June and July 2024

June and July were fairly dry with some exceptionally hot periods but it was interspersed with some good rainfall, which has helped to keep the fishery looking lush and green. As is often the case this time of year the fishing has generally been better in the first part of the day before it got too warm. Small natural patterns seemed best, especially in the clear water. With the water being so clear, sight fishing has proven to be the most successful method and being able to watch your fly definitely improves an angler’s chance of catching. I often stood with anglers and could see the fish taking and rejecting their flies and they were none the wiser as they didn’t receive any other indication. So, please make sure you wear polarised sunglasses, they are invaluable. Some anglers may still not be able to see their fly, so in that instance keep the rod tip on the surface of the water and looking for ANY movement of the fly line where it meets the leader for signs of a taking fish. They can be very subtle so strike at anything that seems out of the ordinary, it’ll catch you extra fish.

Hundreds of fish were caught through June and July and I have listed the majority of bigger fish below.

At the beginning of June we held a competition and Zoe Kershaw won it with a magnificent fishery record Blue Trout of 12lb 12oz and her partner Nich had the second biggest fish with a Rainbow of 9lb 14oz!

Steve Rawlings – Rainbows 8lb and 8lb 10oz
Martin Hill – Rainbows of 8lb, 8lb 12oz, 10lb, 11lb 2oz, 11lb 4oz, 12lb 4oz and a 9lb Sparctic
Sally Hill – Rainbows of 8lb and 9lb.
Bob Tennuci, Erh-Hsuin, Joe, Andy Toomer, Ivan Taylor, Chris Bowling, David King, Jolene Trotter, Phil, Alan Prowse and Michael Evans all had fish between 7lb and 8lb 15oz
Michael Evans, Bill Rushmer, Dave, Ino, Clive Bonnett, Richard Hedger, Steve Bayliss, Kelvin Hinton, Howard and Richard Callendar all caught fish between 9lb and 9lb 15oz.
Steve, Grant, Tim French, Steve Bayliss, John Otter and Nick Spring had Rainbows between 10lb and 10lb 15oz.
Christian, Ross, Ray Langshaw, Nick Spring, Richard Hansell, Drew Ridout and Richard Callendar all caught 11lb+ Rainbows.

Richard Callendar also had a 13lb 2oz Rainbow, John Pike caught a superb 6lb Tiger and 8lb Sparctic, Nick Spring had a 8lbn 8oz Sparctic and Martin Hill a personal best Sparctic of 9lb 14oz! Andy Toomer had two excellent Browns of 7lb and 9lb 2oz, Kingsley caught a Brown of 9lb and Tim French a superb Brown of 10lb 2oz.

The choice of successful flies has not changed that much with blue flash damsels still doing the damage but there was a definite shift towards smaller flies with the onset of the hot weather, especially for those who were stalking. Dropping down to size 16-18 flies was often needed with stalking bugs, buzzers, sunk daddy’s, PTN’s and GRHE’s all producing regularly.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our Facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

April 2024

April is a wonderful month at the fishery, the vegetation grows taller and greener by the day, the bird song is glorious first thing in the morning and the fly life dramatically increases in number; the fishery is literally spring into life! The water was generally clear (unless we’d had another bout of heavy rain) so stalking fish became easier as the month progressed with the increasing light levels. The weather was mixed with some beautiful sunny spring days, some very cold frosty mornings and a large helping of rain thrown in for good measure also!

Martin Hill had a good brace with a 5lb 12oz Brown and 6lb Sparctic at the beginning of the month, day angler Phillip Godwin had a cracking 10lb 4oz Rainbow and Steve Perry had a 6lb Sparctic and 9lb Rainbow. Alastair had a fine 7lbn 10oz Rainbow on his first trip to the fishery, Stephen Harding, Kelvin Hinton and Marcus all had Browns between 5lb and 6lb and Tony Glossy had a stunning Brown of 9lb 2oz from Longacre. Michael Littlestone, Robin, David and Geoff Brooks all had 9lb + Rainbows, Brian Maguire had two 7lb Rainbows and Martin Eastment and Tony Roll caught 7lb Rainbows. Suzie had a personal best Rainbow of 8lb 8oz, Rob Perry had a great brace of 9lb+ Rainbows and Chris and Bill both had 7lb Browns. Season rod Andy and Jolene had some good fish with Jolene landing a 6lb 2oz Sparctic and 8lb 9oz Rainbow and Andy taking a 5lb Brown and 7lb 8oz Rainbow. Steve Perry had an excellent brace with a 10lb 15oz Rainbow and 11lb Blue, Neil Perry braced Rainbows of 8lb and 11lb 2oz and Chris had a fine 6lb Brown. Peter topped his bag with a 9lb Rainbow, Malcolm Proctor had a great Blue of 9lb and Erh-Hsuin bagged a good double of 10lb 12oz Rainbow. Bob Morton had a stunning Brown of 9lb 8oz and Ivan had brilliant brace with a 9lb 14oz Rainbow and 11lb Brown.

Blue flash damsels are catching plenty of fish with other more imitative patterns such as sunk daddys, GRHE’s, PTN’s and buzzers also accounting for some fantastic catches. Montanas in particular are doing very well, probably due to the abundance of tadpoles in the lakes. Brighter lures have not been as successful and this is usually the case as we come to the warmer months. It’s also really worth persisting with emerger and dry fly as the fish are high in the water.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

March 2024

The fishery really comes to life through March, the snow drops are still out and the daffodils are in bloom around the lakes adding a splash of colour and the bluebells won’t be far behind. It’s noticeable daily how quickly the marginal vegetation is growing and the water lilies in Alder and Bridge will soon have their leaves on the surface. There is also far more fly life present as the month progresses  and it is noticeable that some anglers are starting to catch well on small dries such as klink hammers and black gnats. As we all know March was very wet with way above average rainfall and the ground is very saturated in places, especially around Alder Lake. The upside to all the rain is that is should hopefully mean the Springs that feed the lakes will have a higher flow through the summer months and keep the lakes cooler for longer, which will hopefully be reflected in good fishing. 

On the fishing front the sport has been excellent with fish sitting high in the water and combined with the increasing light levels, spotting fish is getting easier by the day, although the rain had contributed to coloured water at times.The trout can be seen sipping at the surface most days, delicately taking emerges, so presenting small dry’s or patterns that sit in the surface film or just below has been a great tactic and has enabled some to target individual fish. Lures and large nymphs such as montanas, damsels, cats whiskers and dancers are taking plenty of fish and seem to work best on a fast retrieve.

The sport has been fantastic with most anglers taking their bag limits and there has been some superb fish caught. At the beginning of the month Ray Green visited the fishery for the first time in many years and caught an 8lb Rainbow, season rod Andy Toomer had a good month taking a Rainbow of 7lb 6oz and two Sparctics of 6lb 3oz and 6lb 4oz and Jolene had a fine Rainbow of 9lb 4oz. Martyn Williams had a fin perfect 7lb 12oz Rainbow, Malcolm Boyd had a long and lean 7lb’er and Aubery had a 7lb 6oz Rainbow on his first visit to the fishery. David King had a good brace with a 7lb 3oz Rainbow and 4lb Brown, Helen Gunter had a cracking Blue Trout of 6lb 14oz and Neil Mundy topped his bag of 4 fish with a fine 8lb 8oz Rainbow. Mike Ashley missed out on a double by a few ounces when he landed a 9lb 8oz Rainbow, Philip Godwin had a pretty Sparctic of 5lb 12oz and Anthony Futers and Steve Robinson both had 8lb+ Rainbows. Season rod Nick Spring caught a 10lb Rainbow and David King had a 10lb 4oz Rainbow on his second trip of the month, Chris Bowling had a fin perfect 7lb 2oz Rainbow and Pauline Pendle had a stunning Brown of 7lb 12oz. Stewart Pope had a great brace of Rainbows at 8lb and 10lb 4oz, season rod Bob Moreton caught his first every Brown with a beautiful fish of 5lb on a dry fly, Don Penrose caught his first ever Sparctic at 5lb and Greg had an 8lb Rainbow. Peter Hatchard caught an immaculate 9lb Rainbow, Paul Rees had a brace of Rainbows at 6lb 14oz and 7lb 12oz and Neil Perry had a good brace also with Rainbows of 7lb 9oz and 10lb 1oz.

We also held a fishing competition and BBQ at the end of the month which was a great success. The event was won by Terry Barker with a new fishery record Tiger Trout of 8lb 2oz. Plenty of other great fish were also caught with Rachel Cooper catching her first double with a fine Rainbow of 10lb 6oz, Brian Sherwood also had a pb equalling 10lb Rainbow, Andy had Rainbows of 8lb 10oz and 9lb, Nigel Penns biggest was a 7lb 6oz Rainbow and Dominic had one of 8lb 6oz. Chris Bright had a stunning Tiger of 4lb 2oz and Neil Magookin caught a 5lb Sparctic.

Brighter lures such as cats whiskers, appetisers, fritz and blobs are doing particularly well but lots of fish are also getting caught on blue flash damsels. When the fish have been trickier to tempt and are shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well, especially ‘when all else fails’. Dries have also started to take more fish now and are often overlooked by the majority of anglers.

 That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

February 2024

The sport has continued to be excellent through February with the fish being very active indeed due to lower water temperatures and high oxygen content of the lakes. Plenty of fish could be seen in the surface layers, which enabled those that wanted to, to stalk fish, but the lower light levels and the angle of the Sun did make stalking tricky at times. Stalking and spotting fish was also hampered by the continual heavy rain showers we had through the month, which did mean the lakes were holding some colour. Everything seems to be springing into life and plants can be seen shooting up all around the fishery, even the bluebells in the woodland, and the birds are definitely more vocal in the mornings. In general it’s been a very mild month due to the low pressure systems that keep rolling in off the Atlantic.

The majority of the fish caught fell to flies fished in the upper layers of the water as most fish seemed to be holding in the top 4ft or so. Due to the colour in the water, bigger and brighter flies took more fish than smaller natural imitations. As is usual at this time of year the fish are very active so a faster or twitchy retrieve often brought follows or takes.

John Pike had the biggest Brown of the month with a lovely fish of 8lb, Andy also had a good Brown of 5lb which he caught along with a 10lb 8oz Rainbow and Neil Mundy managed to target a fine 9lb Rainbow in difficult conditions. Season rod Don Penrose topped his bag one day with a 7lb Rainbow and day angler Ed Blanchard did the same to top off his 4 fish limit. Aaron House bagged a fin perfect 9lb 7oz Rainbow on a 2 fish ticket, Jon caught a fine 9lb Rainbow on his first visit to the fishery and season rods Andy and Jolene both bagged 8lb Rainbows. Jason Greenwood had a fin perfect 9lb Rainbow, Peter Gifford and Adrian Rees both had 8lb+ Rainbows and season rod Lenny had his personal best Rainbow of 8lb 6oz. The session of the month must have been season rod Martin Hill when he banked Rainbows of 8lb, 8lb 8oz, 9lb 8oz and 10lb 8oz all caught on a new pattern that Martin had tied up the day before and fished deep to shapes sitting 4 to 5ft down.

