Fly Fishing on the River Hampshire Avon

Formed by two headwaters rising in the Vale of Pewsey, the Hampshire Avon merges near Upavon and flows south for 60 miles across Salisbury Plain, passing through Durrington, Amesbury and Salisbury before crossing into Hampshire and running through Fordingbridge and Ringwood to empty into Christchurch Harbour. The East Avon rises from chalk while the West Avon rises in greensand, meaning the river is not a true chalk stream in the strictest sense. Persistent heavy rain early in the season can leave it briefly coloured, though from summer through to the end of the season water clarity is comparable to many chalk streams. The catchment is one of the most biodiverse in the UK, with over 180 species of aquatic plants and 37 species of fish recorded. The river system is designated as an SSSI along approximately 205 kilometres of its course, and holds Special Area of Conservation status, protecting its Ranunculus-dominated weed beds and gravelly spawning grounds. WildFish, in partnership with Wiltshire Fishery Association, has published SmartRivers monitoring findings from ten years of invertebrate surveys on the Avon, with data from 2015 to 2024 showing significant declines in freshwater invertebrate communities — a picture that underlines why active conservation effort on this river matters.

The trout season opens on 1 April in time for hatches of grannom and large dark olives, running through to 15 October. The river also has a hatch of mayfly (Green Drake) that runs throughout the season, though mayfly hatches are generally lighter than on the Test system. From October onward, grayling become the primary target through the winter months. The upper river and its chalk-fed tributaries, the Wylye and Nadder, are fished with upstream dry fly and nymph for wild brown trout and . Downstream of Salisbury the river transitions to a largely coarse fishery, and from below Fordingbridge there are a number of salmon fisheries before the river reaches the sea at Christchurch. The Netheravon stretch carries particular angling history: Oliver Kite devised the Kite's Imperial here to represent the large dark olive, while Frank Sawyer, inventor of the Pheasant Tail Nymph, served as head keeper for the Services Dry Fly Fishing Association from 1928 until his death in 1980.

FishingBeats currently lists 23 beats