Timsbury 5

Timsbury 5 sits on the middle and lower Test, between the towns of Romsey and Stockbridge in Hampshire. The beat covers just over half a mile of single-bank main river chalk stream, with a medium flow speed and a mix of shallow and very deep sections that give anglers a genuine variety of water to read and work through in a day. Set a few kilometres below the Kimbridge beat, the river here is noticeably wider and significantly deeper in places, with fish holding in heavy weed that obscures the bottom in the deeper runs.

The primary quarry is brown trout, stocked with fish carefully selected locally from River Test stock. The fishery stocks both rainbow and brown trout, with rainbows averaging around 3 lb, and the long-term average sits at three fish caught per rod per day. In the latter part of the season salmon regularly roll in the deeper pools, and there is always a chance of sea trout. The season runs from 30 April to 29 September, with fly-only rules throughout: upstream dry fly and nymph are the methods. The beat carries a good mayfly population, and large numbers of caddis flies hatch through late summer, making it worth carrying sedge patterns from July onwards alongside your standard olive and mayfly imitations.

Up to five rods share the water, rated as explorer level and suited to anglers still building their chalk stream experience. Banks are regularly mown and strimmed, and weed cutting takes place through summer, keeping casting lanes open. A fishing hut is on the beat. Day-rod pricing runs at £245 in the main season and £180 in the late season.