March 2019 Blog

Here’s the first of our regular updates on things that happen at Dever, but let’s start with an introduction to our current status.

Manager Stuart Barrett has been here for some 15 years and he is assisted by Jamie Griggs from nearby Andover who is now well into his second year. Many of you will have spoken with Pippa Bull when you make a booking and she has been a feature of the fishery for many years. She does three mornings a week, as well as the catering on corporate days.With the concept of an average two days a week to provide back up for Stuart, Jamie and Pippa, it’s now already a whole year since Peter Cockwill came to join the team.

Quite where that year went, we aren’t too sure, but in that time the fishery also changed hands and is now owned by Iain Liddell of the Essex based Uniserve Group. A keen fly fisher, Iain wants Dever to maintain its prestigious position as a water where trophy fish can be expected, and he will gradually enhance the overall experience for anglers.

This past month has seen some of our gorgeous browns being caught and they will always be a feature of fishery along with the more regular rainbows and a few other surprises from time to time.

Maintaining a 5-8 average is Stuart’s expertise and on site there will always be several thousand fish ranging from 2lbs upwards in various stages of development. It’s a complex game to constantly adjust feed rates dependant on water temperatures, atmospherics and indeed water supply. Last summer was not an easy time for any Southern fishery and we are hoping for lots more rain over the next couple of months to get the aquifers fully topped up.

Being in chalk country it’s so important that the winter rains get the chance to percolate down into the groundwater reserves.

Slightly lower rod numbers in the early months of the year enable a little more leeway to get jobs done and what first seemed a simple job to get roots out of some pipework led to finding that there was a complete blockage from one of the centre rearing ponds, along with the need to completely relay a section of pipe. The timing was perfect for the this job with the arrival of mini digger and this new piece of the fisheries equipment saved hours of tough spade work.

If you come here say just once a month then you likely notice the changes whereas if, like us, you are on site every day then it’s not always so obvious that things are getting done.

The first big change has been the lining out of the gutting shed, which makes it so much easier to clean, despite the very best effort of some anglers who somehow manage to even get blood on the ceiling.

Back in February, Pete has just returned from a fortnight in Argentina and his first walk around was to see the new bridges over some of the rearing ponds. It might seem simple work but it takes time and makes things so much safer for day to day operations. It’s so often the changes in the fish themselves that are hard to spot but two weeks can make a big difference to average weights and there’s always some fish which grow so much faster than their companions in the same pond.

The fishing itself is always excellent at this time of year because trout really love cold water and oddly, are rarely very deep. Not quite what you get led to believe by some pundits. March should now see the buzzer hatch which usually coincides with the spring diatom bloom which can colour the water for a while.

Spring actually isn’t too far away and there daffodils out while swans and geese are already paired up and we have mallard nests with as many as a dozen eggs. Pochard are on Willow lake and if you like bird life there’s also a pair of Water Rail.

There’s lots to tell you as the year progresses and we hope you will enjoy keeping up with the news from your fishery but we close this blog with respect for the recent sad loss of Bob West who owned Avington, our near neighbour.

Dever Springs is a trout fishery, set in the beautiful Hampshire countryside between Andover and Winchester. For more information on our individual and corporate days, please email info@deverspings.co.uk or call 01264 720592