River Wylye
Wilton Fly Fishing Club Water
Wilton Fly Fishing Club Water is a fishing beat on the River Wylye. Club members only.
Pricing and season
Fishing details
Wilton Fly Fishing Club Water at a glance
- Rods
- –
- Difficulty
- Expert (4/5)
- Length
- 7 miles
- Water type
- main river
Fishing methods
Fly methods
Just over seven miles of the River Wylye, held by a club of no more than forty five members, and wild from end to end. There are no stocked fish here at all. The club is clear about the trade it is making: this is not mown banks and obliging stock fish, it is wild brown trout and grayling that have to be found, and that is what keeps members for thirty years and more.
Fishing is upstream with dry fly, emerger or nymph on barbless hooks, and the club treats that as a matter of tradition rather than a rule to be argued with. Members wade in chest waders as standard. The wading itself is easy enough, with few deep areas, but the fishing asks for stealth and reasonable casting. Most members take a few good trout on a visit, and many rate the grayling just as highly, which this river supports very well.
Mayflies carry on working into July, particularly in the evenings, but the day-to-day work falls to small olives, black midges, emergers, sedges in a range of sizes and weighted or bead-head nymphs to get down the water column. Fly boxes run from size 10 down to size 20 flying ants and gnats. The club employs a full-time river keeper and manages the habitat with a light touch, and it publishes reach notes to members each season. It does not publish its reach boundaries publicly, so the position shown here is approximate.
Stocking and fish species
Rules and policies
Fishing rules for Wilton Fly Fishing Club Water
Upstream dry fly, emerger or nymph only through the trout season, on barbless hooks. Other methods are permitted after the trout season closes. Trout 1 April to 15 October; grayling and pike from October to 14 March. Catch and release throughout, and it has been 100 per cent for over thirty years. All members wade in chest waders. Membership capped at forty five.
Where Wilton Fly Fishing Club Water is
Exact location is hidden at the owner's request. This beat is on the River Wylye.
Approximate location
Similar beats on the River Wylye
River Wylye
Sutton Veny Fishery
Dry fly and nymph water on the upper Wylye near Warminster, and a premium wild fishery with good stocks of trout and grayling. Three beats share room for nine rods between them. Woodlands has faster gravelly water, some deeper slower runs and a hatch pool. The Gauging Station beat winds more slowly through mature meadows. The top beat has the use of a fishing hut and is very quiet and private. On Woodlands the banks are uneven in places and tree cover makes the casting harder, so it is worth knowing which beat you have drawn. The owner manages the fishery for its natural character, wildlife and wild fish stocks, and the club shares those aims, so the banks are kept to a reasonable standard rather than mown flat. No wading is permitted, though a foot in the margin to net or release a fish is fine. There is good fly life throughout and a visit at mayfly time is well worth arranging.
River Wylye
Eastleigh Fishery
Two beats on the upper Wylye on the southern edge of Warminster, only a few miles below the source of the river. The Upper and Lower beats share the same private car park on effectively alternate days, and with just three rods to a beat you have the long banks largely to yourself. Entry is restricted, so the fishing is genuinely private. The fishing is totally wild, and good catches of brown trout and grayling are reported from both beats on dry fly and nymph. Both are true right bank. The club tends them but they keep a wild feel, with plenty of tree cover and structure in the river. That structure cuts both ways. It holds fish and it catches flies, and there are stretches where you will spend a while working out an angle. There are still plenty of more open areas to look for fish in. No wading is permitted, though you can step into the margin to release a fish safely.
River Wylye
The Wylye Fishery
Half a mile of the Wylye at Wylye village, twelve miles west of Salisbury on the A36 Warminster road. The fishery is the true left bank and takes up to four rods, controlled by a tally board and return book at the entrance, so you always know how many people are on the water before you walk in. Upstream nymph and dry fly only, for trout and grayling. There is no wading and no dogs. It is a straightforward fishery to fish and an easy one to get to, sitting right on the main road west out of Salisbury, which makes it a sensible choice for a short visit. Full location details for each of the club’s fisheries are in the members’ year book or on Clubmate.
River Wylye
Stapleford & Druid Fishery
Two popular Wylye beats six miles west of Salisbury on the A36, reached by parking at The Pelican Inn and walking down past the River Till into the meadows. It is an attractive and undisturbed site, and the landlord welcomes members’ custom on the way back. Druids is the true right bank, running up and downstream of an old hatch pool. The top end is lightly wooded with fast water and some very good grayling. Stapleford, on the left bank, includes a short length of the Till and runs downstream through the hatch pool before opening out onto a big pool on the corner. There is room for several rods and they are free to share the whole water rather than being tied to a beat. Some good trout have been taken here and grayling are present throughout. The water is usually very clear so concealment matters. No wading is allowed, though you may step down the bank onto dry ground where it helps. It is currently a stocked fishery, though the club has said it hopes to join other clubs in eventually making the whole of the Wylye wild fish only.
A chalk stream tributary of the Hampshire Avon, River Wylye rises at White Sheet Bottom near the Deverills in Wiltshire and runs for 27 miles north through the Deverill villages towards Warminster, then south-east through Norton Bavant, Sutton Veny, Wylye and Great Wishford, before meeting the River Nadder at Wilton.…
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FAQ
Wilton Fly Fishing Club Water FAQs
Practical questions anglers ask before fishing Wilton Fly Fishing Club Water, from tickets to tactics.
