Start with Booby (8-10) on a fast strip on floating line or static on sinking. Rainbows respond to more active retrieves — try short strips between pauses. If that does not produce, switch depth or speed before changing the pattern entirely. When no hatch is visible, a buzzer team — black stripped quill on the point, attractor or pearl-rib on the top dropper — is the default starting point on any UK stillwater.
Fish early and late, try deeper during the heat of the day with a fast-sinking line.
Evening tends to be the best period in summer — stay late if you can for a sedge or spinner fall.
Bank fishing near inflows, dam walls, and weed beds. Move to find feeding fish.
Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.
Conditions are ideal for Ashdown Forest Fly Fishery — wind, cloud and temperature all line up.
A long-established Sussex fly fishery set in quiet countryside near Ashdown Forest, offering stocked trout fishing from the bank and from flat-bottomed boats. It is run as a dedicated fly venue with a clear small-water identity rather than a broad mixed coarse complex. The fishery suits anglers looking for a managed stillwater with practical access, a settled trout-fishery setup, and enough structure to make presentation matter.
A long-established Sussex fly fishery set in quiet countryside near Ashdown Forest, offering stocked trout fishing from the bank and from flat-bottomed boats.
Start with Booby (8-10) on a fast strip on floating line or static on sinking. Rainbows respond to more active retrieves — try short strips between pauses. If that does not produce, switch depth or speed before changing the pattern entirely. When no hatch is visible, a buzzer team — black stripped quill on the point, attractor or pearl-rib on the top dropper — is the default starting point on any UK stillwater.
Fish early and late, try deeper during the heat of the day with a fast-sinking line.
Evening tends to be the best period in summer — stay late if you can for a sedge or spinner fall.
Bank fishing near inflows, dam walls, and weed beds. Move to find feeding fish.
Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.
Conditions are ideal for Ashdown Forest Fly Fishery — wind, cloud and temperature all line up.
A long-established Sussex fly fishery set in quiet countryside near Ashdown Forest, offering stocked trout fishing from the bank and from flat-bottomed boats. It is run as a dedicated fly venue with a clear small-water identity rather than a broad mixed coarse complex. The fishery suits anglers looking for a managed stillwater with practical access, a settled trout-fishery setup, and enough structure to make presentation matter.