The catch and release option on Oak, Pine and Spring Lakes has proved very popular with lots of anglers catching over 10 fish in a session. Indicator fishing proved the most productive method in the second half of the month. This has now finished and hopefully we’ll bring it back again next winter.

As with January lures and larger nymphs have been the order of the day fished on a fairly fast retrieve; blue flash damsels, montanas, cats whiskers, dancers, goldhead fritz or epoxy minnows are better in the morning with smaller more discreet patterns in the afternoons and on clearer water days.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery

January 2024

On the whole January was very mild, especially the very start of the month when we had more Atlantic low pressure systems roll in bringing yellow and amber warnings of rain. Our chalk stream was about the highest I’d ever seen it and the Hampshire Avon, into which it flows, recorded its highest ever level. We then had a very cold period of a week or so with temperatures down to -8 Degrees Celsius, which caused some of our lakes to ice over for a couple of days. But the temperatures soon returned to above average, over a 24 hour period the temperature went from -7 to +12, a difference of 19 Degrees Celsius! Despite this the fishing remained excellent with most anglers catching their bag limit easily on all manner of flies and tactics. Anglers on the new catch and release ticket have enjoyed some excellent sport with most catching between 10 and 20 fish. Fishing flies static under an indicator proved very successful two anglers who had 18 each on an afternoon session.

Plenty of bigger specimens have been caught with season rod Andy Toomer taking Rainbows of 8lb, 9lb and 9lb 7oz, youngster George had a lovely conditioned 8lb 8oz Rainbow and Phil caught a torpedo shaped Rainbow that fought incredibly hard of 7lb 8oz. Steve Vine had two 8lb+ Rainbows, Peter Chapman caught one of 8lb also and Richard Timson had a cracker of a Rainbow at just under 10lb! Day angler Bob Nunn had a good brace with Rainbows of 8lb 12oz and 9lb, Tony caught a stunning Sparctic Trout of 7lb and Malcolm Proctor landed a fin perfect 9lb Rainbow. Ian had a very good brace of a 8lb 8oz Rainbow and a 8lb Sparctic, Bob Tennuci had a lovely silvery Rainbow of 9lb 8oz from Oak and season rod Neil Perry had a fin perfect specimen of 8lb. Terry Shergold had a beautiful Brown on 4lb 2oz, season rod John Otter kicked off his new ticket with a fine 9lb 8oz Rainbow, Jolene braced a 5lb 4oz Sparctic and a 9lb Rainbow and Rob Perry braced Rainbows of 9lb and 11lb 4oz.

Brighter lures such as cats whiskers, appetisers, fritz and blobs are doing particularly well but lots of fish are still getting caught on blue flash damsels and black and green montanas. When the fish have been trickier to tempt and are shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well, especially ‘when all else fails’. Also fishing static under an indicator can be a deadly method.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

November and December 2023

November and December was generally very mild with plenty of rain as low pressure systems kept rolling in off the Atlantic from the South West. Hopefully all the rain we’ve had will have topped up all the chalk aquifers and provide a good flow of water in our chalk stream over the coming Spring and Summer. But we would have liked to have seen more sustained cooler periods as the continued mild weather certainly made the fishing slower than it usually would be at this time of year. As I write this in early January we’ve had more storms the past week with widespread flooding across the country and the Hampshire Avon, which is only a couple of miles away has recorded its highest level ever. A dry and cold period is now forecast and hopefully the ground will start to dry out. The mild weather has meant the snowdrops are already out around the fishery and the daffodils are shooting up higher each day, even some of the marginal vegetation is starting to show signs of life! The fish have generally been high in the water and you could often see trout rolling or moving just under the surface. But with the low light levels we have this time of year, spotting individual fish is always a challenge unless they are close to the margins.

The cooler water temperatures meant the fish fought very hard through December with long fast runs often to the backing experienced by many anglers. It is also a great time of year to fish fry patterns with a fast erratic retrieve as the fish will be chasing down and devouring this year’s juvenile roach.

The last couple of months has seen plenty of good fish caught with Rainbows, Blues, Browns and Sparctics all featuring. Season rod Andy Toomer had Rainbows of 8lb, 10lb 12oz and 13lb 7oz over three visits along with a 6lb Brown and 9lb 2oz Blue, Jolene braced Rainbows of 9lb and 11lb 5oz, Mike Jones had a 10lb 10oz Rainbow and Rob Smith had a cracking 8lb 10oz Brown. Rob Batty had an 11lb Rainbow, Derek Major had a superb 8lb Blue, season rod Steve Bayliss fin perfect 8lb and 10lb Rainbows and Graham Brown caught a fine 7lb Sparctic. Richard Callendar visited twice in two weeks and caught an 11lb+ Rainbow on each visit. Dave visited us for the first time and was awarded with a 10lb Rainbow, Adam Docherty had a great visit when he caught a 6lb Sparctic and 12lb 6oz Rainbow and David King had one of the best Blues we’ve seen with a superb fish of 10lb 8oz, which he braced with a 6lb Sparctic. Neil Evans also had a superb Blue of 9lb 12oz, Paul had a 10lb Rainbow, Mark Hope-Urwin had a 9lb Rainbow and Ruslan and Jack both had fish of 11lb. Season rod Neil Perry had a superb bag with Rainbows of 9lb, 11lb 8oz and 12lb, young Zachary caught a personal best 8lb Rainbow and Sam had a cracking Blue of 9lb 12oz after having an hours tuition. Rob Perry braced Rainbows of 9lb and 11lb 4oz, Keith Roger and Doug Shuard both had 10lb+ Rainbows and Nick Tuke had a big Rainbow of 13lb 6oz. Dave Prevett had a beautiful 8lb 4oz Brown and season rod Martin Hill had a tremendous looking Brown of 12lb 4oz!

The successful flies have remained the same with brighter lures such as cats whiskers, appetisers, fritz and blobs doing particularly well but lots of fish are still getting caught on blue flash damsels. Some days when the fish have been trickier to tempt and are shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well and stalking is still productive due to the fish still sitting high in the water.
That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our Facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery

September/October 2023

On the whole September was very mild with little rain and October was also unseasonably mild month with only a couple of frosts to speak of, we had a good helping of rain at the end of the month, which brought the level up in the chalk stream that feeds our stock ponds, which was a welcome relief for our trout! Alder, Bridge and Longacre have fished fairly well but the water temperatures were still above average, which did make the fishing tricky at time. As I write this, just over a week into November, the fishing has picked up as the water temperatures have dropped to about 11 Degrees Celsius. Oak, Pine and Spring have had to be closed due to low dissolved oxygen, which is very frustrating! The fish have been sitting high in the water and when they couldn’t be tempted on dry fly, emerger patterns fished in the top few inches often fooled them.

There have been hundreds of fish caught this month with numerous 3-5lb fish landed and a lot of big fish. The light levels were still good enough for anglers to stalk fish and this method accounted for the lion’s share of the larger fish that were caught! Big flies also proved very successful with fritz and humungous type patterns often singling out the larger specimens. As usually damsels and montanas took plenty of fish, as they usually do!

Big or notable fish from September and October

Kelvin Hinton 9lb 14oz Blue and 5lb 4 oz Sparctic
Jolene Trotter 6lb Sparctic
Andy Toomer 10lb 11oz and 10lb 8oz Rainbows
Malcolm 11lb Rainbow
Tony Roll 11lb 4oz Rainbow
Pauline Pendle 11lb 7oz Blue
Greg Sinclair13lb 6oz Rainbow
Mr Forward 12lb Rainbow
Mike Maloney 9lb 12oz Rainbow
Anthony Futer 11lb 8oz Rainbow
Neil Mundy 6lb 14oz and 9lb 8oz Blues and a 13lb Rainbow
Chris Bowling 11lb 2oz Rainbow
Graham Brown 11lb 13oz Rainbow
Peter 11lb 14oz Rainbow
Neil Perry 11lb 8oz  and 12lb Rainbows and 6lb Sparctic
Jamie 10lb 8oz Rainbow
Paul Rees 11lb 2oz Rainbow
Sasha 9lb 8oz Blue
Baz 8lb 8oz Blue
Matt Pope 10lb 12oz Rainbow
Nick Spring 8lb 12oz Rainbow
Martin Hill 10lb 8oz Rainbow
Bob Tennuci 9lb 8oz Rainbow
Ken Bithrey 11lb
John Otter 11lb 8oz and 12lb Rainbow
Steve Cox 11lb 2oz Rainbow
Mike 11lb 4oz Rainbow
Aaron House12lb 10oz Rainbow
Paul Russel 9lb 8oz Rainbow Dave Prevett 8lb 4oz Rainbow
Giordan Ricco 10lb 7oz Rainbow
George 10lb 2oz Rainbow
Chris 12lb Rainbow
Andy Banks 9lb 8oz Rainbow

Some fantastic fish have been caught I’m sure you would all agree? The fish are really starting to favour bigger and/or brighter lures with cats whiskers, appetisers, fritz, blobs and humungous all doing particularly well but lots of fish are still getting caught daddy’s (sunk and dry), sedge and blue flash damsels. When the fish have been trickier to tempt ad shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well, especially ‘when all else fails’.

 That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery

July/August 2023 

As is the norm with fishing in July and August, first thing in the morning or early evening is usually the most productive time, with the fish a little trickier to tempt from late morning to mid-afternoon. But there is always a way to tempt them! I see dozens of anglers come through the doors each week and although many are good anglers and very experienced, most all fish in a set way and do not adapt. Below are some ideas/tips to try and bring more success during in the tougher months.

• Look for the fish instead of blindly casting
• Wear polarised glasses, you’ll often see so much more
• Don’t be in a hurry to cast out, observe the fish and maybe identify fish that look more active
• Target individual fish or small groups and try fishing on the drop or with a slow retrieve and try to watch fish taking your fly
• Identify patrol routes so you can intercept fish
• Try placing you fly on the lake bed and twitching it up from the bottom as a patrolling fish comes through
• Check al likely spots – reed and weed beds, overhanging trees, areas of movement and flow
• Wear drab coloured clothing and move slowly around the lakes
• Small and more imitative flies will often score well in the dog days of summer and early autumn

Some really good fish have been caught through July and August. Over a few trips season rod Nick Spring has taken Rainbows of 7lb, 10lb 2oz and 10lb 8oz along a with a beautiful Brown of 6lb 8oz. Another season rod that has down well in Steve Bayliss taking Rainbows of 8lb, 10lb 14oz and 12lb and Martin Hill who caught Rainbows of 8lb 12oz and 9lb 12oz along a with a superb 7lb Sparctic. Gary braced Rainbows of 8lb 4oz and 9lb and his mate John had a 8lb 8oz Rainbow and 6lb Blue, Ben visited from Wales and caught a stunning 8lb Brown. Andy Banks had a good brace with a 9lb 8oz Rainbow and 4lb 8oz Brown. Alan caught a 8lb Rainbow, Chris had a very good fish of 12lb, Giordan had a 10lb 7oz Rainbow as part of a 8 fish bag and the biggest of the month was to Max with a superb 13lb Rainbow. Conor had a half days guiding and targeted a superb 10lb 8oz Rainbow, which smashed his previous personal best of 2lb 8oz and George had an hours lesson to get him casting (he was already an experience coarse angler) and the first ever trout he caught was a superb 10lb 2oz Rainbow!

