Living in Surrey, I am luck enough to have the River Test within an hour's drive.  Considered one of, if not the, pre-eminent chalk streams in England and immortalised in the writings of Skues, Halford and many others, none of this is overblown - it actually is a truly special place to fish. 

Running through an open valley off the beaten track, for the vast majority of its trajectory the Test is an intricate braid of the main channel, tributaries, side streams, man-made carriers for irrigating water meadows, mill channels and feeders, all of which are fishable. 

As with most chalk streams, the water in the Test is noted for its gin-like clarity and the river is noted for its hatches of up winged flies.  These start from late April and peak from early May to late June with hatches of Ephemera Danica, but Autumn hatches can also be good and even in Winter, there are often small hatches of flies.  Brown trout and grayling are the norm,  sometimes sea trout and salmon, but depending on the beat, you may also encounter rainbows. 

Traditions and etiquette can weigh strongly: for example, upstream dry fly only during the mayfly season, sometimes casting only to rising fish.  Then nymphing makes a comeback from the summer months onwards. 

Many of these waters belong to private syndicates but day tickets, booked in advance, are available for a number of beats.  Wherwell provides great fishing during the summer months for trout and the occasional sea trout and salmon, but don't ignore the grayling fishing after 1st November - this can be superb (and considerably cheaper!).  I've taken some of the overseas fly tyers here after the British Fly Fair International, and none of these experienced anglers went away disappointed.    

Please contact me for details of locations and costs if you'd like me to organise a day's fishing for you on the Test.