River Fishing - A Right Royal Day Out

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A very nice, well written and enjoyable piece Andrew

Cheers

Judas Priest said:

A very nice, well written and enjoyable piece Andrew

Cheers

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Agreed nice write up Andrew, have yet to grace the banks of The Royalty myself but is definitely near the top on my "to do" list in angling.

Thanks for such a good article. I have been on the Royalty a fair bit this year, and I have hardly seen anybody fishing the little weir. Due to the dry winter, the sluice gates that control the inflow to it have been mainly closed, with the result that there has been very little flow and hence no silver fish to attract the pike.

You mentioned that it was difficult to catch livebaits. During the summer months, the Royalty teems with dace and bleak, but they disappear after December. Where they go is anybody's guess, but they will all be back again with the beginning of the new season.

I'd recommend the Royalty to anyone. It does take some stick for being overcrowded and "hammered", but I think that's only partially true. Yes, the most popular swims such as the Pipes are usually occupied seven days a week, but the bottom end of the Fishery, Johnsons and Barlins, is very lightly fished. The very top, the Cinder path, is harldly fished at all.

There can't be many river fisheries where you can be with a chance of catching specimens of all all the usual river species, along with carp, sea trout, mullet, flounders and bass!

David Dalton said:

.... the Royalty teems with dace and bleak, but they disappear after December. Where they go is anybody's guess, but they will all be back again with the beginning of the new season.

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Take a stroll down below the Waterloo Pool/Bridge Pool, down past Clay Pool and into the upper harbour - that's where they are!

Nice article, used to fish The Parlour and Great Weir Compound way back in the 1970's. It's a bit different nowadays but still a pleasant place to fish.

The Royalty is still a fine fishery particularly for the barbel and, as has been said, there are excellent areas fairly lightly fished.

I always enjoy visiting the Royalty as like yourself, it was a dream venue that existed in my mind ever since reading Crabtree. It can never live up to expectations, in fact I felt it was like fishing a circus venue.... but I am still drawn back and always feel like something really extraordinary could happen at any time.... and sometimes it does!

I have been tempted to buy a ticket for the Parlor Pool or top weir but my trips are never that organised to get anything sorted far enough in advance.

Just a point, isn't the Royalty managed by Southern Fisheries but still accessible to Ringwood Club book members on a limited basis? I don't think Ringwood has any role in managing the stretch.

chav professor said:

I have been tempted to buy a ticket for the Parlor Pool or top weir but my trips are never that organised to get anything sorted far enough in advance.

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Both are wonderful places to fish, equally evocative and sometimes sitting there you can almost imagine Mr Crabtree in the next swim.

The fishing is not as good there as it once wass, but then, is it anywhere these days?

The Royalty Fishery is one of, if not the greatest of fishing experiences; given the choice of a day on the Royalty of a couple of weeks on the Trent I'd opt for the Royalty, every time!

A very interesting article. Have never fished the Royalty, took a look in the late 60's and preferred the less crowded, more laid back atmosphere of Throop which we fished regularly throughout the 70's.
Jerry

chav professor said:

Just a point, isn't the Royalty managed by Southern Fisheries but still accessible to Ringwood Club book members on a limited basis? I don't think Ringwood has any role in managing the stretch.

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Leased to Southern Fisheries by the Water Company as is the whole of the Lower Stour and much of the Harbour. RDAA have limited access to the Royalty for it's membership at no extra charge (except for the Premium Tickets).

Great Weir, Parlour and Bridge Pool are sometimes available at great value prices later on in the season. If you can fish at short notice then it's well worth the effort of checking availability with Davis Tackle. Sitting in that boat below the bridge in the centre of Christchurch within sight and sound of The Priory is iconic for me and would love to do again a few more times.

Both the Weir Compound and Parlour have changed considerably with the lesser flow and levels. Both can still produce some incredible fishing but can also be extremely hard work (as ever!).

The Royalty is quite a small fishery and has it's really popular areas, all day every day, but most of it has a tremendous head of Barbel (and some mighty big ones as well!).

Nice piece Andrew...

What make is your stalking seat?

I had one just like it for years but am struggling to find a replacement...

Hello Andrew,

Great piece I enjoyed that.

The big R is a funny place. One day it can be awful the next it can produce a fish/bag of a life time.

The thing is as you say a lot peoples expectations are very high when they come here. The Hants Avon does not give up her secrets easily and you would have to be very lucky to crack it on one trip down. It's a hard water but one that every year simply astonishes me with the fish it produces.

With regards to rolling meat, on the Royalty it is one of the top methods, get it right and it will out fish any other for both numbers and size of fish. It's a lovely way to explore and boy oh boy the bang from a big barbel is exciting. Oh yeah, get on the garlic spam.... I say no more.....

As the Chavmiester says the fishery is now run by Southern Fisheries, who have done an excellent job in recent years. It is baliffed well, the banks are kept in perfect order and swims cut in the summer. What more is there? Yes, it is more commercial now but who really cares? It is a day ticket fishery, if you want solitude head up to the middle Avon and catch nowt for days on end.

Just to add to this increasingly sycophantic homage to the place, the Royalty is perhaps the friendliest fishery I know. I think because a lot of the chaps who fish it are down on holiday the atmosphere is relaxed, easy going and everyone looks out for one another. Almost every one you meet is up for a laugh, gives good banter and most of the regulars are happy to help out and put you on to fish. It makes the whole place a pleasure to fish and truly one of the jewels in British fishing.

Also don't forget we also have Throop and as Neil says Christchurch Harbour both with 5 minutes from Davis Tackle.....

Here endeth my attempt to increase Christchurch's tourism.

