Chalkstream Fly Fishing in Dorset
Fishing Breaks offers the widest selection of the very best chalk stream brown trout, salmon and sea trout fly and nymph fishing in the county of Dorset.
Our rivers | Your guide | Places to stay | Fishing advice and flies | Maps
Thomas Hardy made Dorset his own where the rivers of the county interweave through the pages of his Wessex novels, with Tess of the D’Urbervilles buried on the banks of the River Frome.
The rivers Frome and Allen are remarkable success stories in the preservation of our chalkstreams. A small group of locals, some of whom went on to found the Wild Trout Trust, were at the forefront of the drive to protect and improve these rivers more than two decades ago, so that we are now at the point where all the Wessex streams have healthy, self-sustaining wild trout populations.
Dorset is a great county to fish and visit, with its amazing Jurassic Coast, mighty Iron Age castles, chocolate box villages like Shaftesbury and the boastful Cerne Abbas Giant.
Our rivers
River Allen Deans CourtFree rising fish fast on the take. |
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River Allen Hemsworth HutsWake. Fish. Sleep. The perfect combination in idyllic surroundings. |
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River Allen Wimborne St GilesTruly the most peaceful fishing you’ll ever find. |
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River Frome IlsingtonA true wild trout paradise and home to the new British grayling record |
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River Frome WracklefordThe best managed fishing on the whole of the Frome. |
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Your fishing guide - John Ball
John Ball was bought up, and has spent the majority of his life, on the south coast of England.
He enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1973 a decision that changed his life for the better in many ways, not least in that his fellow submariners introduced him to competition fly fishing on shore leave. On retiring in 1996 John began to organise numerous river and reservoir competitions along with social events becoming the secretary of the Southern Federation Fishing Association and then gained his England cap when competing at international level for his country.
Living as his does close to the county border of Dorset and Hampshire John is equally at home on the manicured River Test or the wild streams of Wessex.
You can read more about John on the Fishing
Guides page.
Fishing advice and flies
The trout season runs from April to September with the opening weeks dominated by the grannom hatch. The mayfly hatches from late May into June, followed by glorious summer action with olives, sedges, ants and daddy long legs. To buy flies click here. .
Top Dorset flies:
April |
May |
June |
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July |
August |
September |
Recommended trout outfit: 7.5ft rod, with 3-4wt floating line. Tippet to 2lb/6x.
Waders generally advised.
Places of interest
Jurassic Coast |
Thomas Hardy |
Pig on the Beach |
View the full Fishing Breaks accommodation guide