Stop off at our garden shop at Longstock Park Nursery where we stock a range of flies tied by our keepers as well as other equipment essentials.
The Rod
For the main river and lakes, a 9 foot rod for a 5 or 6 weight line will be ideal.
For the carrier beats such as beat 16, a lighter rod for a 3 or 4 weight line is fine.
The leader line
A clear mono leader, 9 feet long with a tippet of 4lb will be adequate for the majority of Trout. In the Mayfly season you can go up to 5lb or 6lb.
The Fly
You can catch everything with Gray Wulffs on a size 10 to tiny Midges and Reed Smuts on 18s or 20s. Traditional chalk stream flies all have their day too. Tups Indispensable, Greenwells Glory and of course the Leckford Professor will catch Trout today just as well as they did when they were invented.
The newer patterns are being used more frequently and catch a lot of fish on the right day. CdC and Klinkhammers especially in Claret or Black are good year on year - as are Red or Yellow Humpies, especially for Rainbow Trout after the Mayfly.
If we had to choose just one fly for the whole season it would be a Parachute Adams in a size 14.
Both lakes have good hatches of fly and fish can be caught on a dry fly most days of the season. Damsel Nymphs and Buzzers are favourites if they are not rising.
