A Day On The Test

October 24, 2002

The River Test in Hampshire has long been a Mecca for trout anglers from all over the world. It is traditionally the home of upstream dry fly fishing for native Brown trout. The river is also home to some of the biggest natural strains of Grayling in the country. Although regarded as a second class species by some game anglers, the grayling is starting to become a serious target by more open-minded, sporting flyfisherman. As an angler with a coarse fishing background that now focuses on fishing for as many species as possible with the fly, the Test was always a dream fishery for me.

So, when Graham offered me the chance to fish the upper Test on Wherwell Estate, free of charge, on the grounds that I give my time to help review a new PC based fishing game (more about that at a later date) I readily accepted.

The beautiful River Test in Hampshire

Clear Water was the first problem

The journey from the meeting point at a Lainston House hotel to the river couldn’t have gone quick enough. Crossing the Test on several occasions and driving alongside is enough to wet any angler’s appetite. The water is gin clear, running over vast beds of Ranunculus streamer weed and gravel. The fish are clearly visible on all of the Wherwell Estate beats. This presented the first and most significant problem of the day; they can see you just as clearly as you can see them……..

After many years spent stalking chub in small, clear rivers I approached the Test on hands and knees, trying to peer over the marginal reeds without spooking the fish. In the clear water just in front of me were some of the biggest grayling I’d ever seen. Fish that looked well over a 2lbs swayed gently from side to side in the clear water, occasionally rising to splash at any fly life on the surface.

I quickly retreated from the water’s edge and tied on a tiny size 18 Grey Duster to a 4lb Drennan double strength tippet. Edging my way back into position down stream of the fish I made my first false cast to get some line out. In a second every fish in the vicinity shot away towards the far bank. I couldn’t believe it! One false cast over the water had spooked all the fish within a 10-yard radius. Time for a re-think.

After moving downstream 20 yards I tried again, this time keeping my false cast over the bank and only firing out line over the water at the last second. The fly landed upstream of a large shoal of grayling hanging midstream. As the fly approached the shoal two of the biggest fish nudged forward in line with the advancing fly. The largest rose to the fly, sniffed at it and turned away, obviously unimpressed. This was not going to be easy!

Richard bends into a good fish

A dozen more runs through the swim and still no takes. It was time for drastic measures. On went the 2lb fluorocarbon tippet with a tiny size 20 Grey Duster. First run down at the same shoal and bang! One of the smaller fish rose confidently to the fly, head and shouldering out of the water on the take. The strike met with solid resistance as the fish felt the hook and made for the nearest weed bed. After a spirited but short tussle, the first Test grayling of the day was in the net. Although only around 10oz it remains one of my most memorable Grayling, absolutely fin perfect and immaculately coloured. More importantly it was my first on the fly.

I moved to the weirpool

With this shoal now completely and utterly spooked, I moved down stream to a small weir pool. This was one of the deepest parts of the beat at around 4-5 feet deep (the average depth being around 3 feet) and a spot I am convinced held the biggest fish on the beat. The distinctive shapes of trout and grayling could be seen through the turbulent water. The dark shadows hugging the gravel bottom, occasionally swaying to intercept any food washed down in front of them. I presumed the fish there were of a better than average size due to lack of angling pressure. The current is so strong that your average dry fly is washed out of the swim in a couple of seconds and the trees behind made casting a nightmare. The only way I could get down to these fish would be with a nymph presented upstream in the crease on the inside line. Although the surface looks turbulent and uninviting the current underneath actually works against the main flow of the river creating a back eddy where fish hold out of the main current. Tying on a gold-head pheasant tail nymph I used a ‘bow and arrow’ style cast to flick the fly into white water, then awaited the results……..

Another fish tries to escape

I did not have to wait long. As the fly was drawn back under my own bank the leader twitched and straightened positively. The second grayling of the day had taken hold. Strangely this fish was followed throughout the jagged, twisty fight, by a number of other grayling that only sank back into the depths of the pool as I brought the fish to the net. Weighing only 8oz the fish was quickly returned. The pool gave me no more fish that day. The huge frustration of these fisheries is the knowledge that a legered or float-fished worm in such a pool could provide far superior results, but would it be as rewarding as taking one on the fly?

After lunch, a move to the lake

After lunch a move to the lake made a change from the cagey grayling of the river. The lake was stocked with Rainbow Trout, was as clear as the Test, but a lot deeper, shelving off steeply in the margins to around 8 feet. In one of the small bays fish were showing on the surface. After presenting a dry fly for some time with no success, I decided to try a suspended buzzer. The reasoning being that the fish appeared to be feeding on emerging flies just under the surface rather than fly life trapped in the surface film itself. Using a small strike indicator to suspend a size 14-epoxy buzzer in the upper layers I made a short cast across the breeze and allowed the buzzer to move naturally with the wind. After ten minutes I missed the first take. After another ten I missed the second…… Five minutes later the indicator vanished and a very powerful fish was hooked. The fish immediately motored off across the lake keeping close to the surface and creating an impressive bow wave. Then it suddenly dawned on me…I was only using a 2lb leader! The drag had to be slackened right off as the fish took more and more line. Ten minutes of timid playing later the fish was wallowing on the surface in front of me. After a few spirited boring dives in the deep, clear margins he was in the net. At just over 4lb it was the best fish of the day.

And back to the river again

I returned to the river in the late afternoon only to find things had got a lot harder. The fish seemed uninterested in feeding. They were still hovering over the gravel beds and moving between the streamer weed, but somehow didn’t seem to be moving around to intercept any insect life. A small brown nymph drifted over the top of one shoal was taken by a suicidal 8oz grayling that took the fly like a pike hitting a lure.

4lb Rainbow, best fish of the day from the lake

Late in the day as darkness loomed there was a sudden hatch of fly life. In an instant the fish turned back on the feed, splashy takes from the resident grayling could be seen all over the river. The darkness seemed to give the fish that little extra confidence in the clear water. It also went some way towards hiding the outline of my fly line whilst casting.

On the outside of a slightly deeper pool grayling were rising confidently. I crept into position downstream and cast a size 20 Grey Duster upstream and across their lie. Slowly the fly drifted towards the waiting fish. Almost hovering over the ‘take zone’ the fly was sucked down instantly but the strike failed to set the hook home. This was repeated a second time. Cursing I reeled in and decided to tie on a larger fly. On went a size 16 claret parachute fly. Carefully I crept back into position and covered the fish once more. This time the take and strike met with solid resistance as the last grayling of the day jumped clear of the water in an effort to shed the hook. In the clear water the grayling’s fight can be seen in detail. The fish seem to go berserk, twisting and turning upside down. The fish was similar to the rest of the day’s catch at around 10oz and swam off strongly when returned.

All in all, a very successful day. Four grayling from the Test and a Rainbow Trout from the lake. The fishing game I had the chance to experience is possibly the most realistic ever made. More details on that at a later date.

Fishery Details

Wherwell Estate owns a number of beats on the Upper Test outside of Winchester in Hampshire. The river is home to a thriving native and stocked Brown Trout population. The trout average around 1