Barn Elms Fly Fishery

Barn Elms Fly Fishery sits on a working farm down Dark Lane at Bradfield, a few miles from Reading in Berkshire and about three miles from Junction 12 of the M4. The fishing is four linked areas of water, Roxy, Diawl Bach, Car Park and Lily, known together simply as the lakes: chalk stream and spring fed, about six and a half acres in total.

Roxy is the biggest of the four, stream fed at its top corner and fishing well right through the season. Diawl Bach and Lily link to it by small gullies, and Car Park Lake, the smallest and quietest of the four, sits by the car park itself. Rainbow and brown trout are stocked weekly, up to 8lb, with some blue and gold trout stocked alongside them.

Tickets are sold by the fish rather than by the day. Catch and kill runs from £42 for two fish up to £52 for four, and catch and release from £47, with a one to four fish option that lets you keep a few and release the rest. Booked and paid for in advance, by phone, text or email, with payment by PayPal.

Open seven days a week, 1st March to 23rd December, 9am to dusk. There is a large car park, toilets with running water and a lodge to shelter in, but no shop and no refreshments, so anglers bring their own. Casting tuition can be arranged by appointment, with tackle provided for anyone who needs it.