Hi all, here’s my review for Meon Springs Trout fishery near Petersfield, Hampshire.

My mate Mick and I visited Meon Springs Saturday 3rd January on a very cold and frosty day. The weather forecast for the previous night was minus 3degrees but I had phoned ahead on Friday and was assured that the lakes at Meon never freeze up. I asked why and was told that the spring for the River Meon was not very far away and because of that, the water temperature rarely falls below 6 degrees.

We arrived just after 8am and we were relieved to find the fishery ice free as promised. After an informative chat with the manager, Jamie, we tackled up in the nice warm lodge with a hot cup of coffee (incidentally, tea and coffee are free all day) and set off for our day’s fishing.

Meon Springs is comprised of two lakes, called Whitewool and Coombe, which are both catch and keep and a section of the Meon river which is solely catch and release. The lakes and river are stocked with rainbow and brown trout but all browns are catch and release. They also stock fish into double figures. When you arrive at Meon Springs Whitewool Lake is in front of the lodge and Coombe Lake is to the left, above the stocking ponds. The river first flows into Coombe Lake, through the stock ponds, into Whitewool Lake and then down into Meon Beat. The Beat is man made, the first part has been widened into a small pond and then over a small cascade into a stretch, which resembles a river. It’s about 15-20 foot wide with the deepest section at the far end.

We headed down to Whitewool lake and fished between the two large oak trees which overhang the far bank and where Jamie gave us good insight into where the fish might be, he wasn’t wrong! There were plenty of fish moving and rising throughout the whole of Whitewool lake but the majority seemed to be where Jamie had told us as that is the deepest part of the lake.
We both had floating lines on with Diawl Bach flies and it wasn’t long before Mick had his first on the bank, a lovely 2lb rainbow which put up a healthy fight. I missed a couple of takes but soon I had my first on the bank which was the same size as Mick’s fish. I tried a variety of flies, all of which were imitative patterns as I didn’t want to haul lures through all day. My second fish, a beautiful 5lb rainbow, fell to a Montana nymph fished slow and deep in the far end of the lake. Mick also had a second rainbow to about 2lb. We then decided to have a break and headed down to the Meon Beat which is catch and release.
The Meon Beat continues downstream from Whitewool Lake. There is a small waterfall which flows into a widened section of the river. We fished here and both had a couple of small rainbows and missed a few lightening quick takes. I had a couple of takes from the surface on a small brown parachute fly. We also moved further downstream to the far end of the Meon Beat, which is the deepest part. We had a couple of small browns each there but as the beat is fairly narrow here, we moved on as we had probably spooked the fish.

We finished our day at dusk, by then my fingers were numb and the eyes on my rod were freezing up quite badly and I was missing lots of takes! We headed back to the lodge to warm up again and to settle up with Jamie. A really good policy that Meon has is that when you arrive, you just sign in and start fishing. Then when you leave, you pay for the amount of fish you have caught. The minimum fish ticket costs £28.00 which includes catch and release but if you don’t catch your two fish, they give you a voucher for next time.

We would certainly return especially in the spring when it’s warmer! I also want to return to fish Coombe Lake as we never got to fishit. Jamie told us that although the lakes were clear when we were there, when the sun gets up higher, the lakes are a great stalking venue.

I hope you like my first review! I have posted photographs in the photo gallery, here’s the link:

http://www.flyforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=32672


Regards
FbS.

Great Post, and Fantastic Photo's.
Thanx for sharing

Joe

Great Review.

Looking for a trip some where new next week could this be the place.

__________________
Jim

My only worry is that when I die,my wife sells my fishing gear, for what I said I paid for it

Nigel
took a look at the pics,it looks very nice
venue for a meet

Agreed Chub1, great venue for the next meet! It's about 15-20 mins from junction 9 M3. They don't do breakfast like Woodington did for us but we could all meet up at the Winchester services at a given time, have breakfast there? I did notice a road side cafe near to Meon but it was closed when we went past.

If we leave it until later in the year, perhaps we could do a joint visit with say Meon in the morning followed by Moorhen in the afternoon?

FbS

Nice post, fished Meon last spring and liked it. Water is very clear so stalking a possibility, plus they're were taking off the top.

Fbs a good and really accurate review. I'm lucky to live close by so fish Meon Sprngs regularly. Can't recommend it highly enough, and glad you had a good day.

Really great in Spring, but I'm going with a mate tomorrow and am really looking forward to it.

If you come down again PM me if you'd like to meet up

Thanks for your comments, glad you, and hopefully everyone, liked my review. First time trying!

I will PM you next we come down. I think it Meon might be a FlyFishingForum's next Southern meet. Hopefully in the spring that might be on the Events page, but if not, I will certainly give Meon another visit and let you know!

Did you go today? If so, let us know how you got on!

FbS

Well, I went with a friend on Sunday to Meon Springs. It was sunny early on with a building breeze, and was significantly warmer afret recent overnight temperatures that have got as low as -9C.

Using flies tied ourselves, we had an absolutely storming day. We hooked in the region of 18 fish, unbelievably lost 10 (a combination of most jumping off, a couple of poor knots and a couple of snapped leaders), but took home 8. We simply could not fail. Using a black montana nymph with a maribou tail, and my friend with an un-named obnoxious-looking hairy creation, they went crazy. I switched to a bloodworm part way through and caught on that too.

They were sytacked up at the top of whitewool lake for a while (the pic of the jumping trout in FBS post) and it seemed every cast resulted in a fish.

It seemed as if the Fishing Gods were smiling on us that day; I don't think anyone else had the luck we did. It was truly extraordinary. Great day and sated my desire to catch fish well and truly while the rivers are closed.

Sounds like you had a cracking day! What size were the fish? When we went, it seemed that everyone was catching in the 2lb region. Would like to see your hand tied fly, could you post a pic sometime!?