Some fantastic fish have been caught I’m sure you would all agree?  The most successful fly for August was the blue flash damsel with the other usual suspects such as small stalking bugs, PTN’s GRHE’s, montanas and sunk daddy’s also scoring highly.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery

June 2023

June has seen Summer well and truly take hold of the Fishery with temperatures regularly getting above 20 Degrees Celsius and nudging 30, especially in the second half of the month. The high temperatures, as usual, have made for fairly tricky fishing conditions and lethargic trout in the late afternoons. The most consistent sport came in the morning and then late afternoon and into the evening. Fish were still caught through the middle part of the day but the trout were generally unwilling to chase down flies or lures. This called for accurate casts in front of fish where the fly would fall within inches of the fish or blind casting followed by a very slow retrieve. Top flies for this method were various guises of buzzer and stalking bugs or small PTN’s or GRHE’s. Through the morning period or in to the evening damsels and small green nymphs were very consistent in taking fish along with montanas. When the fish are in a more lethargic mood they seem to be less easily spooked so one can afford to keep casting to a fish until the presentation is just right. Most lakes also saw the fish rising sporadically through the day and larger patterns such as daddy’s, sedge or grey wolfs would tempt a fish to rise.

Despite the sometimes difficult conditions there have still been some excellent fish caught by our anglers with the average size around the 4lb mark. There hasn’t been a shortage of big fish caught either! Andy Watts had a 10lb 8oz Rainbow, young Toby caught his first ever fish while having a lesson with a fine 5lb 4oz Rainbow, season rod Matt had abeautiful 5lb 8oz Brown and Andy caught an 8lb 8oz Rainbow. Season ticket holder Martin Hill topped off a 9 fish haul with a superb Rainbow of 9lb 12oz, Gerry Hooper had two great fish with a 9lb Rainbow and personal best Rainbow of 11lb and day angler Grant had a 8lb 14oz Rainbow. Season ticket holder Hugh Shepherd turned up and had one cast and caught an 8lb Rainbow, Bob Nunn had a superb 7lb 12oz Sparctic, Ian braced two fine Blues of 5lb 4oz each and Neil Perry had a cracking 6lb 14oz Brown. Peter had a fine 5lb+ Sparctic, season rod Roger Brown caught an 8lb Rainbow and Andy Banting had a cracking 11lb Rainbow. Matt Pope had a great brace with a beautiful Brown along with a 12lb 10oz Rainbow, Paul Rees had a superb bag of fish with two Rainbows of 9lb and one of 12lb and Dean caught a 10lb Rainbow from Oak Lake that had evaded capture since the early Spring. Simon Verhost had a good Rainbow of 10lb 14oz, season rod Steve Bayliss caught a 12lb Rainbow as the first fish on his ticket and Richard had the biggest fish of the month with a 13lb Rainbow.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

March 2023

The fishery really comes to life through March, the snow drops are still out and the daffodils also bloom around the lakes adding a splash of colour. Its noticeable daily how quickly the marginal vegetation is growing and the water lilies in Alder and Bridge will soon have their leaves on the surface. This March was also slightly wetter than average, which is good news and hopefully this trend will continue through April to keep the springs that feed the lakes running through the summer months. It is always a great month for fishing as the fish are generally very active and most anglers caught their limit. All methods seemed to take fish and I saw people catch on dries, drifting buzzers, fishing deep/slow and stripping lures. It was just a case of working out which they preferred on any given day.

Hundreds of fish have been caught through the month with quite a few doubles as well. The biggest of the month was caught by Pauline Pendle on a John Lewis corporate day with a brute of 14lb 14oz. All 24 anglers that fished that day caught their 4 fish limit, for a total of 96 fish caught! Other notable captures from the day were a lovely Brown of 5lb 4oz to Neil Mundy, David King with a 7lb Sparctic, Bob Griffin with a 8lb 12oz Rainbow, Richard Timson with a 9lb Rainbow and Bill Turner and Chris Bowling both with 11lb Rainbows. New season ticket Erh-Hsuin’s first fish was a 7lb 8oz Rainbow, season ticket holder David Turvey had a personal best 9lb Rainbow and day angler Gareth caught a 10lb 2oz Rainbow. Day anglers Keith and Guy had a good visit with Keith taking a 8lb 6oz Rainbow and Guy a Blue of 7lb 4oz, season rod David Blease also had a cracking Blue of 6lb 10oz and regular Nick Spring caught 3 Blues with the biggest 9lb 4oz. Andy Vincent caught a 9lb 5oz Rainbow and Steve Perry had a great brace of Rainbows at 10lb and 10lb 8oz, season ticket Kelvin caught a 10lb Rainbow and season ticket Paul braced Rainbows of 9lb 8oz and 11lb. Day angler Harry Lee stalked a 10lb Rainbow, Season rod John Vincent braced a 6lb Blue and 9lb 10oz Rainbow and Bob Tennuci caught a personal best 11lb Rainbow. We also held a fishing competition and BBQ and Andy Heslop won the competition with a superb 12lb 3oz Rainbow, which won him a 6 month season ticket. Phil Tancock fished with us for the first time during the competition and led it twice, first with a 6lb Rainbow and then one of 10lb 1oz before Andy caught the eventual winning fish.

Brighter lures such as cats whiskers, appetisers, fritz and blobs are doing particularly well but lots of fish are still getting caught on blue flash damsels. When the fish have been trickier to tempt and are shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well, especially ‘when all else fails’.

 That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

February 2023

The lakes have fished excellently through February with most day anglers catching their full bag limit. The fish have been fighting incredibly hard with the low water temperature and high dissolved oxygen content of the lakes at this time of year. The trout have generally been sat high in the water, usually the top 2 – 3 ft. This meant most anglers were using floating lines, and on days where the light levels allowed for spotting fish, anglers could often watch the trout chase there fly and eat it. Some anglers even caught on dry flies, which was great to see. The days are noticeably drawing out now and the morning chorus has been much louder this month. Snowdrops have been out in full bloom all month, which is always lovely to see and the daffodils have just started to bloom as I write this report in early March.

The average size of fish caught has been in excess of 4lb over February with the best Rainbows caught being 10lb and over 9lb for a Brown with numerous 5lb – 7lb fish caught as well. The biggest rainbows were caught by Dan and Andy Banting, with Andy also bracing his with another Rainbow of 9lb 8oz and the best Brown of 9lb 8oz was caught by Mr Bettley. Adam had a beautifully marked Brown of 5lb 10oz, Ted Jarvis visited all the way from Cambridgeshire and caught a 7lb Rainbow as part of his 4 fish limit and Robin had a good fish of 8lb 4oz. Fishery regular Aaron House had a great brace of Rainbows at 9lb and 9lb 2oz, Luke Turner caught a personal best Sparctic of 6lb and Lee Cook had a 9lb 5oz Rainbow and his son Oliver caught one of 6lb 5oz.  Fly tier Martyn Williams fished with us and had a lovely Rainbow of 9lb 12oz, his friend Paul Rees braced Rainbows of 9lb 8oz and 9lb 12oz and season rod Neil Perry had a stunning example of a Tiger Trout with a new fishery record of 7lb 5oz.

As with January lures and larger nymphs have been the order of the day fished on a fairly fast retrieve; blue flash damsels, montanas, cats whiskers, dancers, goldhead fritz or epoxy minnows are better in the morning with smaller more discreet patterns in the afternoon.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our Facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

January 2023

January has been a great month for fishing with most anglers bagging their fish limits. The fish have been very active and willing to chase most offerings with some anglers even tempting fish on dries, which is fantastic to see. Most days fish could be found high up in the water and fish could be spotted or targeted when the light was right. With the fish being so high in the water, a floating line was all that was needed. We also saw plenty of rain, which caused our chalk stream to rise higher than I’ve seen it in the 12 years I’ve been here and made for some muddy and slippery conditions around the lakes. Hopefully this rain has topped up all the chalk aquifers and as long as we continue to get more rain through this coming Spring, will hopefully see the springs that feed the lakes continue running into the summer. There are plenty of snowdrops out around the fishery and the daffodils aren’t far away from flowering either.

Hundreds of fish have been caught through January by our anglers with some larger fish caught also. Steve Jones and his Grandson Tom shared an 8 fish catch with Tom also landing his personal best of 7lb 12oz, Nathan Williams had a fin perfect 8lb Rainbow and season rod Doug Shuard also had a very pretty fish of 8lb 8oz. Andy Banting had a superb Brace of Rainbows of 8lb 8oz and 8lb 9oz, season rod Bob Tennuci had a great fish of 9lb 4oz and Steve Perry had a brace of Rainbows at 8lb 8oz and 9lb , with one of those fish taken on a dry sedge. Jeremy fished with us as part of a John Lewis day and braced Rainbows of 8b and 9lb, Peter Chapman had a cracker of 9lb 8oz, Paul Savill had an 8lb’er and fly tier Martyn Williams caught a lovely 8lb Rainbow. Season rod Steve Forsyth has a stunning 8lb 8oz Sparctic, Paul Mason caught a 8lb 2oz Rainbow and Mr Tuckett had one of 9lb. Day rod John Sherry had his biggest Rockbourne fish so far with a 8lb  Rainbow, Aaron House caught a beautiful Brown along with an 8lb 10oz Rainbow and Lee Cook had a superb bag with Rainbows of 9lb 4oz, 9lb 8oz and 10lb 10oz. 

