day started to draw to an end and the light began to ebb a few fish started to rise to a light spinner fall. It was nice to end the day with a couple of fish on the dry fly. Another perfect day in great company and another I hope to be able to repeat.
2013’s Grayling Symposium was a thoroughly enjoyable get together in Pickering, East Yorkshire. Grayling Society members attending the symposium very kindly donate lots for the auction that concludes the evening meal. Pat Stevens stepped up to the plate as auctioneer, in the absence of Greg Payne, with Steve Skuce ably helping to dish out the lots and gather in the money. Most of the money raised goes to the Grayling Research Trust to help fund projects helping to build a greater understanding of grayling as a species and the challenges facing it.
Steve Skuce and Pat Stevens drumming up interest in the auction
For once I didn’t get left with any unneeded tackle at the end of the auction, but I was lucky enough to win a day's fishing with Roger Smith. Roger is Grayling Society Area Secretary for Hereford, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Shropshire & Powys and wrote ‘Flyfishing the Welsh Borderlands’.
The challenge with winning fishing lots is finding a mutually agreeable opportunity to get together. This is doubly hard when the river you want to fish is a spate river and when the weather gods intervene. Our first attempts were all washed off.
However in early December 2014 both diaries and the weather came together perfectly and Roger and I finally found an opportunity to fish the Welsh Wye at Abernant, a few miles downstream of Builth Wells.
I love the drive over to fish the Wye. I left early, it was still dark and I had to spend a few minutes demisting the car and scraping off the light frost. As I joined the motorway heading towards Wales a peachy, almost full, moon was dipping away towards the horizon just as the sun rose and followed me west.
The high arches of the Severn Crossing loom over you welcoming you to the principality. As you peel off the main roads the castle ruins of Raglan, Tretower and Bronllys watch over you.
The route criss-crosses the Usk before peeling off at Crickhowell like a roller coaster climbing up into the hills and then plunging back into the valleys. The hills rise before you, the early morning sun lighting them up orange and purple. Rich green fields dusted with frost and flecked with fluffy white sheep.
I arrived first and set about layering up, hoping to trap some warmth between long johns, romper, t-shirts, shirt, fleece and jacket. So many layers I struggled to reach my feet to tie up the laces on my wading boots.
Roger arrived with bait, worms and maggots, which we divvied between us before strolling down to the river. I’d fished the Wye at Abernant a few times previousy. ou can book the beat online through the Wye & Usk Foundation. Winter grayling fishing is only £20, a real bargain. Towards the top of the beat a small tributary, the Edw, joins the Wye and you can fish up this rocky stream as an alternative to the mighty Wye. The top section of the main river, Abernant Stream, is broad and relatively shallow, good holding water for grayling. In the middle there is a steeper section, Lady Alexander’s Catch, with faster water channelled over deeper holes before in the lower section, Stone Catch, where the river returns to its calmer nature. As well as grayling large chub lurk ready to gobble up worm or maggot, so stout tackle is recommended.
Wye at Abernant
We started in the middle section and I was quickly off the mark with a couple small grayling while Roger was still rigging up. Roger dropped in below me, working gingerly round the herd of jet black Welsh cattle that inhabit the fields adjacent to the river, but struggled to find fish so we decided to take the somewhat challenging path that leads you through the trees to the top end.
Despite conditions looking perfect we couldn’t get in amongst the ladies, Roger lost interest and headed back downstream. I said I would persist for a while and meet him back at Lady Alexander’s Catch for lunch. When I got back to our lunch spot Roger was at the bottom of the beat so I dropped in and made a few casts awaiting Roger’s return. I had another grayling and an out of season brownie.
As I waited for Roger the curious Welsh Black bull had a good sniff at our back packs and gave my flask a good licking. Luckily he was more curious than aggressive but I am always cautious when calves are in the fields.
Curious bull
Roger arrived back for lunch looking happier. He was off the mark with three grayling and a trout. Long summer days allow for relaxed lazy lunches. Short winter days and near zero temperatures dictate a more hurried approach. We quickly wolfed down a pork pie, sandwich and some mini macaroons that Roger had brought. All washed down with a warming coffee.
As we hadn’t had any luck on the upper section and as Roger had had a few below it seemed best to focus on the bottom of the beat post lunch. I walked down with Roger keen to take a few photos.
There are a series of large concrete groynes that projected out from the bank. Roger dropped in below the last of these and flicked out his bait.
Roger Smith on the Welsh Wye at Abernant
The float almost immediately disappeared and as Roger raised his rod a small grayling broke the surface splashily. Fish quickly unhooked and released Roger cast again, and again the float slipped away, another fish, and another and then another. Every cast produced a fish or a missed take.
A wee Grayling for Roger
My interest in photography quickly waned and I joined Roger in the river. The water was relatively shallow over a bed of gravel and small pebbles. The wading wasn’t difficult despite the weight of water pushing.
I settled in a little above Roger and a little further in. My first cast was also rewarded with a small grayling, as was the next and the next. The fish were everywhere. To my left and right, from a few yards downstream to a good long trot away. I was straining to see the float when some fish took. I even had a fish take the float as it drew level with Roger only a foot or two to his right. But our close vicinity certainly didn’t worry them. In that last hour and a half, before we got so cold we had to come out of the river, we must have caught over fifty fish between us. Great sport.
It was certainly worth the onset of hypothermia. Two hours of air conditioning and heated seats on full just about had me thawed out by the time I got home. A memorable day.
One of the wonderful things about the Wild Trout Trust is that you don’t have to attend their Annual get Together for an opportunity to bid for some amazing fishing. Each year the Wild Trout Trust runs an online auction via eBay.
Hundreds of lots ranging from tackle to books, learning to plough to stalking deer, fishing highland streams to the flats of Bahamas help raise significant funds for the Trust. Much of the fishing is not available through other means and lots are often accompanied by luminaries of our sport or local experts. And it doesn’t have to cost you a fortune.
Whilst a week in Argentina might set you back a grand or more there are plenty of lots in the £50 bracket. Over the years the online auction has enabled me to fish with professional guides such as Paul Proctor and John Tyzack, Yorkshire guide and former Grayling Society Chairman Steve Rhodes, fisheries scientist and roach expert Dr Mark Everard, Wild Trout Trust Conservation Officer and Tenkara guru Dr Paul Gaskell, regular contributor to the angling press Mike Weaver and East Yorkshire’s very own David Southall.
David Southall on the Upper Derwent
Each day has been enlightening, entertaining, memorable and worth every penny.
Further information on the Wild Trout Trust online auction can be found at:
http://www.wildtrout.org/content/auction-0
Information on the Monnow Rivers Association can be found at:
http://www.monnow.org/
Details of the 2015 Grayling Society Symposium willavailable in due course via their website:
http://www.graylingsociety.net/
To book fishing on the the Wye at Abernant or many other beats go to:
http://www.wyeuskfoundation.org/fishing/booking_office/
Biography:
Kris Kent has been fly fishing and trotting for Brown Trout and Grayling for over 20 years in the UK, Europe and Scandinavia. He is PR Officer for the Grayling Society and helps out The Wild Trout Trust with their online communications and events.