Wylye & Test Evenings
Langford Lakes: Wylye & Test 48‑Hour Evening Beats
Langford Lakes on the River Wylye holds singles and doubles of 2–3lb wild brown trout in its upper twilight reaches, with shoals of grayling in the lower pools. Clear chalkwater, dying weedbeds and 2–5ft glides make this stretch ideal for last‑light sight fishing. Map reference runs from ST 912 418 down to ST 905 415; OS Explorer 143 covers Warminster and Trowbridge.
Start Friday evening at the Langford beat. Stealthy wading over gravel, short casts into seams and twitching an Olive Upright #16-18 provoke surface takes. Gear choice is firm: 7-8ft rods in 3-4wt, floating lines and 9ft tapered leaders with 6X tippet. Grayling favour the deeper glides; fish a Hares Ear or Grayling Special #14 on long leaders for subsurface pulls.
Test twilight extension
Shift east to Houghton Mill on the Lower Test (SU 329 367) for silky 4-6ft runs where 3-5lb brownies cruise streamer weed channels at dusk. Stockbridge lodges sit riverside; Langford Lakes cottages are steps from the Wylye beats. Evenings in early May bring olive and hawthorn hatches—use a foam Hawthorn Fly #12 for explosive surface takes.
Conservation matters: Wylye grayling have thrived wild since the 1930s, a boost to chalkstream biodiversity. On the final dusk a brown will ghost the weed edge, nail an olive and vanish back into glassy river shadow.
Recommended: WF floating fly line