Brighter lures such as cats whiskers, appetisers, fritz and blobs are doing particularly well but lots of fish are still getting caught on blue flash damsels and black and green montanas. When the fish have been trickier to tempt and are shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well, especially ‘when all else fails’. As mentioned above dries have also taken a number of fish with smaller, black knat, daddy and sedge type patterns proving successful.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

December 2022

December saw the coldest weather we’ve experienced for quite a few years here at the fishery with a week or so of overnight temperatures below freezing, down to a very chilly minus 8 and daytime temps not climbing much above 1 or 2 degrees. It resulted in Oak, Pine and Spring freezing completely over for a few days, Alder and Bridge were only partly frozen as we had the aerators running to keep them as clear as possible and Longacre remained ice free due to the inflow from the chalk stream. Despite the cold weather anglers continued to catch plenty of fish and it was noticeable that larger and/or brighter patterns seemed to be taking more fish. We also had plenty of rain, which did colour up the lakes slightly, but it was greatly received. Our chalk stream is now wonderfully full, and it makes the job of growing fish that much easier in our stock ponds. Hopefully we will continue to get rain through the Winter and Spring to help us through next summer. All the leaves are now off the trees and it can look a bit barren but Winter has its own beauty and it wont be long until we see those first snow drops pushing up through the ground.

Season rod Neil Perry had a great visit, taking Rainbows of 9lb, 10 and 10lb 1oz along with a  7lb 4oz Blue, Phillip Cox had a lovely 9lb Rainbow and fishery regular Bob Tennuci caught a fine 10lb Rainbow. Lee Cook had a 6lb 13oz Rainbow and 7lb 8oz Rainbow as part of a 4 fish bag and season rod Nick Spring caught a 7lb 8oz Rainbow as part of his 6 fish bag. Hugh Shepherd had a lovely 7lb Blue, Ted Jarvis topped his four fish limit with a 8lb 8oz Rainbow and Season rod Martin hill had a brace of 7lb+ Rainbows and a superb 14lb Rainbow. That’s it for the bigger fish for the month but there were hundred of fish caught in the 3lb – 5lb range with most day anglers filling their bag limit.

Brighter lures such as cats whiskers, appetisers, fritz and blobs are doing particularly well but lots of fish are still getting caught on blue flash damsels. When the fish have been trickier to tempt and are shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well, especially ‘when all else fails’.

 That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

November 2022

November was much the same as October in that it was fairly mild but we had some welcome relief of some much need rain. We had a quite few low-pressure systems sweep the country which brought some very heavy downpours and many other fisheries just like us were very happy to see it. As much as our lakes needed the extra water, our fish farm was in desperate need of more water as the chalk stream that feeds it was as low as we’ve ever seen it. Water is everything when farming fish and without a sufficient flow, pushing fish on and getting them to grow is impossible. For the most part through the summer and Autumn months we were in survival mode on the fish farm. Thankfully now, we’ve got plenty of water and the fish are growing well. The high winds of the low pressure systems also brought down a few trees, including a big ash that came down across the stream at Longacre, on the plus side it’ll provide plenty of firewood for next winter. Sport has been getting increasingly better through the month as the colder weather set in and most anglers were filling their bag limits.

Some great fish have been caught amongst the hundreds of fish caught this month, with Season rods Eliot and David catching Rainbows of 10lb 6oz and 12lb, we managed to get David’s fish on film, so check out the footage on our facebook page towards the beginning of November to see that. Fishery regular Lee Cook brought his 7 year old son George fishing for the first time and he bagged a superb 7lb 4oz Blue, and on another couple of visits Lee caught a 7lb Blue and a 10lb 10oz Rainbow. Paul Tustain also had a stunning Blue of 6lb 8oz and, Mike Maloney had a cracking Rainbow of 9lb 2oz and season rod Martin French had a superb Rainbow of 9lb 8oz. Over a couple of trips season rod Kelvin Hinton Landed two Rainbows, both weighing in at 9lb 2oz and Neil Perry had a lovely Rainbow of 10lb 2oz.

The fish are really starting to favour brighter lures with cats whiskers, appetisers, fritz and blobs doing particularly well but lots of fish are still getting caught on blue flash damsels. When the fish have been trickier to tempt and are shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well, especially ‘when all else fails’.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery

October 2022

The unseasonably mild and dry weather has continued through October, which has made for some very pleasant fishing conditions but has made the sport somewhat tricky. The cooler nights have dropped the water temperatures, which resulted in the fish being more active and generally fighting very hard. The end of the month saw a good helping of rain, which I do hope will continue as we move into November as it has been a terribly dry year. As with September the fish could often be found sitting high in the water, which has helped those who like to stalk the fish but the Sun is lower in the sky now which can cause a lot of glare at times. The Fishery is looking wonderful in its Autumnal colours and if you sit quietly, you will see plenty of songbirds such as blue tit, great tit, blackcap, nut hatch and coal tits among many others.

Although the fishing has been tricky, plenty of fish have been caught along with some bigger specimens too. Father and son Lee and Oliver had a good day taking 6 fish, which included Browns of 4lb 8oz  and 6lb 2oz, a 3lb 8oz Sparctic and 9lb 4oz Rainbow, Lee also visited again a few days later and caught another good Rainbow of 8lb. Joe had a half day tuition with us as his first experience of fly fishing and went onto catch a superb first fly caught fish with a Rainbow of 8lb 8oz, season rod Mick Long caught a beautifully conditioned 9lb Rainbow and Malcolm Boyd had a stunning Tiger. John Lewis fly fishing club fished with us as usual in October and caught plenty of fish with several good Rainbow and Blues over 7lb up to just over 9lb, season rod Nick Spring had a good mornings fishing taking Rainbows of 8lb and 12lb and Neil Perry and a beautifully coloured Rainbow of 8lb. Season rod Martin Hill had a chunky 11lb 8oz Rainbow along with a beautiful Brown of 4lb, Robin O’Dell had Rainbows of 6lb 6oz and 9lb 14oz, Neil Mundy caught a 8lb Blue, and Steve Cupples had a 8lb Blue and 12lb 5oz Rainbow. Season rods Bob, Drew and Matt all had Rainbows of 10lb+ and Lee and Lauren visited us for the first time, with Lauren catching a great 9lb 8oz Rainbow and Lee a superb bag with rainbows of 7lb 2oz, 10lb 13oz and 12lb 4oz.                                          
The successful flies are all the usual suspects: blue flash damsels, stalking bugs, buzzers, sunk and dry daddy’s, PTN’s and GRHE’s all producing. As is gets cooler brighter lures, especially fritz based fly’s will take a lot of fish!

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our Facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

September 2022

This time of year is a transitional one between the Summer and Autumn and we had some exceptionally warm days with some very chilly mornings too. We were very happy to see some cooler night-time temperatures to help the lakes cool down. On the whole it has remained very dry for the time of year and the springs that feed Oak and Pine have slowed up significantly, causing the lakes levels to drop slightly. On a brighter note we did reopen Oak Lake for fishing towards the end of the month as the water temperature had decreased sufficiently for us to restock it. Pine and Spring Lake remained closed but are due to be reopened middle of October. The sport has got better as the month went on, with the onset of the cooler temperatures.

The most consistent sport was found by drifting flies through the current created by the aerators or fishing under the trees. On Bridge Lake especially, the majority of the lakes stock could be spotted under the over hanging branches and to get to these fish you either had to stalk them under the trees or cast a longer line from the opposite bank. Not the easiest of casts as it requires a nice narrow loop and a side cast. But those that got the hang of it would often get their fish. Some fish could also be found in open water, which also provided some sight fishing opportunities. By far, the best patten of the month was a montana or flies that were dark or black in colour.

With the lake temperatures still fairly high and very low flow through our stock ponds, we had to make the decision to not net and stock the bigger fish. The stress of netting them in low flow conditions, coupled with the shock of then stocking them into much warmer lake water would have ended up in multiple fatalities. It was a difficult decision but the right call. As I write this, in mid October, we’ve started to trickle out a few bigger fish as the temperature difference between the stock ponds and lakes is much smaller, so therefore less stressful for the fish.

Sebi fished with us twice, having a lesson each time and caught his fish on both occasions, fishery regular Mr Feltham caught his first Tiger Trout, Mr dalley had a personal best 5lb 12oz Spacrtic and Justin had a lesson and went on to catch a fine Brown of 4lb. There were plenty of fish caught by the anglers that fished with us with most fish in the 3 to 5lb Range.

 
That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery

August 2022

August continued the run of hot and very dry weather and we are in desperate need of some rain and cooler temperatures just like many other lakes and rivers up and down the country but it will take many months to replenish the chalk aquifers that feed chalk streams and lakes. We are still continuing with the closures of Oak, Pine and Spring Lakes until we are certain that conditions are optimum for stocking trout and we predict this to be in October; by then we should have had some meaningful rain coupled with cooler Autumn temperatures. It’s not all doom and gloom though as Alder, Bridge and Longacre are open, with fish caught every day. Mornings are proving more fruitful for most anglers with the flow created by the aerators of Alder and Bridge particular hot spots. It’s worth paying particular attention to detecting bites at this time of year as often, they can be very subtle indeed, with only the slightest movement or halt in the end of the fly line as it is retrieved to signal that a trout has taken your fly. If you can watch your fly then you’ll often see fish mouth it or take it very quickly before rejecting it, so be quick on the strike.

Chris Sharp had a lovely 4lb Tiger and season rod Chris Pilbeam caught a long and lean 6lb 5oz Brown that would have been stocked back in the winter. Steve Long had a half days fly fishing lesson and ended up catching three fish, topped with a cracking 4ln Blue Trout and season rod Tony Roll caught a 9lb Rainbow. Season ticket holder Dave Robjohns caught a 7lb 4oz Brown that would have probably been stocked at the same time as the one Chris caught, and David Holt brought his Grandson fishing and they had a superb 7lb 4oz Rainbow. Season rod Eliot targeted a fine 4lb Tiger, 12 yeal old Joey had a 4lb Rainbow while having a lesson and Tony, Mike, John, David and Barry shared a 14 fish catch.

The most successful flies for August were blue flash damsels, small stalking bugs, PTN’s, GRHE’s, montanas and sunk daddy’s.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery

July 2022

July has continued to very dry and I believe that we’ve had less than 20% of the average rainfall we’d expect for this time of year and this followed a drier than average Winter and Spring too. This has affected ground water levels, which feed the springs into the lakes, especially Oak, Pine and Spring. We have made the decision to cease stocking those three lakes until we get cooler weather and some much needed rain due to the high water temperatures, which makes it unsuitable for stocking trout.

As is the norm at this time of the year fishing first thing in the morning or the latter part of the day is usually the most productive with fish always a little trickier to tempt from late morning to mid-afternoon. But tempted they can be! Our six lakes are intimate places and the fish always find some nice shady cover to tuck them selves away under to hide from the bright conditions (and a lot of our anglers!). The more keen eyed angler will often find fish in such places and with plenty of stealth and a bit of luck a fish or two can often be tempted. Top flies for ‘stalking’ are usually weighted bugs that sink quickly and a range of colours, usually olives, blacks or browns will take fish and the old faithful PTN’s and GRHE’s in smaller size 16s or 18s can prove deadly. A much over looked method when creeping around under the trees is to place your chosen fly on the bottom and then twitch it up in front of an approaching fish, if you can see your fly watch this or if not, watch the fish to see when it ‘mouths’ your fly and STRIKE!!

