Fly fishing on the River Test

Fly fishing is one of those mystical sports where to the unguided eye, seems bizarre and is astonishing that such a technique actually works. What is with the throwing of a lasso like line continuously at a river with what seems to be just a ball of fluff at the end of line? How can it possibly work?

I gained an insight on fly fishing by watching a documentary series, A River Somewhere, where two Australian comedians travel around the world fly fishing. It was more of a travel show with just a little bit of fishing in between, but has opened up a whole new aspect of fishing for me.

Having moved to London and not having done much serious fishing for a few years now, I thought I might have fly fishing a go. After all, England is the birth place of fly fishing, and where else to give it a go than on the River Test, a world renown chalkstream in Hampshire.



Grayling - Thymallus thymallus #55 - My first ever fish on the fly and first Grayling



Grayling - Thymallus thymallus



Grayling - Thymallus thymallus being released

I had arranged with the guide to pick me up at Andover station and we would drive to the River Test at Wherwell. I spent the first hour or so learning to cast. I learn the basic techniques, forward casts, false casting, roll casting, mending etc. There was quite a lot of flow in the river so we decided to fish from the bank instead of wading. I was fishing a klinkhammer on the top as an indicator and a hare’s ear nymph on the bottom. It took me a while to get the hang of it. The indicator dipped quite a few times but I kept on missing the strikes. On one magical occasion, I hooked into the a small fish so it was quite easy to play it back into the net. It was a nice little Grayling [#55].



Brown Trout - Salmo trutta #56



Brown Trout - Salmo trutta

So fly fishing does work, and soon enough, I had a nice little Brown Trout [#56] in the net. It was about 1.5lb, was looked well worn, being out of condition and out of season, it had probably just spawned. You can see signs of tail damage probably due to building of a redd.



Grayling - Thymallus thymallus



Grayling - Thymallus thymallus

I spent the rest of the day catching a few more grayling. As it got warmer, they started taking the Klinkhammer as well, but I wasn’t fast enough to hook into them.

First British Fish

I was out rockpooling at the Brighton Marina looking at Blennies, Prawns, Anemones etc. On this occassion, I decided to bring my little 5 piece fishing rod and some fresh prawns for bait. Casted the bait out several times but not much happened. On one cast, I wound it in and there was a little tussle on the end. When I got it in I saw that it was a Bullhead. My first british fish [#54]. They kind of look like scorpionfish, but are not venomous at all. They flare out their horns when they are out of the water. Actually, I'm not even sure if I should count it, I don't think it was hooked. It was just holding onto the bait. I released it into a little rockpool where I took the photograph below.


Longspined Bullhead - Taurulus bubalis #54


Longspined Bullhead - Taurulus bubalis


Here are some of the other creatures I photographed on the day.


Shanny - Lipophrys pholis


Snakelocks Anemone - Anemonia viridis


Shanny - Lipophrys pholis


Green Sea Slug - Elysia viridis


Rockpool Prawn - Palaemon elegans