Thames Valley
The River Kennet is one of England's finest chalk streams, and it's genuinely surprising how few visiting anglers realise it's right here, easily reached from London — a 45-mile river rising near Silbury Hill in Wiltshire and flowing through Marlborough, Hungerford and Newbury to join the Thames at Reading, where it contributes up to half the Thames's flow in summer. Frederick Halford, the father of dry-fly fishing, held a lease on a considerable length of it in the late 1800s, and the Kennet's native brown trout — known locally as the "greenback" — is now a genuinely sought-after rarity among specialist anglers.
The Thames itself, arriving into Oxfordshire as a medium-sized navigable river and widening considerably below its confluence with the Kennet at Reading, offers a completely different style of fishing — proper big-river coarse fishing for barbel, chub, roach and pike, alongside the boating and rowing culture the river is equally famous for.
Rivers
River Kennet
45-mile chalk stream from Wiltshire to Reading, with over 80 miles of fishable water created by 18th-century water engineers across a maze of carriers. Classic upstream dry-fly and nymph fishing for trout, plus some of the finest winter grayling sight-fishing on any English chalk stream, best October–December.
Trout · GraylingRiver Thames (Oxfordshire & Berkshire)
Arrives in Oxfordshire as a medium, navigable river, widening considerably past Caversham where the Kennet joins, then on through Reading and Marlow. Barbel, chub, roach, dace and pike throughout — a genuine big-river coarse fishery.
Barbel · ChubRiver Lambourn & River Dun
The two genuine trout-fishery tributaries of the Kennet, both classic chalk streams in their own right.
TroutGeneral guide only — the Kennet's better trout beats are mostly private or syndicate-controlled and command real prices given demand, though clubs like Gresham and Salisbury & District offer more accessible membership routes. The Thames itself has long stretches of free coarse fishing. Always confirm current permits, season dates and rules directly before fishing.
Check today's conditions for the Thames Valley →