Despite the tough conditions our anglers have still enjoyed some great sport with most catching their limits, with plenty of fish in the 3-5lb that has also included a good number of Sparctics and Tiger Trout. Some big fish have been caught also but we have reduced the number of bigger fish we’ve stocked due to higher water temperatures. Big fish do not cope well with stress and the process of netting and stocking them is a large stressor, especially so in the summer with the large difference in water temperature between the stock ponds and lakes. Season rod Nick Spring had a productive couple of trips taking Browns of 7lb and 8lb 8oz along with a 10lb Blue Trout, Alan Drewitt had  6lb 4oz Sparctic and Bob Lawson caught a 5lb Tiger Trout and Joan Russel caught a superd 10lb Rainbow. The other big fish that have been stocked have been hard to tempt and often only seen for short periods under the trees.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery

June 2022

The summer is well and truly here now and we saw a couple of weeks of high temperatures exceeding 20 degrees Celsius. These hot and bright conditions coupled with low ground water levels (due to a relatively dry winter and spring) have combined to make some tricky fishing conditions.

The most consistent sport came in the first couple of hours in the morning and then late afternoon and into the evening. Fish were still caught through the middle part of the day but the trout were generally unwilling to chase down flies or lures. This called for accurate casts in front of fish where the fly would fall within inches of the fish or blind casting followed by a very slow retrieve. Top flies for this method were various guises of buzzer and stalking bugs or small PTN’s or GRHE’s. Through the morning period or into the evening damsels and small green nymphs were very consistent in taking fish along with montanas. When the fish are in a more lethargic mood they seem to be less easily spooked so one can afford to keep casting to a fish until the presentation is just right. Most lakes also saw the fish rising sporadically through the day and larger patterns such as daddy’s, sedge or grey wolfs would tempt a fish to rise so it’s certainly worth persevering with a dry.

The fish were often found under the cover of the trees in the shade or sitting in the deeper holes but on Alder and Bridge Lakes plenty of fish could be found in the current created by the aerators. Drifting or swinging flies in these areas of flow accounted for many fish.

Although the conditions were tricky at times, plenty of fish were caught through the month along with a few bigger or notable fish. Season rod Matt Pope had a beautifully conditioned Rainbow of 12lb 7oz at the beginning of the month, Neil Perry had a superb bag; two Rainbows of 8lb 10oz and 10lb 14oz along with a 7lb 14oz Blue and Zac caught his first Tiger with a great fish of 4lb. Lee Cook and his son Oliver shared a good bag of fish with taking a 6lb Tiger and 7lb 2oz Brown and Oliver a personal best 5lb Sparctic, Dan Berry caught a 7lb+ Rainbow and over two trips Nick Spring had Rainbows of 9lb and 12lb 8oz. Tod Beverley had a 10lb Rainbow, Mr Cooper caught a lovely 5lb 12oz Sparctic, Mr Bourne had a lovely 8lb Brown and Mr Thompson a 10lb Rainbow. Season rod martin Hill had a 8lb Rainbow, Dave Prevett caught his personal best Sparctic at 6lb and Jeremy Halford caught a Blue Trout that was tagged, which netted him £100. Pauline Pendle and Neil Mundy both had cracking Blue of 10lb 2oz a piece but the catch of the month must go to David King for taking four fish that weighed between 9lb and 13lb for a total weight of 43lb!

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

May 2022

The fishery is looking wonderful now we are in May and it’s a beautiful place to spend a few hours. The sport has been very good with most anglers catching their limits. This has been helped by cooler temperatures compared to what you’d usually expect in May, we even had a few frosts right at the beginning of the month. The usual tactics of stripping lures and nymphs have taken the majority of fish, with most of the bigger fish caught by those that like to stalk and sight cast and we’ve seen a few anglers having great fun fishing dries too. The most consistent sport came in the first two or three hours in the morning and then late afternoon and into the evening.

A run down of some of the notable catches in May. Jerry Smith caught his first Rockbourne double, a fine rainbow of 12lb 12oz, season rod Martin Hill had a day to remember when he caught a 10lb 4oz Blue along with Rainbows of 11lb 8oz and 13lb 8oz and 90 year old Tony Bevan fished with us for the first time and had a brace of 4lb Rainbows. Season rod Christ Bowling visited us a couple of time and had Rainbows of 9lb 10oz and 9lb 8oz, Paula had a mornings tuition and had a brace of Rainbows, Mike Slater fished with us for the first time and opened his Rockbourne account with a superb 12lb Rainbow, Nick Spring a had a beautiful Brown of 10lb 12oz and season rod Mick Long caught a personal best 9lb 4oz Rainbow. Day angler Andy Wallis had an excellent session, which included a 5lb Sparctic, 8lb 8oz Blue and a 13lb 10oz Rainbow, season rod Rob Cooper caught his first Rockbourne double with a 10lb Rainbow and Ringwood Tackle owner, Richard Middleton, caught a fine 8lb 12oz Blue and 10lb 12oz Rainbow. Tony Targett smashed his personal best Brown with a stunning fish of 13lb 2oz from Longacre Lake on his own tied rainbow bead damsel, Ben had a personal best 6lb 4oz Sparctic, Chris Roots caught a 10lb 10oz Rainbow and Rob Sweep had a 10lb 4oz Blue. Fishery regular Lee Cook had a lovely 12lb Brown, Alan Waller caught a 9lb 8oz Rainbow and Simon Newnes had a 9lb 4oz Rainbow while fishing with us as part of the fish mongers fly fishing club. Season rod Martin Hill bagged another double in the shape of a 11lb 8oz Rainbow, Jayden caught his personal best 5lb Sparctic and John Pike, Andrew Cogle and Alan Drewitt all caught 8lb+ Rainbows.

The fish were often found under the cover of the trees in the shade or sitting in the deeper holes, so having a floating line for stalking and an intermediate or sink tip line for fishing deeper helped cover more options. Anglers fishing floating lines sometimes struggled to fish deep enough when the fish moved to the depths for cover.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

April 2022

April was a dry month, no sign of the traditional April showers that help top of the chalk aquifers for the summer ahead, which is slightly worrying as the winter has also been on the dry side too. The start of the month felt unseasonably cold before we started getting warmer day time temperatures towards the end of the month, albeit, often with a ground frost at night. Spring was in the air though with plenty of fresh growth around the fishery and the bluebells in full bloom in the woodland. The fishing has been excellent with most day anglers bagging their limit. The fish were often up in the water so could be seen and targeted if the angler wished and fishing a dry was a good tactic, especially grannom imitations as these hatched in their thousands along with a good number of alderflies.

Plenty of bigger fish have featured in the catches of our anglers over April including a superb 20lb 1oz Rainbow to Neil Perry and a fantastic fishery record Brown of 15lb 9oz to Lee Cook. The third biggest fish on the month was caught by Luke with a cracking 17lb Rainow, Baz had the biggest Blue at 11lb 10oz and Tristan caught his first double of 10lb 6oz. Alan Drewitt and Joe Quinlivan both had 8lb+ Browns, Andy Toomey had a very pretty Brown of 7lb 10oz and Martin Hill had a cracking Brown of just over 6lb that had lovely big red spots! Steve Perry had a great couple of visits with two low double Rainbows and a superb 14lb 4oz Brown, his Dad Tim caught a 10lb 3oz Rainbow and Rob his Brother also had a couple of double Rainbows too. Will Deakin travelled a fair distance to try and catch a Brown and achieved it with a cracker of 8lb and Nigel Kennard had a brilliant brace of Browns that weighed in at 7lb 10oz and 9lb 10oz. On a separate visit Neil Perry had a fin perfect 14lb 4oz Rainbow, Lee Cook had a Rainbow of 10lb and Mr Skinner caught a very spotty 9lb Brown. Peter Burdett, David Broome and Dave Haskins of the Saint Michael Fly Fishers all and a double Rainbow each at 11lb 1oz, 12lb 10oz and 13lb 4oz respectively and Jerry Smith caught his first Rockbourne double with a cracker of 12lb 12oz. 

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

March 2022

Spring is well and truly here at the Fishery when March is upon us, the daffodils are in full bloom, the primroses are out, the bluebells will be flowering soon and the hedgerows are all bursting with small vibrant green leaves. The marginal vegetation around the lakes is growing taller by the day, the lillies in Alder and Bridge have started to make their way up to the surface and frogs and toads have been busy laying spawn . The fishing is also coming in to its own, with the fish very active indeed and stalking opportunities getting better by the day with the increasing light levels coupled with the fish often being found very close into the margins. 

The fishing was excellent through March with many fish caught. At the beginning of the month Lee Neale had a brace of 7lb Browns, Steve Perry had a great brace of Borwns at 9lb 3oz and 9lb 6oz and Stuart Quick had a 6lb 8oz Brown and 9lb 8oz Rainbow. Mariusz caught a 6lb Brown, season rod David Seddon had a 8lb 8oz Brown, Richard Power caught a superb 12lb 14oz Rainbow and Stephen Harding caught a stunning, personal best 11lb 8oz Brown. Season rod Martin Hill had a brace of Sparctics at 6lb 2oz and 7lb 2oz, Jon Patten had a superb 8lb Sparctic, which he caught along with another of 5lb and a superb 11lb Rainbow and Andy Banting had a great brace of Sparctics of 6lb 12oz and a new personal best of 9lb. Over another couple of visits Martin Hill caught Browns of 8lb 4oz and 12lb along with a 10lb 12oz Rainbow, season rod Arthur Perrett had a superb 10lb 10oz personal best Sparctic and Lee cook had a session he won’t forget in a hurry, landing Rainbows of 10lb 2oz and 10lb 4oz along with Browns of 8lb 12oz and 9lb 12oz! Paul had a good brace of Sparctics at 5lb 8oz and 6lb 2oz, season rod Russell Hayter caught a 9lb 8oz Rainbow, Anthony Brettel had a cracking 11lb 10oz Rainbow and Rob Cooper caught his first Sparctic of 5lb 8oz. Steve Perry had a good brace of Sparctics along with a lovely 13lb Rainbow, Paul and his son Julian caught a 6lb Sparctic and 8lb 6oz Brown, Steve Bailey persistence paid off when he was rewarded with a lovely 7lb 7oz Brown and Mal Evans landed a 11lb 2oz Rainbow. On another trip Lee Cook caught 4 Sparctics and a fine 10lb 12oz Brown, Chris Bowling had an immaculate 12lb 4oz Rainbow and Richard Francis had a 12lb Rainbow. Ian Randall caught a beautifully marked 7lb 7oz Brown, Nick Spring also had a Brown of 5lb 12oz, John Otter caught a 10lb 8oz Rainbow, Richard Timson had a lovely Rainbow of 12lb 2oz and Seb Hartley caught one of 13lb 4oz. Marek caught a great Brown of 12lb, season rod John Pike caught a lovely dark Brown of 14lb 2oz and congratulations must go to Pauline Pendle on catching a new fishery record Brown of 15lbs!

