Fly Fishing on the River Test with Fishing Breaks Hampshire

We'd spent the morning practicing flicking and casting the swishing line, but until this moment, I hadn't actually expected to catch anything.

Fortunately our expert guide Steve was on hand to calmly talk me through letting the fish run without slipping the hook.

The netted fish is swiftly despatched with an implement called a priest (Image: Bridget Galton)

There was elation as I reeled it, then the shimmer of trout scales in the net, a quick despatch with a metal 'priest,' and a pang of guilt.

The following night we pan-fried the firm pink flesh in butter and lemon but I could see why Simon Cooper - founder and director of Fishing Breaks - has cut it from his diet.

"It's like eating the staff," he says apologetically. "They are sort of friends."

Simon was a bookie who lived in Kentish Town until he fell in love with The Mill at Nether Wallop on Hampshire's River Test.

My partner Andrew with his first fish since fishing as a boy in Ireland (Image: Bridget Galton)

"I was 12 when I started fly fishing, and I was mad keen in my teens, but like a lot of people I went to London got a proper job, and it fell by the wayside. But I always retained this love of fishing."

He realised the UK lacked America's accessibility where you could "walk into a tackle shop who would sort you out with a guide and all the gear and set you off for the day".

"In most parts of the world rivers are public property, anyone can fish them but in England and Wales they are privately owned and you can only fish them with permission of the owner.

"If you had to organise it yourself it would be complicated and intimidating, that's where we come in."

Proudly standing with my newly caught fish (Image: Bridget Galton)

Cooper manages 150 miles of river in Dorset, Bucks, Berks and Gloucestershire and Hampshire on behalf of the owners and runs days where groups, families or couples like us can enjoy a lazy day by the river.

Buying and restoring the mill in 1999, he saw an opportunity to offer fly fishing to all ages and walks of life.

"Anyone can enjoy it on different levels," he says. "People discover that fishing is just part of the day - it's getting into the countryside, having some me time, conversing with nature at your own pace, as much as the battle against the fish."

After the wettest spring for decades the streams were running high but as beginners we started off at the well stocked pond. The day includes a guide, good coffee, cold beer in the thatched fishing lodge - and an optional barbecue of local sausages and chicken.

The dry flies used in fly fishing are artificial (Image: Bridget Galton)

We took breaks between practising the various casts before trying our luck with the fish. Steve explains you can treat it like a competition - men often do - or like us enjoy a slow-paced day immersed in nature.

As Simon says it's "not about brute strength" - women are often better at the delicate process of skimming the fly-laden line over the water. The flies themselves are not alive but colourful imitations of the real thing.

The night before we checked into the recently refurbished riverside pub The Duke on The Test.

The bedrooms at The Duke on the Test are comfortable and stylish and some have windows opening to a small outside seating space (Image: The Duke on the Test)

It's handily located for local fishing spots and in good weather its setting would be idyllic.

But on a damp evening, the high beamed ceilings and welcoming bar made a cosy bolt hole. Our stylish, comfortable room had a super king-sized bed and doors to an outside seating area.

Best of all was only a stagger from the bar and restaurant which draws on local seasonal fare such as hen's egg with asparagus, hot and cold smoked chalkstream trout with wild garlic, or spring lamb with creamy mash.

Both dinner and breakfast proved that quality and skill were the watchwords of the kitchen. My partner loved his terrine followed by pan seared calves liver, and my lamb done three ways was imaginatively presented and immaculately flavoured.

Sticky toffee pudding and a melting chocolate brownie with ice cream were moreish desserts, and we turned in for a good night's sleep before a great quality full English - again with locally sourced produce - set us up for our day's fishing.

Simon, who has written a book Life of a Chalkstream explains that Hampshire's waterways are are to fishing what St Andrews is to golf.

A stretch of the river at Mottisfont is where the father of fly fishing Frederic Halford fished (Image: Fishing Breaks)

Nearby Mottisfont Abbey was the stamping ground of Frederic Halford the father of dry fly fishing, and The Test is the "holy grail" for fly-fishers.

"It's a proper bucket list trip to see where Halford did his fishing," he adds: "Chalk streams are our own tropical rainforest, a unique ecological habitat, there are only 250 in the world and 245 are in England, they need to be looked after."

Leaving the Mill with a pair of three pound rainbow trout in the boot, we realised it had been deeply satisfying to learn something new, and a privilege to spend time in the lovely Test Valley.