Following on from the daddy long legs talk a couple of weeks back, terrestrial patterns are still very much the order of the day, but we’re starting to see the first signs of the season shifting. Small and medium olives have been hatching steadily through the afternoons on several beats, giving a welcome bit of daytime sport alongside the evening rise, which continues to fish superbly as the light starts drawing in that little bit earlier each week.
It’s a lovely time of year to be on the bank. Water remains low and clear, weed growth has eased off from its midsummer peak, and fish that have been under pressure all summer are still catchable for anyone willing to fish carefully and read the water. If you haven’t been out for a few weeks, now is a great time to book a day before the season’s character properly turns towards autumn.
Following on from last week’s news, Damon has spent this week starting to work through the footage from our two days filming on the new River Kennet estate. Early cuts are looking brilliant, some genuinely stunning water across those five miles of fishing, and we’re aiming to share a proper first look with you in the coming weeks.
We know a few of you have already been in touch asking about the estate name and booking details for 2027, thank you for your patience, we’ll have more to share soon. For now, here’s a shot of Freddie and I cradling a well earned brownie which fell to, yes you guessed it, a foam daddy!
As lovely as this settled late summer weather is, it’s worth starting to think ahead to autumn now if you haven’t already. Grayling season on the Test and Itchen picks up properly from October, and with the early signs we mentioned back in July, this looks set to be a strong year for grayling on several of our beats.
If autumn or winter grayling fishing is on your radar, it’s worth getting in touch sooner rather than later, these tend to be some of our most popular dates and availability narrows quickly once the leaves start turning.
If you’ve missed an issue or fancy looking back over the season, from the June weed cut through to last week’s Kennet news, every edition of the Wilde Trout newsletter is archived in the news section of our website. It’s a handy place to catch up on hatch reports, beat spotlights and fly tying tips whenever you need a refresher before a day on the river.
That’s all from me this week, enjoy the last of the long evenings.
Wishing you the very best of luck and the tightest of lines if you’re beside the river in the next few days.
Best wishes,
Jamie Hayes-Pankhurst
Founder & Managing Director
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