Brighter lures such as cats whiskers, appetisers, fritz and blobs are doing particularly well but more imitative flys such as damsels, PTN’s and GRHE’s are taking more and more fish. When the fish have been trickier to tempt and are shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well, especially ‘when all else fails’. Dry fly sport has also picked up now the natural fly life is starting to wake up and hatch!

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

February 2022

Once February is here we know that Spring isn’t far away, even though the weather can be foul. If you look closely, you can see signs that the plants are just starting to shoot and buds are appearing on some of the trees. We have snowdrops in full bloom around the fishery, daffodils started to flower in the middle of the month and we even had frog spawn in places.

As is usual for February the fish are fighting incredibly hard with long runs down to the backing not uncommon often accompanied by the trout leaping clear of the water several times. The light levels are slowly increasing, which is helping those who like to stalk fish, especially as there are lots of fish sitting high in the water.

We stocked quite a few Brown Trout during February as they seem to do really well at this time of year and plenty have been caught along with a few big rainbows and hundreds of smaller rainbows in the 3lb – 5lb range.

John Pike had a great 8lb 2oz Brown from Longacre, Dave Burgess had a lovely brace of Browns at 6lb 8oz and 8lb and season rod Andy had a personal best Brown of 9lb! Pete Willingham, Alan Brand, Chris Bowling and Eliot Hankins all had Browns between 4lb 8oz and 7lb. Ashley, Dave Robjohns and Steve Perry all had Sparctics between 5lb and 6lb. Over two visits Aaron House had a great hit of fish with a Brown of 6lb and Rainbows of 10lb 8oz, 11lb 11oz and 12lb 2oz, Stewart Easey had a lovely 10lb Rainbow and Kennie and Matthew both had Rainbows of 11lb 2oz. Season rod David Seddon had a 8lb 8oz Brown, Ron Huey had a cracker of a Brown at 9lb 12oz and Callum and Kennie both had Brown, 10lb 8oz and 9lb respectively. Steve Perry had a couple of 6lb+ Browns along with a 11lb Rainbow, Gary Barlett also had a 11lb Rainbow, Rich Power one of 12lb 14oz and Ross Huey had the biggest of the month at 14lb 8oz.

The successful flies have remained the same with brighter lures such as cats whiskers, appetisers, fritz and blobs doing particularly well but lots of fish are still getting caught on blue flash damsels. Some days when the fish have been trickier to tempt and are shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well and stalking is still productive due to the fish still sitting high in the water. One Angler, Eliot also took a brown on a dry sedge, after spotting it risisng.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our Facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery

January 2022

For the most part January was fairly mild with only a handful of frosts and it was also very dry for the time of year. In fact we are in desperate need of rain to top up the aquifers for the summer ahead. Our chalk stream is at its lowest I have seen it for the winter months in the 12 years I have been here! The fishing has remained excellent though, with plenty of fish caught. There is also a splash of colour around the fishery with plenty of snowdrops in bloom and it won’t be long until the daffodils are in flower too and the resident Kingfisher has been very active and you often seen the blue and orange flash as it whizz’s past in search of its next meal.

It's been a fairly quiet month for numbers of anglers visiting the fishery but those that have fished with us have nearly all caught their bag limits with lots of fish caught in the 3 – 5lb bracket. For the time of year the trout have generally been sitting very high in the water and a few anglers have used dries to tempt a fish or two. The most successful method, as is usually the case, at this time of year was to strip larger nymphs or lures at a fast and twitchy pace. This would often result in follows from multiple fish and end in one of them taking. Kelvin Hinton had a fine 11lb Rainbow, which was joint biggest fish with Alan Drewitt, who bagged five fish topped by Rainbows of 7lb, 10lb and 11lb. Tony Roll had a couple of hits of fish with the best going 9lb and season rod Jason Nickless  had a lovely 8lb 8oz Rainbow. Rob Griggs and a 10lb Rainbow and Graham Brown had a beautifully conditioned Brown of 9lb.

Brighter lures such as cats whiskers, appetisers, fritz and blobs are doing particularly well but lots of fish are still getting caught on blue flash damsels and black and green montanas. When the fish have been trickier to tempt and are shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well, especially ‘when all else fails’. It also pays to keep an open mind and watch what the fish are doing as they were often very high in the water and could be tempted to take a dry.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

December 2021

December was generally fairly mild with only a small amount of rain although we did have a couple of cold snaps which saw temperatures drop below freezing for a few days and this helped to drop the water temperatures! The Weather has been so unseasonably mild that the fish were often found sitting high in the water with fish caught on dry fly a fairly common occurrence. At the end of the month we even saw the first signs of the daffodils starting shoot up, which is very early!

The cooler water temperatures meant the fish fought very hard through December with long fast runs often to the backing experienced by many anglers. It is also a great time of year to fish fry patterns with a fast erratic retrieve as the fish will be chasing down and devouring this year’s juvenile roach.

Most anglers have been catching their bag limit with most bags consisting of 3 to 4lb fish. The bigger fish have definitely been a bit harder to catch this month but a few of our anglers have been successful in catching them, Ben Jessup had personal best Sparctic of 8lb, Chris Bright and Dan May both had 11lb Rainbows and Adrian Kruger travelled all the way from Plymouth and was rewarded with a 10lb 2oz Rainbow. Lee Cook had a lovely conditioned Brown of 9lb 8oz, Ant had a 10lb 6oz Rainbow and Neil Perry had a superb brace of Rainbows at 11lb 6oz and 12lb 8oz.

The successful flies have remained the same with brighter lures such as cats whiskers, appetisers, fritz and blobs doing particularly well but lots of fish are still getting caught on blue flash damsels. Some days when the fish have been trickier to tempt and are shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well and stalking is still productive due to the fish still sitting high in the water. As plenty of fish are sitting high in the water fishing a dry, such as a small sedge or grey wulff would often tempt a fish to take.

 That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our Facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery

November 2021

November was much the same as October in that it was unseasonably mild for the time of year, although colder weather moved in towards the end of the month. Most of the leaves have now been shed from the trees and the fishery can look a bit bare but it is still a beautiful and tranquil place to spend a day’s fishing. It is at this time of year that we start to cut back or remove any offending branch’s, trees and some of the marginal growth around the fishery and generally have a big clear up to make sure it will all look its best once Sprig finally arrives.

Some excellent fish have been caught through the month. Steve Vine had a fine 8lb 4oz Blue, Steve Robinson caught a 5lb 8oz Sparctic and Ben Jessup had a superb 8lb Sparctic. Neil Mundy had a fine brace with a 9lb 10oz Blue and 10lb 10oz Rainbow, Steve Perry had a great brace also taking a personal best 10lb Blue along with a 13lb 6oz Rainbow. Lan Langford had a great conditioned 10lb 5oz Rainbow, Ant Brettell had a cracking 11lb 10oz Rainbow, season rod Martin Hill had one of 11lb and Snowbee ambassador Aaron House had a 11lb 6oz Rainbow. Nick Freeman caught a 13lb Rainbow, Elliot Forsyth had one of 12lb and David King a brute of 14lb. Neil Perry had a superb couple of trips, on his first visit he had a brace of 12lb 2oz and 13lb 2oz and then towards the end of the moth he had a colossal, fin perfect Rainbow of 22lb 8oz!

The fish are really starting to favour brighter lures with cat’s whiskers, appetisers, fritz and blobs doing particularly well but lots of fish are still getting caught on blue flash damsels. When the fish have been trickier to tempt and are shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well, especially ‘when all else fails’.

 That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

October 2021

On the whole October was an unseasonably mild month with only a couple of frosts to speak of, we had a drop of rain but as usual it was not enough and as I’m writing this (beginning of November) I have seen some Dragon and Damsel flies around the lakes and a few fish rising, not what you would expect! The fishing has been excellent though with many anglers continuing to tempt fish on dry daddy’s and sedge. The fish have been sitting high in the water and when they couldn’t be tempted on dry fly, emerger patterns fished in the top few inches often fooled them.

There have been hundreds of fish caught this month with numerous 3-5lb fish landed and a lot of big fish. The light levels were still good enough for anglers to stalk fish and this method accounted for the lion’s share of the larger fish that were caught! Big flies also proved very successful with fritz and humungous type patterns often singling out the larger specimens.

Big Fish

Aaron House 13lb 7oz Rainbow and Blues of 7lb 12oz and 9lb 8oz
David Blease 6lb Sparctic
Pat McLaughlin 9lb Blue
Paul Lambert 6lb 4oz Blue
Ivan 8lb 4oz Blue – first ever fish
Steve Skeggs 9lb 8oz Rainbow
Lee Cook 12lb 2o and 12lb 12oz Rainbows
Joan Russell 10lb Blue
Stewart Pope 8lb Blue
David King Blues of 7lb and 11lb 8oz  and Rainbows of 12lb 6o z and 15lb
Neil Mundy Blues of 7lb 9oz and 9lb 14oz, one was tagged, which won Neil £100 and he also had Rainbows of 9lb 10oz and 11lb 14oz.
Julian Bland 9lb 14oz Blue
Helen Gunther 10lb 8oz Blue
Pauline Pendle 12lb 4oz Blue
Chris Bowling 10lb 4oz Blue
Callum Harbison 13lb Rainbow
Bill Rushmer 7lb 8oz Brown
Mr McCrossan 14lb 10oz Rainbow
Barry Reynolds Blues of 7lb 10oz and 10lb 8oz
Neil Perry Blues of 9lb 10oz and 10lb 2oz and a 13lb 5oz Rainbow
Nick Spring 12lb Rainbow
Steve Perry Blues of 7lb 4oz, 9lb 8oz and 9lb 12oz and a 11lb Rainbow

Some fantastic fish have been caught I’m sure you would all agree? The fish are really starting to favour bigger and/or brighter lures with cats whiskers, appetisers, fritz, blobs and humungous all doing particularly well but lots of fish are still getting caught daddy’s (sunk and dry), sedge and blue flash damsels. When the fish have been trickier to tempt ad shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well, especially ‘when all else fails’.

 That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery

August and September 2021

The dog days of August - a challenging month on fisheries and at times it has been so here at Rockbourne. We’ve had a dry month (only the odd rain shower) and the temperature has even been up into the 30’s on occasion and often in the mid 20’s! The best times to fish were the first 2-3 hours in the morning or the last 2-3 hours we were open. Fish were still being caught through the middle part of the day but were definitely trickier to tempt. As is often the case in these conditions, fish were found under the trees or in the deeper holes so the conditions were great for people who loved to target the trout in close using stalking bugs/buzzers. September was much the same, with very little rain and warm temperatures.

