upper River Itchen & arle
The Itchen is regarded as one of the finest English chalk streams and anglers from all over the world are drawn to the river for the quality of its fly fishing. Its crystal clear waters, high water quality and abundance of fly life, make it one of the finest dry fly rivers in the country.
From its source the river flows north to New Alresford where it is joined by two spring fed streams - the Alre and the Candover Brook - to become the Itchen. The Upper Itchen is primarily run by clubs and syndicates; occasionally day rods become available on our two beats. The first set of seven named beats is at Itchen Stoke, the second beats are at Easton.
Details of our beats on a private estate:
This iconic estate includes several prime chalk-stream stretches that provide excellent fly fishing for wild brown trout and grayling. The fishing is always guided by one of our team and apart from the Candover Brook is all wading. The water is let with high-grade accommodation consisting of (i) a two bedroom flat in the clock tower of a stable courtyard set in spectacular parkland scenery and/or (ii) an attractive garden cottage with one double bed plus further sofa bed. There are seven named beats on four different stretches of the Itchen or its tributaries:
The River Itchen
The estate has two main river beats at Itchen Stoke; one of the beats includes the Lovington Carrier to the south of the main river. Both main river beats are comparatively wide with wild margins, best fished by wading.
The River Arle
A major tributary of the River Itchen, this is a highly-regarded wading beat just downstream from Alresford. The beat consists of 500 yards of top-rate double bank fishing.
The Elm Stream
This beat is a slow flowing loop off the main river, between Itchen Abbas and Itchen Stoke.
The Candover Brook
There are three named beats on the Candover Brook covering nearly 4,000 yards of relatively wild and challenging fishing. The stream flows through beautiful parkland and attractive water-meadows along the Itchen valley floor.
Private Estate fact file
Species: Wild Brown Trout, and Grayling
Difficulty: High
Tranquility: High
Maximum two rods per beat.
Prices start from: £380 per rod.
