BEATS 1-10

Main River Kennet Fishery

Beat 1 – Undy’s Meadow

The most upstream beat, fishing begins at the beat sign and the end of the mown path is the upstream boundary. We have cleared a number of areas for fishing access, located next to well-defined pools that usually hold fish. Most of this beat is shared fishing with the Chilton Estate fishing the far bank.

Beat 2 – The Draughts

Extending upstream from the thatched fishing hut at Rootes Beat, the Draughts Beat finishes at the shared fishing sign. This beat is sinuous in character with good weed growth and numerous wild fish that rise freely when there is a batch of olives.

Beat 3 – Rootes Beat

Starting at Eddington Mill on the upstream side of the rock weir, Rootes Beat continues upstream to the 100 year old thatched fishing hut. The river here is fast and sometimes challenging, with a clean gravel bed and prolific weed growth. The beat gets shallower toward the upstream end and has a very productive pool where the currents meet behind the island.

Beat 4 – Upstream of Eddington Bridge

The most upstream beat, fishing begins at the beat sign and the end of the mown path is the upstream boundary. We have cleared a number of areas for fishing access, located next to well-defined pools that usually hold fish. Most of this beat is shared fishing with the Chilton Estate fishing the far bank.

Beat 5 – Eddington Bridge to Wine Cellar

The wide section of water directly below Eddington Bridge is probably the most consistent section of the whole Fishery, with some kind of hatch and fish rising most days of the season.

Moving downstream, the sides of the island provide good but sometimes very challenging fishing. The channels rejoin to form the Wine Cellar Pool, possibley the most famous pool on the River Kennet, which is referenced as far back as the mid-1800s. here the character of the river changes, it deepens, ribbon weed becomes more prevalent than ranunculus, with the adjacent woodland offering protection from the wind. The Wine Cellar footbridge is the bottom of the beat.

Beat 6 – Wine Cellar Bridge to Bracket Hatch

This is a beat of considerable length and probably the most popular.

The Jubilee Hut, a favourite lunch venue, is situated on the north bank at the upstream end of the beat. The weed rack denotes the bottom of the beat.

Large trees shade several areas and the greater water depth means the fish hold well during the summer. Deeper than most of the Fishery, this beat can sometimes be less productive at the start of the season, with many fish not coming to the surface until the mayfly start to hatch. The downstream end of this beat has excellent late evening hatches of BWO, particularly in the weed rack area.

Beat 7 – Bracket Hatch to Dun Mill Bridge

This beat can be accessed either by walking downstream from Bracket Hatch using the return paths or by walking upstream from Lower Denford through Dun Mill. This beat has two stretches of river.

Downstream of Beat 6 on the north bank, between the footbridge at the top and the side stream at the bottom, and the Back Stream, which flows from the sluice gates past the Sunday Gate to Denford, the bottom boundary being the concrete footpath adjacent to the brick garage with the clock tower.

ONLY Commoners may fish downstream to Denford Bridge.

The Sunday gate is no longer a feature and has been replaced with a simple sign. Please do not fish downstream of this sign on a Sunday.

Being quite shaded, this is a good beat to fish on bright days. After the mayfly have finished, sedges provide most of the sport.

Beat 8 – Lower Meadow

This is the the first beat on the Fishery after the confluence of the rivers Dun and Kennet. The upstream boundary is the road bridge at Lower Denford, where there are two car parks, and the downstream boundary is the old footbridge, the boundary with Avington Estate.

This is a shallow fast-moving section of the river with prolific ranunculus beds. Spectacular sport can be had here during the mayflower season, but this beat also fishes well during hatches of small olives and sedges as it has a good stock of free rising wild brown trout.

This bank is not as even as some other beats and access is over stiles, if you are unable to access a stile there is a gate at the downstream end (Please ask the River Keeper for the lock code).

Beat 9 – Lower Dun

Running parallel to the River Kennet downstream of Hungerford, this beat can be accessed by paths running south of Beat 6.

The river here is 3-4 feet deep with a gravel bed, the most common weed is star wort which starts to grow later in the season than other macrophytes. This results in this section of river looking fantastic right to the end of the season. The fishing on this beat is left-handed and it fishes best in the morning or late in the evening when the sun is no longer on the water. During the afternoon a small nymph on a fine tippet is often the best approach.

Beat 10 – Historic Channel

This is a new and developing beat. It begins below Eddington Pool on Beat 4. It meanders its way to the rear of Rootes Hut, flowing round the south side of Eddington Lake and ends at the new bridge at the off take from the main river channel on Beat 2.

This is a very natural channel, in places flowing through areas of willow scrub. Although these areas are not fishable, they do provide shelter and spawning habitat for fish and invertebrates, which benefits the whole Fishery.

BEAT 11

Hungerford Marsh

Hungerford Marsh is the most interesting beat on the River Dun. At its upstream end the river is shallow, fast flowing and populated mostly with small trout. As you move downstream, the river deepens and slows becoming home to much larger fish. The meandering character of this beat creates deep dark corners where surprisingly large fish hide.

This beat is a kilometre in(0.6 miles) in length and has its own fishing hut. Access is either from the church or through the gate on the A4). Please remember this beat is catch and release only.

Hungerford Marsh is a separate beat, available as its own beat membership or in conjunction with main Fishery membership.