Chalkstream Fly Fishing in Berkshire

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

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

The undulating Lambourn Downs are the chalk hills that feed the lovely streams of Berkshire. The Rivers Kennet, Lambourn, Loddon and Pang are best known for their clear, cold water, which creates the ideal spawning conditions for wild trout and grayling.

Fishing Breaks has three beats on the main rivers of the county; Barton Court and Benham Estate on the River Kennet plus Donnington Grove on the River Lambourn. The latter is a great stream for wading and sight fishing, while the others offer a huge variety of main river, side streams and carriers in which you can truly lose yourself.

The season on the Lambourn opens in April and in May on the Kennet. Expect a good hawthorn hatch early on, followed by a stupendous mayfly hatch and then a mixture of olives, sedges and terrestrials later in the year.

All the beats are easy to reach from the M4 and are an hour from London Paddington by train.

OUR RIVERS

		River Kennet Barton Court Three miles of carriers, side streams, pools and main river.

		River Kennet Benham Estate Many miles of varied fishing.

		River Lambourn Donnington Grove Easy wading and sight fishing in clear, fast-flowing water.

Your fishing guide - Bob Preston

It is fair to say that Bob probably knows the Berkshire chalkstreams as well as anyone alive that being his ‘patch’ as it were for more than 30 years whilst working as a Fisheries Officer with the Environment Agency. Bob is truly a walking encyclopaedia when it comes to the any questions on our native fish species.

You may read more about Bob Preston on the Fishing Guides page. If you wish to pick Bob’s brain, email him directly at bob@fishingbreaks.co.uk All diary and booking enquiries should be made direct to Fishing Breaks.

Fishing advice and flies

The trout season runs from April to September, with grayling all winter on the Lambourn. The hawthorn hatch happens around the end of April, with the mayfly running from mid-May to the end of the second week in June. In the second half of the season small flies, delicately fished, are the secret weapons. For more fishing advice and to buy flies click here.

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)