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River Test

Steve Reed

Steve Reed

Senior Member
My wife's sister's husband's brother has a day a week on the Test at Timsbury. The heavy hints I have been dropping have finally borne fruit and I have been offered a day in June with a beat to myself for the whole day :). Whilst I am a confident and sometimes effective fluff chucker I have never fished a chalk stream. Any advice on how I avoid making a fool of myself on the hallowed banks?

Steve
 
Steve

I could give you chapter and 134 verses or so on chalkstream trout, but simply can't bring myself to, as I might lose the will to live.

Suggest (it will be an interesting experience for you, if nowt else) that you swing into Sportfish at Theale, Reading. Wall-to-wall "experts" (assistants) at the very well stocked, lakeside establishment who will advise. The firm has an extensive website - easily Googled. Tip: Take some smelling salts, as the price of fly rods and reels will floor you.

PS - one question you will need to ask the man giving you the day at Timsbury: "Will the Mayfly have finished for the year on the day we're fishing?"

If it has, then you will be fishing the "small fly" - small dry flies (though probably not nymphs, as these are not permitted until July 1st on top chalkstream fisheries, though Timsbury might permit their use before this date).
 
Sure Timsbury allow upstream nymphing? There,s some lovely deep pools there, ideal for czech nymphing, just check the rules and makesure you take some really heavy , small nymphs, the dry,s will probably not be needed until late on!
peter
 
Thanks for the advice. I am quite local to sportfish and have found the guys there very helpful. I called in before a recent trip to Cuba for advice on bonefishing. You are not wrong about the price of the gear they recommend Paul. To be fair they suggested some sensible adaptations to my existing reservoir set up but said I should call back with a wallet full of cash when I planned the the inevitable follow up expeditions. The price of the 'budget' rod + reel for SWFF made my eyes water. I will certainly try and find out what is happening re mayfly hatches etc before I go. Might be just a little bit too late.

Steve
 
Nymphing.

The distinction I was making, Peter, was that on some chalkstream beats, even now, upstream nymphing (with small nymphs only, no ruddy great beadheads or longshank Mayfly nymphs) is only permitted after the Mayfly has finished (say, a nominal end June). On one top Test fishery and one top Itchen fishery that I fished a lot at one time, nymphs were not permitted at all - strictly "Dry Fly Only". This made for very interesting, sometimes extremely difficult fishing, but I wouldn't have had it any different, nor would the other few rods fishing those waters: we weren't fishing for bangs-for-our-buck daily limits.
 
Steve, I would suggest you try and read Keeper of the Stream by Frank Sawyer, and Nymph Fishing in Practice by Major Oliver Kite. You will find all aspects of chalk stream fishing both dry fly and upstream nymphing with in those pages, and they are a good read as well.
I have fished the Test several times at Chilbolton and it was briliant to see what Sawyer, and Kite were talking about actually hapen, the greased leader stop or just sink a little bit quicker, strike and feel solid resistance. Apply the induced take and see that trout react and open its mouth.
Enjoy your day

ATB
Colin
 
Good call, Colin. Definitely the classic Sawyer book (Kite was also good, but merely rather borrowed from the great man). I was fortunate enough as a 12-year-old to have been taken to Netheravon, Sawyer's home village, to meet him and to spend an afternoon and early evening with him being shown the elements of nymphing. Sawyer had astonishing eyesight - he could spot fish (okay, he knew his waters and knew where to look, but...) in very difficult light and without the aid of Polaroids.


PS - the must-read Sawyer title is Nymphs and The Trout (1958, I think - many reprints)

sawyer2.jpg
 
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Paul, years ago, no, many years ago Oliver Kite had a series on Southern TV called Kites Country, which frequently had film of him with his bare hook nymph, and Imperial. Kite also never used Polaroides, because he said if he ever lost them his untrained eyes would not be able to see through the water.
As a boy I always wanted to be a river keeper like Frank Sawyer as at the time I thought it was the best job in the world, actually It probably is the best job in the world!
 
