Outside Days » Test

Spring Has Sprung, The Grass Has Riz…

Howard — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 05:02:45 +0000

I wonder where the water is?!

It’s only April and after a statistically dry winter (okay, there were days in the shooting season when it didn’t seem that way), and some unseasonable hot spells, water levels are looking low. Hardly suprising given we’ve had 2mm so far in April, and a miniscule 8mm in March – 10mm that’s a tenth of the average rainfall for this time of year.

The rivers are starting to fine off, with the silt dropping out and summer-style clarity dominating. The weed is getting a jump on the swans and growing at a good rate. As a result, there is plenty of invert life around the riverbank. With granom on the Avon and hawthorne on the Test, I’ll be popping out to flick the fluff before packing my rods for Bosnia, Spain and Argentina.

If you fancy reducing your stress and blood pressure without contorting yourself into a pretzel doing yoga, why not join us on a riverbank or a small stillwater pond? Or get in touch for coaching to improve your rivercraft or casting.

Grouse Afoot: The Need for Speed

Howard — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 07:00:21 +0000

I’ve just stopped long enough to reflect on the truly glorious Glorious 12th we had in Yorkshire… I’m in the throes of complex packing for more walked up grouse (this time over pointers, not people) in the Outer Hebrides. You would think that with numerous seasons trekking back and forth, I would have mastered the intricacies of packing my 20kgs for FlyBe. Alas, I will still be racing to unlace my grouse boots at security (too heavy to pack).

These pictures reflect some of what I love best about fieldsports: great company, unbelievable weather (despite the Met Office forecasts otherwise), the best of British scenery and of course incomparable sport.

For years I have been championing the ‘outside day’ in all its beautiful forms. From an amble along a hedgerow in Wiltshire to small driven ‘farm days’ in Hampshire or Lincolnshire, to grouse over spaniel, pointer, or gun in Scotland and Yorkshire. I’ve even braved the mother-in-law to track down the US equivalent in No. 2′s native land. And finally the rest of the world has caught on.

Small driven and walked up days have been flying out the door with all the speed of grouse with the wind up their bums. I sent our mailing list a newsbite with the latest offering late last night, and by morning tea it was gone. If you like what you’ve seen in the pages of this blog, then the best way to find out about our days is to join our mailing list. We don’t share your data, or abuse the priviledge. And we certainly don’t expect a response to every newsbite (although we love hearing from you).

Summer Lovin’

Howard — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:44:57 +0000

Ascot week has been patchy to say the least, and not just when it comes to the horses I backed. Traditionally the week when wild partridge hatch, the weather for Ascot was considered to be an indicator of the success of the rearing season and therefore the shooting season. Better than the two previous years, Ascot 2009 produced downpours in some areas, the kind of heavy rain that chills and kills chicks. The use of Ascot weather as a harbinger of the season ahead is fading into memory as few people are relying on wild birds for their season’s sport.

And the heavy summer rains were welcomed by the salmon and sea trout fishermen, who would probably like to see a bit more as our lovely sunny spring has left the spate rivers on the bones of their arses. I can report that the first few salmon have been caught on the Itchen and Test, and even I’ve managed a sea trout off the Avon. We have a few spots on sea trout evenings on Itchen remaining, and are considering concocting another excursion to Devon if the guinea pigs are successful in July.

The roe rut will be in full swing by Game Fair week, with the fallow season following on its heels. My wife encourages you all to get in touch and come stalking to reduce the deer who are grazing on her peonies.

Splashing Around in the Dark: Sea trout on the Itchen

Howard — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:53:33 +0000

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.

Gamekeepa Fishin’

Howard — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:32:59 +0000

All of us need to escape the daily grind now and then, and flicking the fluff for mayfly-delirious brown trout is an addictive relaxant. Headkeeper Martin Broad stole away from the rearing field and the eagle eye of his underkeeper (and wife) to spend an evening on the banks of the River Test. The fishing was still challenging – all that rain has taken its toll on the hatch and the trout’s enthusiasm…or visibility.

A beautiful four pound plus brownie was ample reward for an evening’s patient work. Martin went back to preparing for the arrival of his partridge and pheasant chicks with lower blood pressure and a big smile.

Swan Replaces Trout on the Nation’s Plate?

Howard — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:00:41 +0000

One of the local river keepers is taking issue with the Queen’s diet: she’s not eating enough swan and, unchecked by natural predators, the mute swan population is booming. So, you might ask, what’s the problem? The charge laid at the swans beaks boils down to diet: by grazing on weed, the swans are uprooting valuable insect habitat and reducing the invertebrate populations on the chalk streams.

