New stretch of Hampshire Avon opens to day-ticket anglers

An untapped stretch of river which has the potential to become one of the UK’s top specimen waters has been opened to day-ticket anglers.

The previously unoccupied stretch of the Hampshire Avon at Sopley became available to the public after Christchurch Angling Club secured the rights to the venue earlier this month.

A small area of the 2km zone, which is sandwiched between the famous Royalty and Bisterne fisheries, has previously been targeted by a small number of anglers and threw up barbel to just ounces short of the current British record.

Christchurch committee member Stephen Jenner is excited by the prospect. He told Angling Times: “We used to hold part of the same stretch a few years back and it produced some monster barbel as well as some superb bags of dace, but the half mile main river section has never been fished so who knows what’s in there? It is completely untapped,” he said.

Angling guide Kenny Parsons, who regularly fishes the Avon, believes Christchurch’s acquisition is a huge coup for the area’s anglers. 

“The middle stretches of the Avon, which include Sopley, are well known to contain some of the largest chub and barbel in the UK. To spice things up, the newly acquired waters haven’t been fished for years.

“Add the two together and the fact that’s it’s a day-ticket venue make it a superb prospect for river fans. It’s fair to say there are few day-ticket stretches to equal this on the whole river,” he said.