Qing Ya Xi

Qing Ya Xi (pronounced "king-yah-zee") sits on the lower River Itchen at Brambridge, Hampshire, roughly six miles south of Winchester. The beat offers approximately 1,522 metres of double-bank fly fishing on the Itchen Navigation — a modified channel of the river and former canal running just over ten miles from Winchester to Southampton. The Itchen is classified as both a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), its clear waters, steady flow, and high levels of dissolved minerals creating a unique ecosystem that sustains an abundance of invertebrates. The beat divides into distinct sections: the top 200 metres of fast water offers what one member of the English Fly Fishing Team described as "possibly the best Grayling fishing in Hampshire"; the first sluice down to the old lock gates provides classic dry fly fishing, and the turning pool below provides gravel spawning grounds with an abundance of smaller trout, grayling, and salmon parr; below this lies a slower-flowing length where the larger fish abound and may still be caught when fish are proving challenging in the top two sections.

Target species are brown trout, grayling, and — given the beat's proximity to tidal water — the occasional Atlantic salmon. The Navigation supports a wild population of brown trout together with good numbers of grayling, supplemented by regular and controlled stockings of brown trout sourced from local suppliers. April hatches include the Large Dark Olive, Grannom Caddis, and Hawthorn, with Mayfly from mid-May to early June. Blue-winged olive and sedge are prolific through summer, and September sees the return of the Large Dark Olive to close the season on 30 September. The open-banked calmer sections suit beginners well, with straightforward upstream presentation; the hatch pool and faster carrier will test more experienced rods.

Up to three rods fish the beat, priced from £211 in summer, £245 in early season, and £358 during Mayfly. A fishing room with electricity, running water, WC, and car parking are on site. The beat sits within easy reach of Winchester (six miles) and Southampton (eight miles), with M3 junction 12 just 1.5 miles away and mainline trains to London Waterloo from nearby Shawford in around 70 minutes.