This, in turn, affects the amount of available fish food, reducing the size of populations sustained on a given stretch and the size of individual fish. Which upsets fisherman and keeper alike. Add to that the swans habit of joining sheep in field to graze, and the farmers aren’t all the keen on the population explosion either.

Over-grazing of weed is less of an issue in years like this one with plenty of water, but in a dry year it can be devastating. Weed works as a semi-permeable dam, helping to maintain water levels. Strategic weed cutting can make or break fishing on a beat. It comes down to conservation or preservation and species priorities when managing a population.

But how do you manage a protected species with a population that is getting out of control? Unique to this protected species is the Queen’s right of consumption: Her Majesty remains the sole legal predator. So the ‘keeper hopes Her Majesty will be serving swan to all her guests this summer.

Fishing for Hippos in the Hampshire Chalkstreams

Howard — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:06:52 +0000

Spring has sprung…well and truly in artesian style. All this rain has made fishing very challenging. Stocked fish are completely unprepared for the spate caused by all this rain (2 inches over the Test on Monday alone), and seem to have gone on strike leaving the remainders of the mayfly to wild brownies more acclimated to the murky water.

The further downstream one is fishing, the longer it is taking for the water to clear, leaving the impression you are fishing the Zambezie for hippo and not the gin-clear trout streams of lore. If you are venturing out over the next week, fish are still rising to the hatch albeit more sporadically. Persevere and you may well be rewarded with a wild fish.

If like this duck, you’ve taken your toes out of the floodwater, you might consider retreating to a stillwater until the silt settles. For anyone interested, we have rods on a lovely little pond topped up by a Test feeder stream and stocked with brownies and rainbows on offer. BBQ facilities make it the ideal location for teaching novices, kids, or just whiling away a sunny (?) afternoon.

The Mayfly Have Landed

Howard — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:24:49 +0000

It’s been a funny kind of year for flies: almost no hawthorne, and straight into the mayfly hatch. Despite a stiff breeze, the mayfly started hatching about lunchtime on Tuesday, and trout took immediate notice. After a morning with limited surface activity (mainly grass snakes on the move), the clients and I packed it in and headed to the Peat Spade Inn for beer and sympathy.

Changing the morning’s Klinkhammers for Grey Wulf and French Partridge to better mimic the rise, we tackled up and strode out to face the challenge. The experienced rod of the pair was quite quickly into a string of nice fish, catching 3 brownies in rapid succession. Just when the chalkstream novice was ready to blow retreat and head back to lakes and ponds, the fish obligingly took his fly. Needless to say, four brown trout later (including the 4lb plus fish of the day), he is off to invest in his first river rod.

With the weather set to change at week’s end, it will be interesting to see whether the mayfly are still around in number, or if the hatch slows.

Flyfishing claims another victim

Howard — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 09:25:31 +0000

It’s always rewarding to introduce someone to a new passion and pastime. This week we watched as builder extraordinare and all-round superhero Lee dipped his toe into the flyfishing pool by taking an evening lesson with me. His first fish was an enormous 4lb 4oz rainbow caught on a Montana. And he didn’t stop there, catching several others before dusk (and my wife) caught up with us. Using another awful pun, I’m glad to say he’s hooked…to the extent he made me late for a dinner engagement. I look forward to spending several summer evenings watch him get tangled in line.

Lessons are a great way to explore flyfishing without extensive investments of time and finance. They also make fabulous birthday, anniversary and wedding gifts.

Orvis Cast and Blast Meon Springs

Howard — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:39:05 +0000

Family-friendly Meon Springs provided the perfect setting for Orvis’ Cast and Blast, and the powers that be provided unbelievable weather despite the best efforts of the meteorologists to convice us otherwise. Even my parents put in an appearance, tried their hand at flyfishing, and went home with a trout for the table. Richard Banbury kept me busy with a reprise of my presentation on large mouth bass, and the debut of an introduction to shooting.

Dickson and Macnaughton, gunsmiths with a concession in Orvis’ Stockbridge store, were kind enough to loan me some choice weapons as props as well as being on hand to offer technical advice. Really it was just a platform for me to vent my pet gunhandling hates that peeve me over the season.

For those anglers out there looking for something a little different, we have just secured a few nights sea trout fishing on a productive tidal pool new to us on the River Itchen. Last year I pulled a PB salmon out at 2am…just after all my clients packed it in for the evening.