Thanks for all the kind comments chaps. I'm really glad this article has sparked a bit of interest because it really took some writing! I couldn't seem to convey my feelings properly without coming across as really critical towards the Royalty, which I'm not. I changed it around a lot and finally managed to put the gist of what was in my head into words.

We didn't go up to see the top weir compound because there were a number of anglers on it the first day and I didn't want to disturb them, then the second day we couldn't fish there anyway so it seemed a waste of time. From video and pictures I've seen, this does look like a much larger section than the Parlour and it would be tempting to try to get on there just for the experience, if I ever do go back. The Parlour in the Summer would also be a very different prospect. Still very difficult, no question about that, but I can imagine that place full of streamer weed and with leaves on the trees around it must be really atmospheric. If nothing else, visiting the Royalty is one more thing ticked off the "to-do" list and hopefully I've got enough fishing trips ahead of me to make a return trip a reality one day.

As a few of you have pointed out, I've made a glaring error in referring to the controlling club, RDAA members can fish the venue, but don't control the day tickets. I'll raise the point with Welchy and I'm sure he'll change that and keep things accurate.

David - The exact opposite happens on the Derwent & Dove, the minnows vanish in winter, despite making Summer fishing with maggots or casters impossible due to their plague numbers. Try catching one to use as bait in the Winter and they've vanished!

Chav Prof - I did have that same "it could happen at any moment" feeling for most of the second day; people were catching, we tried some amazing swims and everything felt right, but for us it didn't quite happen. I think if the Parlour had a bit of colour in it I would have been expecting something amazing to happen too! Now I've seen the place and know what to expect, I would change most of my approach if I visited again. I'd fooled myself into thinking I'd gone there with an open mind towards what it would be like and how I would fish; it's only once I've looked back that it's become clear that was not the case.

barbelboi - At least a couple of anglers who'd fished both Throop and Royalty in the past, told me before I went that they far preferred Throop. I considered switching venues, but Throop doesn't have the same draw for me, because I didn't hear about it until much later, probably not much more than a decade ago when there seemed to be a monster throop chub in Anglers Mail every week. I've also heard that the car park(s?) up there are quite notorious for break-ins. It's a shame if that's the case because not knowing the area, that probably would put me off a bit and would definitely remove any laid back atmosphere for me.

Neil - I agree, fishing from the punt in the boat pool is extremely iconic! I'm not so sure how it fishes down there in the winter, but trotting from that punt on a nice overcast Autumn day would be bliss. See, I'm romanticising about the place again already, I'm glutton for punishment!

****y - The seat was from Amazon I think, it's made by "Highlander" and cost about a tenner. I had never seen one until I fished the Ebro last year. The guide, Carl, had them on the boat for a bit of padding and back support and I thought they were a great idea. They're never going to be as good as a proper chair but it's surprising how much rigidity the little aluminium strips inside give it.

Eddy - Once the weed has died back a bit next winter I'll definitely give rolling a try. In my limited experience with the method I caught a barbel from a spot on the Dove which ended up becoming my favourite barbel swim for 3 seasons! My bait had gone over a boulder and the current flicked it up about 18 inches off bottom, but I saw the barbel swim up and nab the luncheon meat! I thought it was a trout for a start, it seemed such un-barbel-like behaviour, but in actual fact it's probably far more common behavious than I gave it credit for. Most of the food a barbel will naturally pick up will be drifting downstream and the majority of it won't be rolling along permantently on the deck, so in clear water they must have to come up in the water to intercept food regularly. Everything about rolling makes sense as to why it would work, but seeing so many anglers using it to such great effect has given me much more confidence to use it.
As for the friendliness of anglers on the Royalty; I was quite taken aback by how approachable and open everyone was. It seemed there were no secrets at all and for example there were a few details I've kept back about Steve's pike captures. He very openly told me in good faith, knowing I was only visiting for two-days, so I have respected that by not blurting everything on the internet. Trefor West was also a very approachable guy and although I'm sure a man of his experience has more than a few tricks up his sleeve, he openly discussed tactics and later I saw him helping another angler out who was chub fishing with a carp rod. Also the staff at Davis tackle were brilliant on the phone and in person, despite us not going in and spending hundreds in their shop, Nigel was extremely friendly and helpful. It's great to see in the 21st century and I doubt that if you visited a carp lake of a similar national reputation you'd find the majority of anglers to be quite so open and friendly.

Andrew

I'd give the Parlour a miss next time. It's very over rated and there are far better areas these days. Big Weir down the Trammels and on to Watersmeet is an area with some very good fish, as is the lower part of the fishery down near the road bridge and beyond.
If you fancy a challenge, try the Mullet in the Piles swims.

The Parlour is not as good as it used to be (pre 1980s/1990s) but it still holds quite a bit of magic and occasionally produces a few stunners. As Andrew found out, it's a very short "swim" nowadays and the flow is usually very different from what I used to know.

We used to almost ignore the areas immediately down from the walls, only wandering downstream to give the main pool a rest!

The history and the hype surrounding the fishery (and it's current form for barbel) is more than enough to get visiting anglers coming in big numbers (and why not). The local successful anglers have the distinct advantage of picking and choosing the best conditions and timing. Although no longer local, I will happily fish it late afternoon and through to close (the banks are often pretty empty at that point!).

Neil Maidment said:

I will happily fish it late afternoon and through to close (the banks are often pretty empty at that point!)

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The Royalty is just an hour from my place, and Neil's advice above is spot on.

A nice piece of writing mate

Those folding seats are available from Go Outdoors for a tenner, ideal for roving and also fit inside a bedchair for use on longer sessions