Despite the tricky conditions some excellent sport has been had with plenty of fish caught, including quite a few specimen fish. Wayne Little fished with us for the first time and caught a 12lb Rainbow and his fishing companion Martin Bolwer had his first ever Sparctic Trout. Rares had a superb Brace with the biggest Rainbow caught in August at 17lb along with a 6lb Blue, Nick Spring had a 13lb Rainbow, Brian Malyon had a personal best 11lb 10 Rainbow and fishery regulars Neil Perry and Ian Langford both had Rainbows of 14lb 12oz! Tim Watson had a 12lb 4oz Rainbow from Longacre, Mia had some instruction and went on to target a 5lb 12oz Rainbow that was her personal best, season rod Andy Smith caught an 11lb 8oz Rainbow and stalking ace Richard Francis had a Rainbow of 13lb 8oz from Longacre. Peter Burgess landed a 13lb 12oz Rainbow, season rod Steve Bayliss targeted a 12lb 8oz Rainbow and expert fly fisher Charles Jardine stalked a 12lb12oz Rainbow while fishing for an article for Fly Fishing and Fly Tying Magazine. Fishery regular Nigel Kennard visited us a twice through September and had a personal best both trips with Rainbows of 13lb 2oz and then 13lb 6oz, season rod John pike stalked a 9b 6oz Rainbow and Erh-Hsuin had a personal best 10lb 6oz Rainbow. Fishery regular Nick Spring caught a 10lb 2oz Rainbow, Dave Norman landed had one of 11lb 2oz and Snowbee ambassador Aaron House had a cracking 13lb 7oz Rainbow. Lee Cook had a great brace with Rainbows of 8lb 10oz and 12lb 8oz, with the 8lb fish being tagged, which netted him £100 and Paul Dagger fished with us for the first time and caught a personal best 15lb 6oz Rainbow!

The successful flies have not changed that much with all the usual suspects taking fish regularly: blue flash damsels, stalking bugs, buzzers, sunk daddy’s, PTN’s and GRHE’s all producing. The occasional fish has been getting caught on brighter lures too. The best tactic was to try and watch your fly and strike as the fish took it as the takes were often very quick.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our Facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

July 2021

July was a month of two halves, with a heatwave through the first half of the month with temperatures over 30 degrees and then noticeably cooler and wetter weather in the later stages of the month. Fishing was not always easy as is usually the case in July but the heatwave certainly exacerbated this, however, plenty of fish were still caught. Generally smaller, imitative patterns scored better than larger patterns or lures. Dries fished particularly well, especially on Longacre Lake with sedge patterns being very successful. Stalking fish as usual accounted for the majority of the big fish caught but was also a great method for anglers wanting to get their bag limit. The fish were generally giving delicate takes, so being able to watch your fly and in turn the fish taking the fly would often put more fish on the bank than to those anglers casting, retrieving and waiting for the tug!

Hundreds of fish were caught through July and I have listed the big fish captures below.

Martin Hill had a beautifully conditioned 12lb 2oz Rainbow at the beginning of the month, Dylan had a 10lb 6oz Rainbow on his first visit to the fishery, regular Ian Langford caught a great 14lb Rainbow and Mark Roll had a 11lb 8oz Brown that had been in Alder Lake for a few months. Phillip Waters had a good day, taking a 13lb 6oz Rainbow that was also tagged, which netted him £100, Richard Francis had the biggest fish of the month with a 16lb Rainbow from Alder Lake, fishery regular Alan Drewitt caught a superb 9lb Sparctic from Pine Lake and James Sillars had a 13lb 13oz Rainbow. Season rod Paul Lambert had a personal best 15lb 4oz Rainbow, Andy Farmer had a superb 14lb 12oz Rainbow, Mr Watkins had one of 12lb and Jon Fuller caught a Brown of 6lb 8oz. Season rod John Pike stalked a 13lb 8oz Rainbow, Jeremy Halford did the same with a  13lb 2oz Rainbow and Season rod Ross Huey had one of exactly 13lb. Nick Spring targeted a 12lb Rainbow from Longacre Lake and the catch of the month has to go to Andy Banting on taking three doubles with fish of 12lb, 13lb and a new personal best of 13lb 5oz!

The choice of successful flies has not changed that much with blue flash damsels still doing the damage but there was a definite shift towards smaller flies with the onset of the hot weather, especially for those who were stalking. Dropping down to size 16-18 flies was often needed with stalking bugs, buzzers, sunk daddy’s, PTN’s and GRHE’s all producing regularly.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our Facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

June 2021

June has seen Summer well and truly take hold of the Fishery with temperatures regularly getting above 20 Degrees Celsius but we’ve also had a bit of rain, which always helps the lakes. As is usual this time of year the best fishing is often in the morning, especially on those hot, bright and sunny days. The afternoons can see some trout more inclined to lay up stationary and seem lethargic. A switch to smaller patterns of nymphs, buzzers or even dries can often tempt them. When I walk around the fishery most anglers are casting large flies and stripping them in and do so for the majority of the day, if it isn’t working change what you’re doing!

Despite the sometimes challenging conditions the majority of our anglers caught their bag limit and as usual plenty of big fish have been caught along with hundreds of fish in the 3-5lb range.

Dave Turner caught a superb 10lb 4oz Sparctic Trout , Russell Hayter smashed his pervious personal best of 6lb with a fantastic 14lb 6oz Rainbow from Bridge Lake, Chris Bowling had lovely ex brood fish of 10lb 8oz and fishery regular Tom Humby had a 12lb Rainbow. Season rod Richard Stevenson stalked a 9lb Rainbow, Mr Halford had one of 7lb and Aaron House had a brilliant day taking a 7lb 12oz Sparctic and 11lb 8oz Rainbow. Over a couple of visits season rod Martin Hill had Rainbows of 9lb, 12lb 8oz and 13lb 13oz, Rob Perry braced Rainbows of 12lb 2oz and 12lb 12oz and Baz Whitehead had a new personal best of 14lb 10oz. John Pike had a good brace of Rainbows of 9lb 14oz and 10lb 14oz, season rod Kelvin Hinton landed a lovely 12lb Rainbow, fly tying ace Martyn Williams had a 14lb 4oz Rainbow and Neil Perry had one of 14lb 14oz! Jez Langley and Clive Kennedy both had 12lb+ Rainbows. David King caught the 3rd biggest fish of the month with a 15lb 2oz Rainbow, Richard Francis stalked the second biggest with a 15lb 8oz Rainbow and Neil Mundy caught a colossal 22lb Rainbow, which he braced with a 14lb 1oz Rainbow.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

May 2021

May has been a month full of life at the Fishery, all the vegetation is lush and green, the yellow and purple Iris are in full bloom, there is abundant fly life and the chicks of various songbirds can be heard up in the trees. The trout are voracious at this time of year and can often be seen chasing the tadpoles or hitting in to the shoals of small roach fry. A good tactic is to strip back lures in the early part of the day before the sun gets too high in the sky, when a switch to smaller more imitative patterns will usually keep sport coming.

There have been literally thousands of fish caught through May with the fish averaging 3-4lb. Plenty of big fish have been caught also, which I’ve put below. At the beginning of the month Baz Whitehead had a brace of doubles weighing in at 10lb 10oz and 11lb 1oz, season rod Martin Hill caught a cracking Rainbow of 12lb 14oz, Paul Woodmore had a 12lb 2oz Rainbow and on his first visit to the fishery Stewart Keen had a lovely 11lb 6oz Rainbow. John Evans caught a 12lb 12oz Rainbow, Stevie Booth also visited us for the first time with a 12lb 1oz Rainbow, Dave box had a personal best 12lb 6oz Rainbow and Matt Pope also had a personal best of 14lb 4oz. Joe Quinlivan caught a beautifully marked over wintered Brown of 11lb from Alder Lake along with a 9lb 8oz Blue, fishery regular Alan Drewitt braced Rainbows of 10lb 2oz and 10lb 4oz, Callum Harbison had a cracking Brown on 9lb 8oz and Nick Spring also had a Brown of 10lb exactly. On his first visit to the fishery Tony Dixon caught a personal best Sparctic of 7lb 4oz, Neil Perry had a superb brace of Rainbows of 15lb 1oz and 13lb and Baz Whitehead had another brace with Rainbows of 12lb 10oz and a personal best 14lb 5oz. Season rod Chad travels all the way from Dover and on his most recent visit had a 13lb Rainbow, John Pike caught a 8lb Sparctic, Ray Froud had a 11lb 2oz Rainbow and Ryah Uhli had a superb trip, catching a personal best 14lb 2oz Rainbow that was also tagged and netted him £100! Robin O’Dell had a lovely 13lb 14oz Rainbow, Tony Edmunds bagged one of 14lb 8oz and Stewart Pope one of 14lb 10oz. Aaron House had a great first visit after a few months away with a Brace of Rainbows of 10lb 8oz and a personal best 14lb 9oz, on the same day Steve Perry braced Rainbows of 11lb and 14lb 10oz and Stewart Easey had a beautifully conditioned Rainbow of 12lb. Season rod Martin Hill had a personal best Sparctic of 9lb 8oz, Mr Morris caught a 12lb 8oz Rainbow and Niall Langford had a 13lb 6o Rainbow. Paul Rees caught a personal best 13lb 12oz Rainbow on his first visit to the fishery, Nick Spring had another good visit taking a Rainbow of 14lb and Neil Perry caught the second biggest fish of the month with a superb 17lb Rainbow. The highlight of the month was fishery regular Steve Perry catching not only a personal best but also a fishery record Rainbow, with an immense Rainbow of 23lb 9oz!

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

April 2021

Although we’re now in spring, you wouldn’t know it, from frosts we’ve had most mornings through April. It has its advantages though as it has kept the water temperatures down in the lakes and the fish have been fighting very hard. Looking at the trees you would be forgiven for thinking it was still winter but we’ve had a great display of snowdrops and daffodils and you can see the new leaves coming through on the trees. The marginal vegetation around the lakes has grown up a foot and I’m sure it won’t be too much longer until the first iris flowers start to appear. The colder spring has been noticeable in the lower number of fly life around but I’m sure this will change once the frosts stop and we get a few warm days in a row.

After being closed for three months due to covid it was great to reopen at the end of March and as you would expect for this time of year the fishing has been superb with nearly every day ticket angler catching their bag limit. We’ve been very busy with lots of new anglers along with all our regulars. All methods have been working with dries especially effective as the fish have been sat high in the water and stalking, as usual, has been very effective for targeting the bigger specimens.

