I have been lucky enough to tick off a couple of bucket list items lately and when I got given the opportunity to fish the River Test, I jumped at it with both hand and feet. I had been chatting with good mate Charl Devunge from Farlows about coming to the United Kingdom and he asked if I would be interested in fishing the River Test at the Broadlands Estate with The river keeper Jon Hall! Yeah good joke! But it was not joke and the plan was hatched!
We were staying in Southampton with good friends Robs and Frank and when I put in the GPS coordinates for the fishing it was literally around the corner. I thought I had the GPS incorrect and rechecked as I was driving into Southampton but then at the last traffic circle off the highway, I took a right to Broadlands.
I drove down some small country lanes in a small hired car, very different to the thirsty trucks we have in Dubai and Oman. Finally I came to the sign Broadlands Fishing! I spoke to Jon and he said to wait down at the fishing hut. I arrived there and stopped on the bridge only to stare at the swirling river with green weed swaying in the current and trees overhanging into the river — truly mesmerizing, the same as sitting around a campfire watching the flames jump around in the wind. Awesome!
I waited for a while for Charl and Jon to arrive and had time to check out the fishing hut, which was like a bomb shelter on the side of the river and you could feel the history and I felt a bit of nervous creeping in to think I was going to fish the home of fly fishing and walk the banks that so many people and legends have walked before. I was definitely out of my depth! No big waves, open water or marauding GTs!
Jon and Charl arrived and we had a coffee in the hut with some of the other fishermen fishing some of the famous beats. Great to sit and chat and tell a few stories! Finally game time arrived, we got out the gear! A little different to PE10 and 250lbs leaders, these were four weight lines with 4lbs leaders! I think the cotton I used for fixing clothes is stronger! Then the flies came out and there was no way I was going to be able to get the line through the eye of the hook, could not even see if it was in fact there! But with Charl and Jon on the case, they set up the gear and the mindset started to change and I started to get into the swing of the river and the fishing.
We walked down the river and came up to the first hole. Straight away both Jon and Charl got very excited; there was a big fish in one of the holes and after a few seconds it turned out to be a salmon! No pressure. The first fish I was going to cast at was a salmon, it couldn’t get any better. But once the gear was set up, I realized this was not going to be as easy as I thought. Kneeling on the grounds casting over thistle and stinging nettles does not make for easy fishing. I finally got the hang of fishing off my knees and managed to put in a couple of decent casts. The fish was not interested and after a while we moved on looking for trout on the number four.
But the adrenaline was pumping and a great adventure had started. We fished a couple of runs without too much success and made our way back to the hut. Jon waded out into the river with me in tow and we came up to some fish sitting at the back of a pool. With a wind rippling the surface the visibility was not too good and the fish came in and out of view. Finally we put in a few casts and had a fish come up but by the time I realized the fish had taken to fly it was too late. With a few more words on encouragement and coaching from Jon, I had another few shots but no hook ups. As we were about to move, I put in one last cast over the pool and let the fly drift down the pool watching the dry fly I was using as an indicator for the dropper and as I got to the end of the pool I started to load the line to do another cast and out of nowhere a tiny wild brown trout came flying out the weed and snatched the fly before I could cast and I had my first River Test trout on. The little guy tried as hard as he could but even on the light gear, we had him on hand and landed my first fish for the day. This time size definitely did not matter and I was very chuffed with my first River Test Brown Trout.
With the drought broken, everything started to fall into place, casting, sighting fish and enjoyment! We walked up the river stopping and casting at fish, I had a few follows but no takes. We then got to a pool with a few fish we could see. I put out several casts at a couple of the fish with not much interest shown but then on one of the casts the brown trout came up and took a look at the dry fly, turned away and sank back down towards the bottom, my heart started to drop, but the fish had second thoughts and turned around and came up and sipped the fly off the surface, bang! Fish on! A nice 3lbs brown on the end of the line on a number four rod was great fun. The fish gave a good account for itself. I got the fish close to the side and Jon netted the fish and I had a decent sized fish! A good few pictures and the fish was released back into the river. Mission accomplished! Brown trout on the Test on dry fly!
We took a break for lunch at a country pub and the sun had come out and the day was just getting better and better, truly amazing place that is good for the soul. We had a great lunch chatting about fishing around the Globe and a few more plans laid for the future.
For the afternoon session Jon wanted to try for a salmon! This is the holy grail of fly fishing, a salmon on the River Test! I had a shot in the morning but this was a bit rushed and now we were prepared. Jon had a spot he thought might work and on arriving we saw a big salmon sitting at the end of a small pool. We had a bridge we could fish off and started casting the salmon fly back to the fish. After a few attempts the fish showed no interest but this was window shopping at its best! You want it so bad, you are willing to do almost anything.
After a while we changed our angle and tactic a bit and I put the fly into a deep hole to try run the fly back to the fish, but the fly got “stuck”. I thought it was weed and gave the rod a bit of a tug and all hell broke loose! The small pool erupted and this massive bar of silver started going wild in the pool that seemed way to small for the fish! I tried to tighten up on the rod and reel but as quick as it started it was over! I had just lost a fish of a lifetime! A big salmon on the River Test, after the initial shock we all packed out laughing and could not believe what had just happened! That fish will live on in my memory for the rest of my days and will most probably haunt me to the day I die! The story will definitely be repeated many times on the future and the fish will most probably grow in size!
After trying and trying to get another hookup on a salmon we finally had to call an end to the day and headed back to the hut. On the way back at dusk, Jon said “Let’s have one last try at the evening hatch”. There was a bit of wind and the hatch was minimal but we tried close to the hut and a few fish started rising. I had a few attempts and misses. Then as the last bit of daylight disappeared and I could no longer see the fly or the line, I could only see the line landing on the water. I had one last chance. I saw a fish rise up about five metres from the bank, I put out a cast in the general direction and watched the water, I saw a fish rise in the general location of where I thought my fly might be, I took a total chance and struck! Bang fish on! I fought the brown as the last disappeared and darkness fell across the river, Jon landed the fish for me to a good few high fives and pictures taken. It does not get much better than that to end a wonderful experience and day on the Broadlands Estate on the River Test!
Words By: Nick Bowles
