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My opening day past & present
Greetings!
If you are anything like me that first ever trout will be seared on the memory, right up there as one of the best ever moments of your life. Occasionally I re-visit the exact spot where I caught mine and more decades on than I care to recall from that blustery April day the river was last Thursday (April 3) precisely as it was all that time ago.
 The River Meon in Hampshire is not up there in the pantheon of chalkstream greats. It doesn't get many mentions by the giants of fly fishing nor does it feature much in where-to-fish directories or magazines, but it is, even though I am biased, a perfect small stream.
Fast, not very wide, with great weed growth, wonderful hatches and about 10 miles to the east of the Itchen in Hampshire it is, petty well to all intents and purposes, an all wild trout river. In its lower reaches just up from the Hamble where it joins the Solent the sea trout are prolific and salmon used to run up as high at Wickham Mill.
I have not visited the Meon on the opening day of the season since I was a teenager; so on the opening day this year I determined to turn back the clock. Opening my fly box I was transported back to that first day as the April array of Dark Olives, Grannom, Greenwell's Glory, Hawthorn and March Browns winked back at me in the afternoon sun like old friends. I genuinely felt excited and nervous tying on the Grannom, deliberating ignoring those modern day interlopers the Klinkhammer and Parachute Adams.
 Sight fishing is not the general mode de la jour for the Meon. It is one of those streams best fished by speculatively casting in the margins, along the current between the weed and into the open spaces. In the fast water and with all that weed the fish are too hard to spot, so unless you see a riser nine times out ten the first time you see a fish is when it comes up your fly.
Ring rusty after months away from the rivers (well that is my excuse) I missed the first fish of the day who boldly came straight up to the Grannom from under a trailing branch alongside the bank. The photographer asked whether it was normal to swear so much. Giving up on the Grannom which was ignored by a couple of risers I switched to the Dark Olive, but against the gloom of the dark clouds it was too dark to easily track on the water. So sacrificing tradition on the altar of practicality out came the Parachute Adams. Much better.
Upstream we went, prospecting in all the likely spots with no success but just being able to track the fly on the water and get some satisfaction from well executed casts was something of a pleasure in itself. The photographer got out the  hyper-zoom to take some line and fly on the water shots. At one particularly tasty looking eddy behind some woody debris I pinged in the fly, came up dry on the first cast and as I fired it back in I turned to the photographer saying, "Can you believe such a perfect spot doesn't have a fish?" It is no credit to me that the photographer pressed the shutter on the rising fish before it even occurred to me to strike. But no matter, it was one of those kindly fish that hooks itself and, for me at least, a new season is now officially christened.
Fishing ideas for Easter
Some years Easter is so early that it is on us before the season opens, but this year the ecclesiastical calendar has smiled on us with a host of choices over the up-coming holidays. Not every beat on every river is open but you have plenty of choices. Here are a few I have picked out:
Wild Trout
Exton Manor Farm on the River Meon. An all wading beat for one rod. £95/Rod. April 20/21.
Alternatives: Donnington Grove (Lambourn) or Bank Top (Dove)
River & Lake Tickets
Avon Springs on the River Avon. Ying and yang between the lakes and river at will. £75/Rod. April 20/21.
Alternatives: Avington (Itchen) or Woodington (Blackwater)
Big Beasts
School Farm on the River Dun. Stuffed with fish and immaculately looked after. £288/Rod. April 21
Alternatives: Broadlands (River Test) or Cotton's Fishing Temple (Dove)
Family Stuff
A Family Day with a private instructor and exclusive use of Nether Wallop Mill. £385/family. April 18-21.
Alternatives: Father & Son Day or Private Tuition.
There are really plenty of other choices, too many to list here. To check out any date use this link or pop me an email for advice.
Hatch of the Month
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Photo by Paul Procter |
The Grannom is my hatch of the month; I know I should really nominate the Olives as they are far more prolific and a steady-as-you-go choice but this sedge, is in its own way, every bit as exciting as the Mayfly when it appears for 10-14 days during the month. However, unlike the Mayfly which blankets all the chalkstreams at roughly the same time, the Grannom hatch is very localised. I've been fishing without a single sighting whereas my companion a few hundred yards downstream has been inundated.
 There is a exact Grannom pattern to buy but if you get stuck an Elk Hair Caddis or any brown sedge pattern should do you equally well.
Click here for the April Hatch Calendar in full.
April chalkstream happenings
It has been something of a transformation in the past month from water everywhere the eye could see to rivers that are now back within their banks. Certainly full and in many places waiting for the weed growth kick in, the mild weather has produced massive hatches just about every day. The fish are active, but mostly hoovering up the nymph life.
Sunrise: 6.45am
Sunset: 7.45pm
Average temperature: 6-13C
Day of rain: 13 (+0.25mm)
Weed cutting: No formal weed cutting periods during April. However, keepers are permitted to trim weed until the third week of the month so some floating detritus is a possibility.
Diary dates: April 3 Brown trout season opens
April 18 Good Friday
April 21 Easter Monday
April 24 Fly Fishing Film Tour
April 25 River Test One Fly
A bit early I know, but for those of you off next week, Happy Easter.
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