The River Wylye at Langford Lakes is a glorious stretch of Wiltshire chalkstream. It is home to strong populations of wild trout and grayling, abundant fly life and crystal clear waters make it a fly fishing dream. The river is one of the Avon Valley’s most sought after fly fishing streams offering fantastic wade fly fishing.
One of the things that makes the fly fishing the River Wylye at Langford Lakes so special is the variety it offers through the season. We have detailed what makes each part of the season so special below.
River Wylye Fly Fishing in the Spring
Early season (April and early May) on the River Wylye at Langford is a special time, the river is opening up after several months of fishing activity. The river is rested, and the brown trout are enjoying a smorgasbord of large dark olives, grannom and other small olives. These shorter day time hatches are generally sufficient enough to get the wild trout happily rising and it is not uncommon to encounter one or two of the bigger fish, often found in fast shallow water create dimple rises.
Although the spring hatches are fantastic when they happen, the changeable weather can make them short-lived, but that should not deter anglers as the beat offers terrific nymph fishing too.
River Wylye Fly Fishing in the Mayfly
Whilst we do not charge a mayfly premium price on the River Wylye at Langford, do not let that deceive you as the stretch is blessed with terrific hatches of mayfly. The river is usually settling back into its slower flows and larger weed beds in May and this is a great time to encounter some of the biggest trout the beat has to offer.
The beat is well sheltered on both banks meaning that the mayfly hatch quite steadily from mid-May to mid-June without too much impact from inclement weather. We typically find the afternoons and evenings are best during this time, but in periods of warmer weather, the mornings can be equally as effective with fish charging after mayfly nymphs and eating freshly emerged duns.
River Wylye Fly Fishing in the Summer
Summer time is typically slower in terms of action, but despite the warmer weather and longer days the water temperatures stay relatively stable thanks to a series of springs throughout the valley. This means that even when fly life is sparse in the middle of the day the fish will be actively looking for small nymphs.
For those that prefer to fish dry fly only, do not let the lack of fly life in the middle of the day put you off as the morning and evening action can be quite amazing. The sheltered banks mean that the bright sun is masked from the water for large periods of the day and in these sheltered spots the trout can often be found smutting during the day time or crashing into caddis in the afternoons.
River Wylye Fly Fishing in the Autumn
Like all of the chalkstreams, the autumn is a magical time. A time when it feels all conditions come together to make the perfect trout and grayling fishing days. The river flows are at their lowest of the season, and large weed beds create lots of interesting runs and pockets in between the main pools. Fly hatches occur almost all day long in most conditions and fish can be regularly found rising in all types of water.
The lower part of the beat will often see wild brown trout and grayling sit in the faster flows, they will happily take passing nymphs but can equally be tempted to dry flies. The uppermost part of the beat offers some very exciting sight fishing on a glassy flat section, where shadows from larger trout and grayling can be stalked and caught.
River Wylye Fly Fishing in the Winter
As the cooler weather moves in and the weed beds die back the River Wylye at Langford becomes a great place for fly fishing for grayling. The variety of water throughout the beat creates numerous holding spots for this beautiful silver fish with small shoals holding in little pools in the lower section. The upper section sees bigger grayling, often holding in singles and doubles. These larger fish require a stealthy approach but can offer hours of enjoyable fishing.
River Wylye Fly Fishing in 2022
2022 Prices:
Season rod – £480 per person
Trout Season (1st April to 15th October) – £75 per person
Grayling Season (16th October to 30th November) – £45 per person
There is good availability throughout the season.
As well as the River Wylye at Langford, we have a large range of other beats throughout the chalkstream valleys, you can view our Spring 2022 availability HERE, and Mayfly 2022 availability HERE.
For more information about fly fishing the River Wylye at Langford please contact Alex Jardine or call our office on +44(0)1980 847389.