Yesterday I trod upon the hallowed banks of the Test for the very first time. I was fishing at Leckford and we had been allocated beat 14 for the day - a double bank beat of about 500 yards plus a tiny carrier. To be honest my first reaction on seeing the water was that it wasn’t running very clear. And yes I know it has been raining rather a lot recently. My second reaction was where are the waving fronds of ranunculus? Frankly it looked a rather barren stretch of water. I was surprised at how wide the river was and frankly I was rather screwed in the tackle department. It was 9’ 6 weight conditions and I had my usual river outfit – a 7’6” 4 weight.

The weather was pretty **** as well. A persistent, cold downstream wind blowed all day. It was cold and it rained on several occasions throughout the day. Unsurprisingly there was not a massive hatch of Mayfly and the fish had to be hunted for. I ended the day with a couple of brownies and a brace of grayling one of which was a couple of pounds – a personal best for me. I also missed an awful lot of rises and dropped a few fish. One of which was going away from me with the drag screaming. This seems to be becoming a habit for me, although on this occasion I don’t think that the short rod helped much. The policy was to kill all fish over 12”. I am afraid that I was rather clumsy and lost all of my fish at the net.

So in conclusion I had an interesting day. I am glad that I have fished the Test and caught. But I won’t be rushing back.

Oops

Ben, thanks for a really honest post. It sounds to me like you have more fun on your home river, the Whitewater. As you say though - nice to say/know that you've been there & done it.

__________________
"A homeward tramp thro' mist wrapped night,
With heart and creel in common light,
Complete content, the day has brought it,
They fished for pleasure - and they caught it"

P F Morgan
taken from the catch record book at Llanthony Hotel, Honddu Valley, Aug 1942

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Is this a theme this year? I have fished the Wylye a few times and it was slightly more muddy than I had imagined. It also had very little weed. I was expecting a bubbling, crystal clear stream full of ranunculus etc. I have read similar on here regarding some other stretches. Maybe it is the low water flows?

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I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
I cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream,
And caught a little silver trout.

I haven't fished the chalk streams yet this year but from previous visits I remember that it very much depends on which beat you are on. Some beats are devoid of weed whilst others are well weeded and are just as you would expect them to be. This is certainly true of the Test, Itchen, Dever, Anton, Kennet and Wylye.

I was roe stalking near Winchester last year and was on an island between two carriers of the Itchen. There was hardly a scrap of weed to be seen (but there were some fish) whereas when I stuck my head over a bridge only a mile upstream there were gorgeous waving beds of ranunclulus with loads of olives tripping off and stacks of browns knoocking them off. Mouthwatering!!

Poast swan get jamie O and Gordon R to recomend it and we will get the weed back .
ithink they are probably for the chalk streams as big a menace as cornarants .
yesterday Kennet and its carriers were carrying a touch of colour ,not suprised after the rain we have had ,still great to see the trout happy to grab the may fly .
The mayfly the biggest flys in my trout box !!!¬

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Andy Wren
Winter grayling taking a year off !
Claret not just a great dubbing colour!

A number of the chalkstreams are suffering from algae, this is due to the lack of flow (I am told by those who know). The lack of ranunculus is put down to the algae and ribbon weed that has developed with the low levels and the cold spring.
I have found that this year the Avon, Test, Itchen, Wylie, Dever and Kennet have been in the same situation.

The rains will of course colour the water too, particularly on some rivers.

Don't take this as a normal chalkstream period or in fact year.

If you would like any info in future please free to PM me.

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Tight Lines,

Dominic.
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Thanks Dominic - may well take you up on that offer!

I think the problem is a serious one and not one that just depends on which beats you are fishing. Yesterday I spoke to a few anglers who had fished the Wylye for many decades. They remember years of thick ranunculus on the beats that we were fishing - "you could walk across the river on top of it" and good levels of crystal clear water..

Now there is no weed to speak of and water levels are 4-6 inches below what they were. All were very pessimistic about the future of the Wylye, saying that even if weather patterns reversed from the record drought winters, the continuation of excessive extraction of water by all and sundry would perpetuate the decline of the river. To me that seems incomprehensible.

Sorry to hear you had a poor day Ben. But chear up mate, next weekend we're all probably going to have some fun on the Meon or Avon!

Bri

alot of the Wylye has suffered by large groups of immature swans (wearing hoodies and replete with asbo's no doubt) over grazing the ranunclus. In normal flow years they only graze the tops but in low flow they are grazing right to the root ball and uprooting the plants.

The abstraction of the Wylye has been reduced somewhat thanks mostly to the lobbying of the wiltshire fisheries association but that has to my mind simply shifted the problem onto other waters... It's still having too much water removed though. there needs to be some kind of fluctuation to abstraction licenses depending on the amount of water flowing in the river

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