Bug Life

In this episode of The Game Fishers Diary, Rae gets a lesson in bugs on the rivers Wylye and Itchen, as he enjoys a couple of days fly fishing for Brown Trout and Grayling. The show begins on the delightful Wilton Estate on Wiltshire’s River Wylye in early June, prime time for the absolute epitome of the sport; the Mayfly hatch. Rae joins Peter Hayes, one of the best minds fly fishing has to offer to work up the river. Peter explains his invaluable theories on how to fish these rivers and local entomology (bugs) that he’s garnered through years of research and observation. A few weeks later, Rae joins John Slader on an even more prestigious river, the Itchen. After some informative kick-sampling and discussion of that old fisherman gospel; ‘matching the hatch’, Rae and John get their hands on some stunning chalk stream Brown Trout and Grayling.