Article about the Test in the Telegraph. All is not well seems to be its message, with even the Mayfly no longer appearing in improbable numbers and the trout committing harikari for them (yet anyone who has read J.W. Hills's A Summer on The Test and A History of Fly Fishing For Trout - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_History_of_Fly_Fishing_for_Trout (plus some of Skues's works), will be aware that Mayfly population crashes have happened since time immemorial, that the top-hatted Gents who fished the river back in the early to mid 19th Century moaned loud and long about their lack, predicting the end of fishing as they knew it ... they also moaned about a lack of wind, for in those pre-tapered-silk-flyline days, they dapped their flies). Much truth, though, about the river not being the clear-water stream of old - it really was gin-clear for many months of the year, not now.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/ou.../Testing-times-for-the-fly-fishing-world.html
 
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Paul, a very sad demise of yet another river, albeit a slower decline than seen on many others but then its never really been a truly wild natural riverine, rather a manicured mollycoddled fishery.

The perpetual issue of phosphates no doubt leading to a diatom bloom. Ask an EA specialist in this field and the anglers memories of translucent water will be viewed as an anecdotal misconception with the algae blooms being a perenial problem that us deluded anglers just never saw before, aggravated by poor rainfall (not abstraction!).

Best to stay upbeat though, the Test might start seeing a resurgence in indigenous coarse fish numbers that have historically always been stifled by the game keepers priest....
 
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No shortage of coarse fish on show yesterday, loads of chub, some roach,grayling and a few decent pike, the keeper saw a possible double figure barbel swimming with a ghostie, even a salmon, seen but refused every type of fly and lure I threw at it,Doh!!!
The water is clearing, by no means gin -like, but better, weed is growing fast.
peter
 
When I last fished a lower Test fishery a few years ago, I found and fished for a pod of, er, several good-ish bream - 6-pounder on a small Hare's Ear nymph, thank you very much; got to keep your eye in!
 
Seen on my travels, a short clip of Mayfly fishing at Broadlands -

http://vimeo.com/24351686

Bit out of my financial league this sort of stuff now (and, besides, I've "done" more than anyone's fair share of chalkstream fishing in the days of much quieter rivers and in the company of some lovely people), though watching several 3- to 5-pound chub cloop Mayfly down on my local river for free recently has been fun. There were even some little roach and dace nibbling at the hulls of these schooners under full sail, and as for the dart-about baby ducks, well, they'd put a smile on anyone's face.
 
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Had my trip to the Test yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed my first taste of chalkstream fishing. I left my tandem lures at home and did my best with the upstream dry fly. A cold wind made presentation difficult and meant that fish kept their heads down for most of the day. I persevered and eventually got my sedge imitation to land in the right spot and a nice brownie obliged. A light hatch in the evening prompted some more surface fun and I went home a happy bunny. My clapped out Ford looked a little out of place in the car park and I saw a guy arrive further down the river in his own private helicopter. I hope to return one day (if invited) but barbel on the Loddon and Kennet will do for me in the meantime.

Steve
 
Today the river was a weed ridden mare, heavy rain cut visibility, not much fun, but midday a 4lb brownie, next cast 12lb 8oz salmon, a further 5 trout to around 5lb, and a couple of pesky eels, not so bad. Found out my waterproof coat doesn,t work in torrential downpours, used to, time to go shopping!
peter
 
The Test is now showing some good form, salmon showing in decent numbers, hooked 10 fish in my last two days, landed 8, one grilse, the others all between 10-12.5lb. Numerous eels, chub and trout,maybe a shadow of years gone by, but a definate improvement, having such a good time, the barbel haven,t had a looking yet, but its not often sport of this calibre is available, its such absorbing fishing, total concentration, observation, pure hunting, love every minute of it, the wild enviroment and abundant wildlife on display just add to the pure pleasure of being there, happy bunny or what!
peter
 
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