The Lakes

Rockbourne Trout Fishery’s six lakes lie in a valley near Fordingbridge in Hampshire, spring fed and each with its own character, ranging from about half an acre to an acre apiece.

Pine Lake is the deepest, running from six feet at the margins down to a twenty foot hole, fed from multiple springs, with a strong hatch of buzzer and damsel through the year. Alder Lake runs alongside the lodge with a fifteen foot hole at one end and heavy weed growth through the middle, good for damselfly, alderfly, sedge and some mayfly, best fished on a floating line until the fish move onto sinking lines over the deep hole in winter. Bridge Lake is the smallest and shallowest, a four foot plateau at the outlet end and an eight foot channel down the middle, well treed and good for stalking, with small bugs and olive damsels doing most of the work. Long Acre Lake is fed from Sweatfords Water, often crystal clear, a strong shrimp and corixa water with damselfly, dragonfly and mayfly hatches, and is reckoned the best dry fly water on site. Oak Lake is secluded and reed lined, fed by its own spring, with dragonfly, damselfly, sedge, pond olives and buzzers, and good stalking among the weed beds. Spring Lake takes its name from the spring that feeds it; Rockbourne’s own description of it matches Oak Lake almost word for word, so expect similarly sheltered, reed lined water with the same mixed hatch.

All six lakes are stocked with rainbow, brown, blue, tiger, sandy, golden and pinky trout, and Arctic char, from two and a half pounds up to twenty, with a fishery record of nineteen pounds. Tickets are sold by the fish and fishing is catch and kill, though Oak, Pine and Spring lakes allow catch and release once you have taken your limit, from December to March, conditions allowing. Every fish kept must be weighed and recorded on the return ticket, nil returns included.