The first day of opening after being closed for three months saw two fishery records broken. First up was a colossal 22lb 10oz Rainbow to Rob Perry, followed shortly after by his brother Steve with a superb 10lb 4oz Sparctic Trout. That same day saw Steve land two big Rainbows of 11lb 12oz and 12lb 15oz and Rob took another double Rainbow of 14lb 2oz! Ron Huey had a good couple of trips catching a Rainbow of 11lb 5oz and a personal best Sparctic of 9lb, Nigel Morden had a 13lb Rainbow on his first visit to the fishery and Mr Goring caught a 11lb 10oz Rainbow, season rod Norman Drake had an 8lb Rainbow, day rod Jim Rayner  had one of 8lb 12oz and season rod Des Smith had a lovely 8lb 8oz Brown. Phil Glasgow smashed his personal best of 9lb with a superb 13lb 13oz Rainbow, season rod David Phillips topped a 16 fish haul with a fin perfect 13lb 4o Rainbow and Baz was after his first ever double and caught two in one day with fish of 13lb 4oz and 13lb 14oz. Stalking expert Neil Perry landed three doubles with Rainbows of 13lb 6oz, 13lb 8oz and 14lb 8oz, Anthony Brettel had a fishery record Sparctic of 10lb 12oz along with a Rainbow of 12lb and Dave Woods caught a 9lb Sparctic. Andy Banting caught a 10lb Rainbow, season rod Eliot smashed his personal best with a 14lb 10oz Rainbow, Andy Longstaff had one of 13lb, Tony Roll one of 12lb 8oz and Rob Perry caught a 11lb 12oz Rainbow. Brian McIntyre topped his bag with a Rainbow of 9lb, Alan Drewitt had a personal best Sparctic, Tim Perry had a personal best Brown of 9lb 14oz, Steve Perry had a personal best 10lb 5oz Brown along with an 11lb 14oz Rainbow, season rod Nigel Kennard caught a 12lb 2oz Rainbow, Malcolm had one of 12lb 4oz and Dave Hivey had a personal best Sparctic of 7lb. Mark caught a 12lb 1oz Rainbow, Tim Perry caught two personal bests in a day with a 5lb 8oz Tiger and 9lb Sparctic, Jon Patten had superb 10lb 2 Sparctic and Steve Perry had a day he won’t forget when he landed a colossal 22lb Rainbow along with another of 13lb 10oz and a 9lb 4oz Brown. Young Xander had a lesson and caught a 12lb 3oz Rainbow, Nigel Kennard braced a 9lb 1oz Sparctic along with a 11lb 2oz Brown and Steve Dyball ended a 20 year quest to catch a double figure trout when he landed a superb 14lb 7oz Rainbow. Season rod Martin Hill had a 9lb Sparctic and a 12lb Rainbow, Neil Perry braced Rainbows of 11lb 12oz and 13lb 5oz and Ian Langford smashed the fishery record Sparctic Trout with a huge fish of 11lb 8oz. Nigel Kennard had another big Rainbow of 12lb 5oz, Mr Goring visited again and had another double of 12lb 8oz, Steve Perry visited again also and braced Rainbows of 10lb 4oz and 12lb 6oz, Stuart Bryce had a beautifully marked Brown of 7lb 4oz, Jerry Smith had a personal best 6lb 8oz Blue and season rod Sarah Hornby had a new personal best of 15lb! Matt Pope braced Rainbows of 9lb 4oz and a personal best of 13lb 15oz, Rares had a 7lb 8oz Brown, Iain Daniels caught a 14lb 8oz Rainbow and Martin Hill landed a 12lb 12oz Rainbow and a 6lb Brown. Regular Alan Drewitt caught a 14lb Rainbow, Graham Alcroft caught his first ever double with a superb 14lb 4oz Rainbow, that was also tagged, netting him £100, Edward caught his first double with a lovely 11lb Rainbow and Baz braced Rainbows of 10lb 10oz and 11lb 1oz. Martin Hill had another double of 12lb 14oz, Paul Woodmore caught one of 12lb 2oz and Stewart Keen had a great looking Rainbow of 11lb 6oz on his first trip to the fishery!

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

Fishery Closed January-March 2021 (Covid 19)

December 2020

December was a fairly mild month with plenty of rain, which brought the level up in our chalk stream along with the lakes. We also had a few frosts whihelped drop the water temperatures in the lakes. The fish were often found sitting high in the water with fish caught on dry fly a fairly common occurrence.

The cooler water temperatures meant the fish fought very hard through December with long fast runs often to the backing experienced by many anglers. It is also a great time of year to fish fry patterns with a fast erratic retrieve as the fish will be chasing down and devouring this year’s juvenile roach.

The sport has been excellent through December as is usual for this time of year with plenty of multiple captures. Lots of big fish have featured in the bags of our anglers and I’ve noted those below. The cooler weather has also switched the Browns on with plenty of smaller ones showing along with a few bigger fish.

Christian Grant landed 7 fish topped by a Rainbow of 11lb, Martin Hill is never far from a big fish and have a lovely Rainbow of 10lb 2oz, Brian Charlton landed a fin perferct bow of 13lb 2oz, Brian Roffey had one of 11lb 5oz and Jake Hanson caught one of 11lb 5oz on his first visit to the fishery. Rich Power had a cracking 10lb Brown Trout, Steve Perry had a good few visits with 4 double figure Rainbows between 10lb and 13lb, Mr Trim landed a personal best 12lb Rainbow and Jim Fulbrook one of 11lb 8oz. Season rod Michael Evans had a good day taking a Rainbow of 8lb and a Brown of 6lb, Andy Clark caught a 11lb 8oz Rainbow, Peter Jarvis was happy to slip his set under an 8lb Rainbow and only a few days later he went and caught a stunning 10lb 6oz Brown Trout. We also stocked Arctic Char and the first one caught was by Aaron House with a fine fish of 4lb 15oz, Sally Hill took a Rainbow of 10lb 12oz and a beautiful Brown of 9lb 8oz, not to be outdone her husband Martin went and caught a 11lb 14oz Brown. Joel Young caught a brace of Rainbows that weighed in at 10lb 12oz and 11lb 4oz, Steve Budden had a 11lb 4oz Rainbow and Tom Humby had a splendid Brown of 10lb 8oz. Reef Patten caught his first double figure Rainbow of 12lb 11oz and his dad Jon caught his first Rockbourne double with a fantastic 14lb 7oz Ranibow and Rob Perry had a 13lb 4oz Rainbow. The three biggest fish of the month were Rainbows of 15lb to Ian Langford, 15lb 2oz to Ben and a huge 16lb 8oz to regular Alan, which took 15 minutes to land!

Successful flies have been brighter lures such as cats whiskers, appetisers, fritz and blobs but as usual lots of fish are still getting caught on blue flash damsels. Some days when the fish have been trickier to tempt and are shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well and stalking is still productive due to the fish still sitting high in the water.

 That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our Facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery

November 2020

We had a bit of everything this month – torrential rain, wind, warm sunny days and cold frosty days! Changeable weather can sometimes make fishing tricky as the fish don’t seem to be as active as when we have prolonged periods of settled weather. Having said that plenty of fish were caught but they were tricky to tempt on some days. It’s been another excellent month for big fish, so we’ve seen lots of happy anglers and we’ve also stocked some specimen Browns, which have also started to get caught. The water temperatures have cooled significantly and the fish are fighting very hard indeed. We managed to get some of the big double figure Rainbows on film and some of these have been fighting very hard, which is great to see as anglers often remark how big fish don’t fight!

Nearly all the leaves have fallen from the trees and most of the bankside vegetation has died back and we will start the winter cut back in December to keep the fishery looking in great shape until the new growth comes through in the spring.,

I’ve listed below some of the notable captures through November.

Steve Perry has featured heavily in this months captures of big fish and he has really worked out how to target them. He’s caught 8 doubles this month, including Rockbournes biggest ever brace with fish of 17lb and 19lb 12oz, another day when he had three fish of 14lb, 15lb 12oz and 12lb 15oz, a session when he braced Rainbows of 12lb 8oz and 13lb 2oz plus another trip with a 14lb 10oz fish and a 9lb 8oz fish!

Kieran caught a Rainbow of 10lb, Adrian Kruger had a Brown of 7lb, new season rod John Green had a12lb 4oz Rainbow and Danny Titchener also had a 7lb Brown. Martin Hill lost a very big Brown and on his next trip he fished in the same area with the same tactics and had Brown of 10lb 2oz, he shared how he had been fishing with Joan Brock and she went on to catch a Brown of 11lb 8oz! Tobias Hall caught a cock Rainbow of 12lb 7oz, Arthur Perrett braced a 8lb 12oz Brown with a 9lb 12oz Rainbow, Sally Hill had a superb 11lb 8oz Brown and Aaron House caught a fin perfect 12lb 6oz Rainbow. Young Jayden had a lovely 8lb 8oz Brown, Mike had a 10lb 8oz Rainbow, Neil Mundy caught a fantastic 14lb Rainbow and Nick Spring landed a stunning 11lb Brown. Rob Perry caught a personal best 15lb 12oz Rainbow, which he hooked while I was filming his brother Steve fighting his 19lb 12oz Rainbow (film on our facebook page), season rod Paul Skelton had a beautifully conditioned Rainbow of 14lb from Longacre and Michael Recorle had a 13lb 7oz Rainbow. Paul Lambert smashed his personal best of 7lb with a superb fish of 14lb 8oz, Jon Fuller landed a 15lb Rainbow and David King caught a 13lb 7oz Rainbow that was also tagged, which netted him £100!,

                                
The fish are really starting to favour brighter lures with cats whiskers, appetisers, fritz and blobs doing particularly well but lots of fish are still getting caught on blue flash damsels. When the fish have been trickier to tempt and are shying away from lures, smaller bugs and buzzers have done well, especially ‘when all else fails’. Also many of the fish are sitting high in the water and bushy dries such as sedge’s have taken fish while nymphs and lures stripped through the same fish have been ignored.

That’s all for this month but keep an eye on our facebook page for up to date catches and information about the Fishery.

October 2020

Following the continuing theme for the year October was fairly mild but we did have some rain, which really helped the water levels and freshened up the lakes. There were still plenty of damsel and dragon flies about and as usual damsel patterns took plenty of fish. On the whole the fishing has been very consistent with plenty of fish caught but it was obvious the fish were not in a chasing mood and often the bigger fish or larger bags came to the anglers that were adept at watch the fish take their fly. Usually as we come into November the fish become increasingly active and chase with gusto, so let’s hope this is the case. The majority of the fish were sat in the upper layers of the water column, which provided good sport for dry fly anglers and the anglers that like to target/stalk fish.

There have been so many big fish caught in October, I think it will be easier to list them below. Highlights had to be the three new fishery records. A colossal 20lb 2oz Rainbow to Chris Bowling, a very large Golden Rainbow of 18lb 2oz to Helen Gunter, caught on a cane rod and beautiful Spractic to David King that weighed in at 10lb 2oz!