Where to Fish - England - H

Hampshire | Hertfordshire

Hampshire

Amport Trout Fishery off the A303 near Arundel. A new fishery of about 1.25 acres stocked with rainbows minimum size 2.5lbs. Tickets cost £30 for 4 fish and £20 of an evening for 2 fish, call 07775 953273

Avington, created in the 1960 by Sam Holland Avington pioneered the big fish fishery. Totalling 9 acres over 3 lakes this fishery with gin clear water offers exciting stalking for big rainbows and browns and challenging catch and return on a carrier stream of the Itchen, the record rainbow for the fishery is 28lbs taken in 2000. Permits cost £60 for 4 fish. Call 01962 779312

Chiphall Lake Trout Fishery near Wickham is a single lake of about a couple of acres of stream fed gin clear water from the river Meon. Stocked with rainbows and brown trout (rainbow record 18lb 13oz, brown trout record 9lbs 2ozs) with goldens and blues on catch and release. £40 for 4 fish, call 01329 833295

Dever Springs, two spring fed lakes totalling 6.5 acres (one of which is really just a very large pond) plus half a mile of catch and release fishing on the river Dever. My first sight of Dever was of a man leaving the small lake labouring down the approach road with a double figure fish over his shoulders which set my expectations for the day, I was not disappointed. Stocked with fish of 3 to 5lbs daily this fishery returns many fish in the twenty pound plus range holding the British record for rainbow trout at 36lbs 14ozs and the brown trout record at 28lbs 2ozs (Loch Awe has off course superseded this with its 30lb plus wild brownies). £65 for 4 fish, call 01264 720592

Five Oaks Trout Lake and Lodge near Southampton. A two acres lake up to 25ft deep stocked with rainbow ranging from 2.5 to 12 lbs with brown trout on catch and release. Disabled access. Call 01489 577379

Holbury Lake Trout Fishery, near Romsey. Beautiful looking fishery set in woodland offering sanctuary to wildlife and angler alike. 4 lakes totalling 7.5 acres (The Pond, Island Lake, Long Lake and Willow Lake) plus 1000 yards of the river Dun available. The the lakes are stocked with rainbows, blues and brown trout while the river is stocked only with browns. Fishing varies from easy on the Pond to testing on the river and Willow lake. Several permit options from £25 for 6hrs, 2 fish up to £850 for a season fishing 26 days, 4 fish per day. Call 01794 341619 or mob. 07817252441. For more information visit www.holburylakes.co.uk

Leominstead Trout Fishery, a 4 acre stream fed fishery stocked daily with rainbows, browns, tiger and brook trout. Fishery record rainbow 19lbs 1oz, call 01703 282619

Meon Springs Fly Fishery two lakes and a stretch of the upper Meon (catch and release) offering fishing for rainbow trout and brown trout of 2 - 5lbs with some doubles stocked to spice things up. Call 07766 525840

Rockbourne Trout Fishery, 6 spring fed lakes of about an acre each, £48 per day for 5 fish. call 01725 518603

Woodington Fishery, near Romsey. 4 lakes the original lake, Top Lake plus Kingfisher, Shearwater and the most recently built lake stocked with 4lb to double figure fish Leat Lake plus 1600 yards of fishing on the Blackwater tributary of the river Test. Stocked mostly with rainbows. Fishing on the Blackwater is for wild browns, grayling and sea trout. Permits range from Gold at £40 for 8hrs, 2 fish which includes Leat lake, £25 for 2 fish excluding Leat and £20 for 8 hours catch and release excluding Leat Lake. Call 01794 324485 or 0781 6187648

Rivers

River Itchen

Lower Itchen Fishery, Gatters Mill just 5 miles off the M27 at junction 5. Salmon, trout, grayling and course fishing available. Fishery record for salmon is an impressive 48 lbs taken in 1958. For conservation reasons catch and release for salmon is mandatory up to the 16th of June. There are trout beats with brown trout averaging 2lbs, classic Hampshire chalk stream fishing, totally yummy! Grayling fishing is available over the winter with many fish in the two pounds plus range. Just to top things off there is winter course fishing for roach, chub, barbel and bream. There are a number of permit options including days, weeks and season, trout £120 to £135 per day: salmon £65 to £80 per day; grayling £35 per day: sea trout night fishing £30; Course fishing £18 per day. Call 023 8081 4389 or 07885 175540

Winchester City Council have a stretch of the river between the two city centre weirs which is free to fish, call 01962 840222

River Test

Rising in the Upper Chalk by the village of Ashe the test flows some 40 miles to the sea at Southampton Water through rich water meadows and flood plains. The chalky soils of Hampshire ensure that the water is not only fertile it is gin clear making stalking fish a truly exciting experience. The Test is joined by a number of good fishing rivers, the Bourne Rivulet, Dever, Anton, Wallop Brook, Sombourne Stream, Dun and Blackwater. Famed for its wild brown trout fishing the Test holds a good stock of rainbows as well as salmon, sea trout, grayling and many species of course fish. Although salmon and sea trout fishing on the Test has been in serious decline it does hold the record for the UK record sea trout which stands at 28lb 5ozs, caught at Calshot Spit by J Farrent in 1998. Fishing the Test is a dream for most of us as it is either impossible to get on or just too darned expensive for a day

Broadlands Estate offers fishing for salmon, sea trout and brown trout on the Test and brown trout on a carrier. Call 07973 523358

Fishing Breaks have fishing on a number of beats on the river Test, Dun, Wallop Brook and Itchen and there is a host of information on their web site www.fishingbreaks.co.uk or call them on 01264 782590. You can expect to pay from £125 to over £300 for the Test, £180 to £230 for the Dun and £65 to £85 for Wallop Brooks and the Greyhound carrier, the higher prices are for the Mayfly season

Famous Fishing have access to a number of beats on the Test for individuals an for groups, call 01722 716210 for prices and availability

Houghton Lodge are offering day ticket fishing on their famous water, call 01749 850086 for availability and prices

Kimbridge, Ovris have a beat available for day bookings at Kimbridge where they offer fishing on 0.75 miles of the river consisting of a streamy top pool flowed by medium flow water with some good shallows. The price for 3 rods is £470 without a ghillie and £540 with a ghillie, there is an additional charge from 15th May to the 7th of June during the Mayfly season. Call Judith Thornton on 01264 349519. They have an other beat at Timsbury 5 which costs £40 less

The Rod Box in Winchester have a good portfolio of beats on the Test and Itchen available for day ticket bookings. Call 01962 883600 for prices and availability

Hertfordshire

Rib Valley Lakes near Ware, fishing on 2 lakes, Rib Valley is 13 acres and stocked with rainbows, brown trout and tiger trout ranging from 2.5lbs to 15lbs while Millenium Lake is 4.5 acres and is stocked with fish starting at 4lbs. Call 10920 484913