Fly fishing on a river, especially the world famous chalk streams of Hampshire, is for many fly fisherman the pinnacle of the sport.

The aquifer fed springs that feed these rivers provide a constant source of water at a consistent ten degrees, perfect for the myriad of fly life that thrives in the slightly alkaline environment leading to the prodigious hatches of mayflies and olives that these rivers are famous for, as well as their excellent populations of caddis, stoneflies and shrimp.

All of this natural food provides an ample supply of nutrition for the resident trout and grayling that can quickly reach admirable size, resulting in perfect hard fighting trophy fish.

River Fish Tuition

River fishing isn’t recommended for the complete beginner due to its increased complexity, and to an improving fisherman it’s still quite a challenge. That's why I offer a river tuition service, in effect tuition to help the still water angler bridge the gap in the skill levels required to fish effectively on a river.

Some of the skills are quite obvious such as fish spotting, some less so such as dealing with depth and flow, and some quite an unpleasant surprise to the still water angler such as angle changes when casting onto a moving body of water.

During a day's tuition I will cover all of these skills including:

• Watercraft
• Entomology
• Presentation
• Dealing with drag
• Upstream casts
• Presentation casts
• Casting under bushes or in a tunnel of trees

It’s not until you spend a day on the river that you realise the variety of new skills that are required!

I have been guiding and offering tuition on the Hampshire chalk streams for over ten years, and can offer tuition on what is in my opinion the best section of chalk stream fishing that is easily accessible to a beginner, the Lower Itchen. This section offers a variety of water to learn on, and the fishery is open all year round to also offer grayling tuition in the winter, deep nymphing being a further challenge in itself!

Costs

Prices vary due to the variability of the cost of river fishing, but to simplify enquiries and to make booking easier a single days river tuition for one person costs £300 then an additional £150 per extra person.

Grayling fishing in the winter is significantly cheaper due to the reduced fishery prices and is £180 per day for one person, with an additional £30 per extra person.

Costs are much higher than still water tuition, there is no denying this, but this is due to the increased cost of accessing a world famous fishery. To compensate, I have reduced my own price as I enjoy chalkstream tuition so much!

You may be able to find cheaper, but these are normally group bookings with less qualified or even unqualified instructors, so from a highly experienced and qualified instructor such as myself offering one to one tuition on such an excellent beat, my prices are extremely competitive.  

Please do not hesitate to contact Darren for further details.

NB. I can guide on other chalkstream beats such as the Test, Dever, Don, Meon, Anton, but this is by special arrangement, and as many beat owners prefer clients to use their own river keepers as part time guides, I’m afraid I cannot secure access to some beats.