Dartmoor, Devon
Dartmoor’s unique atmosphere keeps many fly-fishers coming back to its Duchy of Cornwall fishery year after year. With wild ponies and granite tors on every skyline, Two Bridges makes a perfect mid-moor base for exploring miles of enticing streams – clear, darkly tannic, and full of hungry fish.
• Day ticket from £10, westcountryangling.com
Assynt, Sutherland
Under the shadow of massive mountains like Suilven and Quinag, it’s an awe-inspiring experience to discover waters like Fionn Loch, which is home to arctic char as well as native brown trout. Local guides can be hired to introduce you to this breathtaking wilderness, with salmon and saltwater fishing as exciting optional extras.
• Day tickets £7.50-£10; week £30-£40, assyntanglinginfo.org.uk/outlets
River Tyne, Northumberland
For many salmon fishers, the Tyne has it all: wild Pennine landscapes, fishing prices that don’t require taking out a second mortgage, and prolific numbers of salmon that run the river every month of the year. The Tyne usually yields England’s biggest catch of sea trout, too, thanks to peat-tinged water which gives the fish confidence and means you can fish for them in daylight as well as at night.
• Day tickets from £35, fishpal.com
River Clettwr, Powys
The further you head up the River Wye, on the border of England and Wales, the wilder the landscape gets – and one of its unsung gems is a tiny tributary called the Clettwr. This name means “rough water”, plunging down to meet the Wye through a gorge that’s almost vertical in places, full of fallen trees and bubbling pools. Travel light and get ready to climb – it’s well worth the effort.
• Day ticket £12.50, fishingpassport.co.uk
Strangford Lough, County Down
Powerful tides rip through the rocky Narrows between Strangford and Portaferry at the mouth of Strangford Lough, creating world-class habitat for mackerel, pollock, spurdog, haddock and wrasse. Further inland, there’s challenging but excellent sea-trout fishing among more than a hundred rugged little islands on the western shoreline of the UK’s largest sea loch.
• Free fishing, nationaltrust.org.uk
