The Stourhead Estate has been owned by the Hoare family since the early eighteenth century.
In 1946 Stourhead House and Gardens were donated to the National Trust, while the family retained much of the woodland and farmland to the west, now known as Stourhead (Western) Estate.
We offer fly fishing for wild brown trout in a range of ponds and lakes on the estate.
The trout breed naturally in the streams that rise from springs in the woods, and hence are abundant.
There are ten ponds on the headwaters and tributaries of the river Stour. All are in peaceful, beautiful surroundings.
A season's permit costs £100, a week's permit £30, and are available by contacting the estate office.
To access some of the ponds a key is required which can be collected from the office.
Please return the key at the end of your permit period. Please ensure that you fish safely and that someone knows where you are going!
The season runs from 22 March to 30 September.
Tucking Mill Pond
With mature oak and ash trees on one side and ancient parkland on the other this is an attractive spot. Fish from here cannot readily breed, so the stock have all been introduced from other ponds.
They have had space to grow and there are some really fine fish. Catch and return.
Access is possible in a normal car along a gravel road.
Take the sign to Alfred’s Tower from the Stourton-Gasper road by the Rock Arch. Park on the track by the stream, and there is about 100 yards walk through the field to the pond.
Convent Pond
Totally secluded in woodland, this pond is named after a nearby gothic folly. Fish in a world of your own and forget the 21st century. You are sure of a bite from the numerous young trout which were bred here. However patience and cunning will be needed to catch one of the few veteran remnants of an earlier stocking: the biggest could be 10lb, but they do not hang around. Anything under 1lb can be kept if you wish.
Access is through the woods, from the hairpin bend on the Gasper-Penselwood road.
You will need the key for the barrier. Please leave the barrier as you found it. If you do not have four wheel drive you will need to walk the last 200 metres. Please obey any signs about forestry operations.
New Lake and Lynch Ponds
New Lake is the largest of the lakes at ten acres. Although stocked with coarse fish (not on offer to anglers) there are a good number of trout. The lake is accessible directly from a public road. Catch and return.
Lynch Ponds lie in a sheltered grassy valley. Recently dredged they should be excellent once they have settled. Catch and return.
Access to the Lynch Ponds is from Top Lane, off the Stourton-Gasper Road. Drive to the end of the lane and park by the barn.
The ponds are a short walk down the slope.
Gasper Ponds
A series of five ponds up a stream on the edge of the woods. Trout breed very readily here. Fish under 1lb may be kept.
Either drive down the track past Gasper Mill to the edge of the woods and down through the trees
(the path is not that clear and can be a bit nettle infested),
or park by Gasper Mill and walk through the fields.