The Salmon Fishing

Quality salmon fishing is closer to home than you think.
(available on a season and day ticket basis)

COME TO ONE OF OUR OPEN MORNINGS on 11th and 18th November for a guided walk of our salmon beats. See our News page for details.

The salmon fishing at Lower Itchen Fishery was established over 50 years ago, and has an impressive track record over the years, often having the highest catch record of all salmon fisheries in the area. 

The 2007 catch of 107 fish is very encouraging and the best catch since 2001.  The largest fish caught was 13lbs and a decent number of MSW fish were seen amongst the grilse.

The river conditions were perfect for the salmon and the heavy rainfall in June & July brought in large numbers of fish - many of which ran straight through our stretch which although would have made our catch record even higher had they taken their time to travel up stream, bodes well for this year's spawning and therefore future runs.  This, coupled with the fantastic smolt run this year and the cessation of the Irish Drift nets we hope marks the turning point for salmon runs in the future.

Our catches over the past few years have been 2002 (101), 2001 (41), 2000 (131), 1996 (158), 1995 (138) and 1993 (151). 

The largest fish to be taken from the fishery was in 1958 and weighed in at a memorable 48lbs.  Fish of that size are not seen on the river anymore but the 23½lb fish caught in 2001 was the largest for 16 years and we hope this may be a sign of an upturn in the salmon sizes.

The Environment Agency introduced a new Byelaw in 1999 making it mandatory catch and release for salmon up to 16th June.  To further conserve the salmon population the Environment Agency insisted fisheries on both the Test and Itchen have a policy of total catch and release which we have taken on board and included within our rules.  However, our fishery still offers good salmon fishing with the added bonus of being allowed to catch up to two brown trout per beat per visit and no limits on the number of sea trout, which all adds to a days sport. 

The salmon fishing is carried out over 3 beats which are keepered to suit the salmon's preference for deep channels cut into the potamogetun and lies created by means of groynes and bolders on the riverbed.

The size of the grilse are particularly impressive with an average weight between 7-8lbs. Our salmon beats are only 1mile from the tidal limits and from June to the end of September fresh run sea liced fish enter the river on a daily basis.

The fishery lends itself to fishing for salmon with bait and lures with the prawn, ledger or float fished, (used after 16th June) being the most popular method. Natural and red prawns appear to be more effective than the other colours available.

Spinning is another popular method used with lures such as the Flying C and no. 4 Mepps. The other, less known method of fishing with a nymph on a light trout rod creates for very exciting fishing and is becoming more popular.

The salmon fishing is offered on:

A Season basis either fortnightly or weekly on a named day of the week Rods are allocated a beat to themselves and their guests on each of their booked days rotating around  the three different beats during the season.

A Flexible System which gives 18 days fishing.  The "Flexible" rod is more expensive than the tradition Season Rod but offers many advantages, namely:

Fishing is in the "prime" months of May to the end of September.  You may choose which beat you want to fish when you book your day.

Bookings are not restricted to set days of the week throughout the season.  For example, you may to choose to fish on a Tuesday on one visit and a Wednesday on the next visit.

It should help you avoid missing days due to holiday/work commitments.

You can leave booking some or all of your days to the last minute.

You can book several days fishing in a row to make a "short break/holiday".

A day ticket basis, which must be booked in advance.