Outstanding report and terrific photos as well. What a wonderful contrast to fishing conditions here in the US. Thanks very much for sharing.
In several of the fish photos, you appear to have hooked them on a orange/red streamer that unless I'm mistaken doesn't seem to appear in the fly box photo. Were you on your own during the day or with a guide?
Kent Lufkin
Every so often Ryan Air offers promotional airfares direct from Eindhoven, The Netherlands to London�s Stansted airport. The September promotion is for a Euro cent each way. I decided to get my 2 cents worth and check out some British chalkstream fishing. After researching a English chalkstream article in the April 2002 issue of Fly Rod & Reel, getting some references from a friend in the Grayling Society and looking on the internet, I choose to book two days with �Fishing Breaks�. The rivers selected were the Test and its tributary the Dever.
Simon at Fishing Breaks told me to take along Parachute Adams, Royal Coachman, Daddy Long Legs, and Mayfly Nymphs. The below referenced pictures will tell which flies I caught many fish on. While some of the flies may not have been traditional chalkstream patterns, they were fished in the traditional methods: �The dry fly may be fished up, across or downstream. The nymph may be fished up or across but not downstream.�
The Dever is a smaller stream about 20 � 30 feet across in most places. Due to the numerous trees along its banks, much of it is shaded and the brown trout follow the shade on bright days. The Dever holds brown trout ranging from 8� � 24�. There were also many grayling (Ladies of the Stream) with the larger fish going up to 14�. There were no steady hatches occurring during the course of the day so I needed to sight fish with nymphs. Due to the contrasting light conditions caused by the tree shade and clear skies, brighter flies were necessary then the traditional GRHR or PT�s. The day wound up with 10 grayling and 8 browns.
That evening I stayed at the Carbery Guesthouse in Stockbridge. I had dinner and a couple of pints at a local pub named the Three Cups. Traditional pub fare may have once been deep fried fish and chips, but my saut�ed scallops came with seasoned rice and fresh steamed vegetables.
The next day I fished the River Test. Again sight fishing was called for since the fish weren�t rising consistently. The middle Test is much wider than the Dever. Therefore, it wasn�t possible to sight fish the opposite bank. Here it was important to walk slowly and quietly and sneak up on the fish holding close to the near bank. Also, instead of bright late summer skies, there was a low ceiling that refused to burn off during the course of the day. The overcast and dark grassy river bottom made it possible to fish more conventional nymph patterns but a fly with color still shook things up once in a while. The Test has populations of browns, bows and grayling with many of the browns getting into the 4 � 5 lb range. However, the grayling appeared smaller then those on the Dever. The day played out well with 10 fish (4 browns, 3 bows and 3 grayling). I gave two of the browns to a gentleman sharing the fishery with me.
All in all a great experience, a bit more expensive then I had read about in the FR&R article titled �Angling in England on $90 a Day (Lodging, Food and Fishing)�. I had planned on fishing 3 days but had to limit myself to two in order to stay within budget. The most reasonable time of year to fish is in October thru December. That is grayling season. Prices drop to about �25 - �30 per day for some of the same rivers. Also you may be offered an extended range over the standard beats of the regular season.
To see some photos go to:
http://community.webshots.com/album/91073291iGCkIF
Fishing Breaks:
http://www.fishingbreaks.co.uk/
