The river Goyt rose overnight as the snow melt made its way down from the hills so even though the air temp was a heady 7 degrees, the water temp remained just above freezing.

 

This brute of a Grayling has sadly seen better days. Initially I thought the scarring was due to predators but on closer inspection, it looks like something more sinister is going on. There were several lesions down both flanks and the sunken right eye is not a good sign.

 

In cases like this there is a dilemma. This fish is probably on his way out. So is it kinder to put it out of its misery than return it to the river?

 

This fish is about as big a Grayling as I’ve caught from this river so maybe it’s just it’s time. That said, it is obviously still feeding and when I returned it to the water it swam away strongly so I’m happy with my decision to let nature take it’s course.