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- Simon Cooper, Fishing Breaks
England, Whitchurch, Hampshire - Condition of Equipment:
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Fishing and seeing the fabled waters of the River Test this pre-eminent chalk stream written about and made famous by F. Halford and others, and stated to be the origin site of modern dry fly fishing.
We needed to be in England for a family members wedding, and I saw this opportunity to fish this water. I knew it would be very brief visit since this was not a fishing holiday. As it was I fished mid-day for only about 3-4 hours. The better fishing time, at this time of year, would have been towards sunset but that didnt work out with our wedding schedule. There was no hatch at the time I fished, and since the strategy of this fishing is only up stream, dry fly presentation to rising fish my success potential was some what limited from the start. At this time of year there is no nymph or streamer fishing, in September (I believe) it is open to other fishing strategies. My catch was a few fish in the 10-12 inch range. I saw many larger browns in this crystal clear water exceeding 20 inches the fish were not hard to spot and were not put off by my wading, but were not actively feeding at that time. My beat was the only one offered on this stretch of this 39 mile long river that one could wade. The wading was easy, firm river bed, plenty of room for back casting for 30 foot casts I never got wet even though I was using thigh high waders. Plenty of sighted fish of all sizes, beautiful scenery resulted in a most enjoyable experience. I very much look forward to going back, and this time for a full day. - Would you recommend this trip to a friend?:
Yes