River Test
The Greyhound Beat
The Greyhound Beat is a fishing beat on the River Test.
How to book
Fishing details
The Greyhound Beat at a glance
- Rods
- 1 – 2
- Difficulty
- Beginner (1/5)
- Length
- –
- Water type
- main river
Fishing methods
A double-bank beat on the River Test in Hampshire, the Greyhound Beat offers up to two rods a day's upstream dry fly and nymph fishing on one of England's most celebrated chalk streams. The Test meanders gracefully through the gentle gradient of the Test Valley, running smooth and clear enough to spot fish holding over gravel in water between one and three feet deep. That visibility is central to the experience here: you're hunting individual brown and rainbow trout, reading their position and rise form before presenting a fly.
The trout season runs from April to early October. The hawthorn hatch arrives in late April, the mayfly from mid-May to early June, and summer brings a variety of caddis, olives, and terrestrials. September sees the return of the Large Dark Olive, with cooler weather and reduced sunlight improving conditions through to the end of the season. On bright summer days when nothing is rising, upstream nymph fishing comes into its own, and this beat permits both methods, making it well suited to beginners learning to read chalk stream water. A healthy population of freshwater shrimp means larger fish are often taken on a shrimp imitation fished close to the bottom.
A single 9-ft 4- or 5-weight rod covers most situations. The beat is rated beginner-friendly, with double-bank access giving plenty of room to find a comfortable casting position. Between sessions, Lucy's fishing hut provides a proper base (refrigerator, coffee machine, kettle, BBQ, and fire pit) alongside a private riverside patio. It's a practical, well-equipped day out on a river that rewards careful observation and a well-placed fly.
Stocking and fish species
Rules and policies
Amenities
Where The Greyhound Beat is
The beat's boundary, with parking where we have it.
51.11596, -1.49719
The river
River
Rising at Ashe, near Overton, the River Test runs for 40 miles through Hampshire, flowing south through Whitchurch, Longparish, and Wherwell before the Rivers Dever and Anton join the main channel near Chilbolton. For much of its length the Test is not one river but an amalgam of main channel, mill leats, carriers,…
Flies for this beat
Expected in October on the River Test
Typical months from the river’s hatch calendar, which applies along its whole length rather than to this beat. Not a live report.
Caperer
Sedge · #10-12
Kite's Imperial
Dry fly · #14-16
Daddy Long Legs
Terrestrial · #10-12
Sawyer's Killer Bug
Nymph · #12-16
The year ahead
Full calendarEvery hatch on the River Test and the months it usually runs.
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Similar beats on the River Test
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FAQ
The Greyhound Beat FAQs
Practical questions anglers ask before fishing The Greyhound Beat, from tickets to tactics.
