Getting Started

Some of you will probably find it difficult to remember how bewildering our lovely river could be when you were first getting started. You could wander along a beat and miss two thirds of the fishing spots, assuming you could find your way to the beat in the first place. We have a lot of new members this year, and it's clear that some are experienceing that bewilderment that we did many years ago. So here's a few pointers on how to get going.

1. Look at the Beat Map.

Don't look at this map though - go to the website, Members Only section, and click on Beat Maps. Zoom in and study it to get an overall picture of the beats. While you're there:

2. Look at the Beat Guide.

This will give you a short pen-picture of each beat, so you can decide which ones you want to try first.

3. Look at the Car Parking guide which will tell you how to get there, and exactly where to park.

4. Look at the Beat Spot Guide which goes into exhaustive detail about (almost) all of the fishing spots on each beat. It even has What3Words refs for every spot. You don't have to locate every one, but it will give you a good idea of how many access points there are on each beat, and help you find the ones you want to try.

If you do all that, you're in with a fighting chance of finding a spot that works for you. We're very lucky this season because every spot has been visited over the Winter, repaired, and new steps and ladders put in place wherever necessary.

The river has never been so accessible.

We're also lucky that water has been quite low and relatively clear all season so far, which makes it much easier to see how the river lies. It'll be very different after a week of rain (if that ever happens). The sunny days and low water bring their own problems of course, not least the brown slimy algae forming on the bottom of much of the river. This normally only occurs in mid-Summer occasionally, but it will get washed away eventually. In the meantime, there are some tips on coping with the slime in the previous blog item.

It's worth browsing through some the back items in the blog for tips and tales and general background, and checking in every week or so, to see what's new.

You also need to look around the other pages in the Members area, and the rest of the site, especially the Association Rules!

You'll find that the Teise is quite different fishing from most other rivers, and is certainly no Hampshire Chalk Stream, nor is it a heavily stocked stillwater where you get a fish on every other cast. Even the most experienced members expect to blank sometimes, as the river can be very challenging, but that's also what makes it so rewarding.

Don't be afraid to ask other members that you meet on the river for a few tips and advice on where to fish - they're usually more than happy to share what they know.

Finally, please fill in a catch return every time you fish, whether you catch anything or not. A blank return is actually very useful to us. Make sure you remember to enter which beat you fished, and how many you caught (maximum 4 of course) and of those, how many you returned.

Thanks and Tight Lines

PeterB