Start eating your carrots: some of the best fishing to be had in the summer months takes place after dark. Sea trout, the peripatetic siblings of the brown trout, return to the streams of their birth to spawn in the summer months. Most active after dark, sea trout are found in numbers in the lower stretches of the chalkstreams, spreading out at they migrate upstream.
The best nights to fish are those when the incoming tide and the start of the ebb are after dark. Seven weight rods provide plenty of power to cast large snake flies. For those brave enough to cast droppers at night (risking tangling and the ensuing unknotting by feel), they maximise return for effort. Fortunately, the mill pool we fish is civilised enough to provide ambient light from street lamps and neighbouring houses, reducing the risks of unscheduled swimming and fishing by feel. Once I’ve settled clients, directing them onto the most likely lies, the wader-filling holes to avoid, I get started on the stream of teas necessary to keep everyone warm and awake.
Like all fishing, catching isn’t guaranteed, but this mill pool is very productive, with bass bagged regularly as well as sea trout. It’s proved so popular, in fact, that we were booked within hours of releasing this years dates. If you are interested in fishing the 2009 season, please don’t dawdle in getting in touch and adding yourself to the waiting list.


