Does anyone have any information about conditions on the Lower Itchen? I'm hoping to get down there for a spot of Grayling fishing over the next couple of weeks.

Regards,

Adrian.

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The truth is that if it were not for anglers the majority of our streams and rivers would be largely lifeless. A rather more uncomfortable truth is that, as anglers, most of us are far less active than we should be in fulfilling our responsibilities to help protect the rivers we fish
Peter Lapsley
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Monnow Fisheries Association
Riffles and Runs
Charfield AA

I know the Gator Mill swim, I have fished it in the past, there is also some free fishing down river from there, it runs through a sort of park but it's not much cop, a lot of chub and bream, a local fishing there one day told me there's only been one grayling taken along there to his knowledge and he's been fishing it for the past 20 odd years. I have just spent 3 weeks down at my sons in Fareham and from one of his mates I discovered a lovely stretch of the Itchin, free fishing, and it's good, by the time I found it I only had a day left to fish, and that was reduced to 2 hours because of the weather, but I had a couple of nice grayling and a brownie, It's at bishopstoke near Eastleigh, if you go to Eastleigh rugby club in Bishoptoke, post code SO50 6LA, in case you have a Tom Tom navigator, park in the club car park, go through the gate by the river, walk up stream through the trees for about 100 yds, you them come out of the trees and you can fish from the bank quite easily for a couple of hundred yds.I have put up photographs of this stretch on recent posts
Cheers Pete


There is quite a bit concerning the Itchin on recent posts, The Gator Mill fisheries is an excellent spot, I believe it's 22 quid a day now, let me know how you get on

SORRY Adrian!!! you ask for conditions, not locations!!, can't help you there

I was on the free stretch mentioned at Bishopstoke today for a pair of hours, without a touch - apart from a single minnow on a size 14 hares ear goldhead. The river was just about within the banks, a dirty chocolate colour, wiht loads of leaves and debris coming down. Don't know how quickly it fines down, but I'd leave it alone for at least the next day or two.

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Navybloke

It's the time of the year, a couple of weeks ago it was great, gin clear, apart from me getting rained off I had a most enjoyable two hours, two Grayling!!!

Grayling, how did you get on in Winchester? Did you fish it in the end? I forgot to inform you of the Bishopstoke stretch. It can be tricky at times, as navy bloke found out!! Glad you had a good time though.

And the stretch from Gaters Mill (entrance to Lower Itchen Fishery) down to Woodmill can be very patchy. I have had one grayling from the Gaters Mill end in 10 years, so not a bad average!!! If you ever get down there again, park by the Swan pub, walk upstream until you get to the end of the footpath and near the entrance to the Mill. If you climb over the crash barrier just to your left, you can then fish in relatively unfished water, and out of the way from, “caught ne fink mate” kids!

And Lower Itchen Fishery Splash, try here http://www.itchen-fishing.net/

Its £30 a day for grayling. Although I have never fished it my fellow club members have. Reports from them say it was full of rubbish at one point, the noise of the M27, the airport and general appearance was not a scratch on Lord Camden’s Wherwell stretch. Same price BTW!

With the rain, would have thought the river may be full.

Sorry just looked on the Lower Itchen site, its gone up to £33 a day, £35 next year! Splash, fish Wherwell......!

PPS...! Another thing, Itchen allows coarse fishing, so my fellow club members also commented that due to anglers loose feeding maggots and the like, the fish can get pre-occupied with groundbaiters. Splash, again.....fish Wherwell...!

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Born to fish - forced to work

http://www.2minutes.org.uk/

Hi Howard, I have to agree with everything you have said, the free fishing below Gators Mill was a waste of time, the bit you have suggested through the barrier near the mill sounds interesting, I'll be in the area again in February so I'll give it a go, I thought the Bishopstoke stretch was great, very isolated, not much traffic, I enjoyed my two hours there, had two decent Grayling, not monsters but they fought well, I will definately be back there, as for Winchester, too many people walking their dogs, and kids running about, of course it's ideal territory for that sort of thing, so I decided to leave it to them, the lower Itchin fishery is very expensive for what you get, but there are usually a lot fishing it, the noise of all the road traffic etc; it's not my ideal venue, while I was down there I had a drive up to Romsey, just north of Romsey on the Stockbridge road, there's a fishery there on the Test, that was nice, I'll be going back there, can't remember the name of it, there's a bridge over the Test and just past that the fishery is on the left, Navybloke picked a bad day to go to Bishopstoke, there has been a lot of rain in the Itchen valley of late, he was probably on a (make and mend) so he wouldn't have much choice!!!
Cheers Pete

Wow! Glad I asked & didn't just go down there on spec. Many thanks for all of your feedback chaps.

__________________
The truth is that if it were not for anglers the majority of our streams and rivers would be largely lifeless. A rather more uncomfortable truth is that, as anglers, most of us are far less active than we should be in fulfilling our responsibilities to help protect the rivers we fish
Peter Lapsley
---------------------
Monnow Fisheries Association
Riffles and Runs
Charfield AA