Kennet Mixed Fishery, Speen, Newbury.

The weather had been good for a couple of days now, the cloud was breaking again and another good day was forecast. I decided to have another go for the trout at a mixed fishery I had access to. I had not been to this stretch before so it would be an opportunity to fish for the trout while also checking out the potential for the coming coarse fishing season.

I got to the water at 7am, it was brightening up and all sign pointed towards a hatch. Unfortunately the water was stained, presumably run off from the motorway. It was odd that I didn't notice it on Saturday while fishing further downstream - it must have been just the same, if not worse. I put it down to excitement at being near the river with a rod in my hand....

The fishing here was dry fly only. I checked around and there were a few olives floating down as well as some grannoms. Duly selected an olive klinkhamer, tied it to a 3lb tippet and off I went. I set off down a feeder which looked like it had quite fast water interspersed with fallen trees and areas of glides. I quickly got to dense woodland with fallen trees accross the path and into the water - having not been here before was clearly a hindrance! However, I persevered and hacked through the dead hogweed and bramble, snagging my line several times as I went. I found a bend which looked interesting and at least permitted a cast. I watched for a while before a delicate rise attracted my attention - a trout? It rose again but in a different place. I decided it was a trout although it wouldn't be very large. Five casts later I decided I had either spooked it or it wasn't interested. Further round I discovered the main stream. This looked more likely although I had to admit it was much more chubby than anything. I spotted some very large shapes at the bottom of a lovely glide which I assumed were barbel. Noted their position for June!

Found a weirpool and a very fast bit of water draining it with ranunculus - this looked more likely. The fast water looked lke a River Test feeder but no trout showed. A few exploratory casts revealed nothing. Moved up to the weirpool, this looked inviting although the ubiquitous dog splash area hinted that the fish might get disturbed regularly. Had several casts and then sat and watched for a few minutes, nothing much moved. Explored every bend and glide on the rest of the fishery but no more fish showed on the surface. One of the other feeders that went beneath the A34 hinted that it might produce a trout and I went t the very end of the stretch. I could see a fish beneath a patch of streamer weed at the end of the stretch, but it showed no interest in the dry fly.

Therefore - caught nothing - not even an offer! Oh well, never mind. The fishery is lovely - surrounding a woodland nature reserve it is alive with butterflies and wildlife. I saw a nuthatch and several woodpeckers were drumming in the background. Lots of butterflies -notably brimstones, speckled wood and peacocks. The sight of a water vole made me recall that as a kid they were everywhere - not an infrequent sight at all. The increasingly common buzzards were whirling overhead and a red kite - known as Oxfordshire sparrows these days due to their booming populations - made an appearance as well.