Chalkstream Fly Fishing in Berkshire

Fishing Breaks offer the widest selection of the very best chalk stream brown trout dry fly & nymph fishing in the county of Berkshire.

Our rivers | Your guide | Places to stay | Fishing advice & flies | Maps

Berkshire is famous for many things; Royal Ascot, Eton College, Windsor Castle & one of the highest per capita incomes of any English county, but it is not famous for it’s chalkstreams, when in fact it deserves to be.

The Lambourn, the Loddon, the Kennet & the Pang are all good rivers fed from rainfall that collects on and around the chalk downlands of the Berkshire Downs. In fact the Lambourn has the coldest water temperature of any southern river, which makes for great spawning conditions for the brown trout.

Naturally grayling, essentially Arctic Char in origin, adore the Lambourn, but are the hardest of fish to catch in that river. So much so, that Frank Sawyer flatly refused all invites to fish for Lambourn grayling on the grounds that they were “too dammed hard to catch”.

Our rivers

		River Kennet Barton Court Three miles of carriers, side streams, pools & main river.
		River Lambourn Donnington Grove Ideal for wading & stalking in crystal clear water.

Your fishing guide - John Stephens

John caught his first ever trout on the upper stretches of the Avon in Wiltshire. But for many years he has lived amongst the streams of Berkshire & has grown to know them better than any other Guide.

"The river Kennet is rated by many to be as good as the Test and the mayfly hatches can be so heavy that they look like a snowstorm. The Lambourn has the coldest water of any chalkstream in the country and crystal clear, the wild fish grow to about 1lb with a monster at 1lb 1/4 and the flies used can be as small as size 22 – dry fly fishing at its best."

If you want more advice from John, email him direct at john@fishingbreaks.com All diary & booking enquiries should be made direct to Fishing Breaks.

NB John is out on the rivers each & all day during the height of the season, so sometimes he doesn’t get to check his e-mails as often as he would like.

Places to stay and visit

Top Luxury Hotel: Cliveden, Taplow

Top Country Pub: Crown & Garter, Inkpen

Top Spa Hotel: The Vineyard at Stockcross

Top Gastro Pub: The Yew Tree Inn, Highclere

Top Place Visit: Royal Mausoleum, Windsor

> View the full Fishing Breaks accommodation guide

Fishing advice & flies

In broad terms the fishing season runs from May to September. The Hawthorn hatch generally coincides with the opening week, with the Mayfly running from mid-May to the end of the second week in June. There are no easy pickings in the second half of the season, but small flies, delicately fished are the secret weapons.

Top Berkshire Flies:

April Greenwell’s Glory (16) Hawthorn (14)		May Thomas Mayfly (10)		June Greenwell’s Glory (16) GRHE (16-18)
July Tups Indispensable (14-16) PTN (16-18)		August Spurwing (14-16) GRHE (16-18)		September Pale Water Spinner (16)

Recommended outfit: 7.5-8.5ft rod, of 3-5wt. Floating line. Tippet to 2lb/6x. All flies barbless or de-barbed. Waders are not required at Barton Court, but are essential at Donnington Grove.

Maps

Click to enlarge.

County map		County overview

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