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The Piscatorial Society
'' is one of the oldest angling societies in England, if not the world. It was founded in 1836 and still flourishes today. It leases fly fishing water on a number of

chalk stream Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with chalk bedrock. Since chalk is permeable, water percolates easily through the ground to the water table and chalk streams therefore receive little surface runoff. As a result, th ...

s in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

and

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, including the

Wylye Wylye () is a village and civil parish on the River Wylye in Wiltshire, England. The village is about northwest of Salisbury and a similar distance southeast of Warminster. The parish extends north and south of the river, and includes the h ...

, the

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, the Itchen and the

Hampshire Avon The River Avon () is in the south of England, rising in Wiltshire, flowing through that county's city of Salisbury and then west Hampshire, before reaching the English Channel through Christchurch Harbour in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and P ...

. It no longer has a base in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, but maintains a Rod Room on one of its Wiltshire rivers. Although members originally fished for all sorts of fish (the society's crest still represents the head of a

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

), the society now concentrates on fishing for brown trout and grayling with upstream dry fly or unweighted

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imitations dressed lightly in the style of G. E. M. Skues. The Society has, at its core, three key objectives. First, to maintain a fellowship of flyfishers and the tradition of

flyfishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...

, where possible, for wild or naturalised brown trout and grayling. Secondly, to preserve what remains of the

environment; unpolluted water, healthy and appropriate weed growth and good fly hatches. Thirdly, to enhance the Society's libraries and archives.

History

The first meeting of which the Minutes survive took place on 2 November 1837, and at this meeting it was resolved to have a card engraved for presentation to members. This card bears the inscription:

''The Piscatorial Society – Established 16th October, 1837 – For promoting friendly intercourse and mutual information among the lovers of the Art of Angling -Held at the 'Marquis of Granby,'
South Audley Street South Audley Street is a major shopping street in Mayfair, London.'South Audley Street: Introduction', in Survey of London: Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings), ed. F H W Sheppard (London, 1980), pp. 290–291. Br ...
"''Hammond, P.M. (editor) (Andover,1936) "The Book of the Piscatorial Society 1836-1936"

The decorated chair in the picture at the head of the table still exists along with many other original artefacts and books. The Club Secretary is Geoff Fleming.

References

{{Reflist 1836 establishments in England Organisations based in Wiltshire Recreational fishing