The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I fished just below the Sandy Balls campsite once!

& me. Please.

Took a trip there with the trouble & strife last summer stopping off to peek over Ibsley bridge at 4.30 am and witnessed the biggest chub topping I've ever seen (around 8lb in my opinion).
Later after lunch and shopping (yawn) took a slow stroll through park next to river and saw hundreds of chub.
And typically no rod in hand but made me salivate and a self made promise of a return ....one day.
Count me in...definitely!

I have fished Lifelands a few times. Always in November, usually the day after the first hard frosts of the season, when visiting from the US (when we lived there). A certain Mr Yates put me onto a swim in which "even you can't fail to catch". Yes, I blanked. The sum total of my visits there is one chub (not very big) and an eel (quite big). My daydream is to retire to the Fordingbridge/Ibsley area. The likelihood is that this will remain just a dream... But I'd fish the Avon around there any time.

Accompanied by Mrs Merlot, we had lunch in the pub next to the bridge, the George Inn, if my memory serves my correctly. Anyway we spent a few hours relaxing, and also throwing bits of bread into the swim, below the patio area of the pub, and watching the chub, some pushing 6-7lb, hoovering/snatching up the bread.
Made for good entertainment, for our fellow lunch-timers and our dog.

Walked the Fordingbridge stretch a few times now, it does indeed look very fishy but locals have told me that most of the large chub shoal up around the bridge and pub, typically an area that is out of bounds.

I regularly fish the Horseport stretch around the flyover at Fordingbridge in winter. It has produced several 20lb plus pike and double figure barbel but never one of the 2lb roach it is famous for.
John.

Plenty of quality chub in fording bridge park stretch, I've fished it a fair bit, chucks up a handful of decent roach each winter too!

There were roach in there in the eighties and nineties that would make your eyes pop out! A wonderful piece of water, fishing in the park there were lovely runs down the inside, far bank down to the stream, off the back of the island or the last peg down to a bush. The next stretch down was Redbrook and was deep, mysterious and...also the place for a monster!

I used to fish Damerham (Compasses Inn) and Fordingbridge in the70's & 80's.... loads of Chub and Dace... cracking place.... I stayed at Allens farm in the 70's and caught loads in the town stretch... I think the local pub was called "The Load of Hay" spent many an evening in there.... I'd be up for a trip back again Stu