Avington Trout Fishery

Avington Trout Fishery has been established since the late 1960s, created by the late, great Sam Holland, a pioneer in the world of still water trout fishing. The original lake was a continuous narrow lake and so silted up that only a few inches of water existed above the mud. Sam set about widening, deepening and clearing the lake, dividing it into three smaller lakes totaling nine acres. He also diverted the main flow of the water to prevent silting again, and in the process produced the chalk-stream carrier that you still see today that runs alongside the lakes.

Today, the lakes are fringed with marginal growth of sedges, flowering rush, yellow iris and marsh marigolds, which provide cover for the stalking angler.  There is also good shade and cover afforded to the trout and angler by large stands of trees including alder, crack willow, hawthorn, London planes and beautiful oak.  

The lakes are stocked everyday with high quality triploid rainbows, which are all reared on site in the fishery’s own stock ponds.  The water clarity throughout the season is superb – clear water stalking is possible even on heavily overcast days!  For this reason, Avington is also an ideal venue for the novice angler as they can see the fish they are casting to, which makes it so much more enjoyable and is a great confidence booster.

The record rainbow currently stands at 28lb, caught by Paddy Hill, October 2000