County guide
Fly Fishing in Cheshire
18 bookable beats 7 rivers 5 fisheries
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4 beats sell day tickets
You can book a day rod without joining a club or syndicate.
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The River Dane has the most beats
4 to choose from, the easiest place to find a day at short notice.
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5 clubs and syndicates
Membership water in Cheshire, some with day tickets alongside.
About fly fishing in Cheshire
Cheshire’s fly fishing on FishingBeats is two things: trout lakes that sell day tickets, and members’ club water on the Dane, the Bollin and their small tributaries. A visitor without a club place will usually be fishing a lake.
Danebridge Fisheries at Wincle, near Macclesfield, is fly only and open every day of the year from dawn to dusk. It sells sport tickets of 5 or 9 hours and tickets with one, two or three fish to take, and all brown trout are returned. Marton Heath Trout Pools, three miles north of Congleton, has three pools covering seven acres and a completely barbless rule. Clay Lane Farm at Mobberley is a two acre spring fed lake with tickets from three hours to a full day. Westlow Mere at Congleton is run by volunteers from Congleton and District Fly Fishers. It sells day tickets for cash only, and the first two trout you catch must be killed before you carry on catch and release.
Two stillwaters are for members. New Platt Fisheries at Allostock is a 37 acre lake with no day tickets. Membership for 2026/27 is £425 with a £100 joining fee, and it is currently full, with a waiting list. Macclesfield Flyfishers Club leases the 30 acre Ridgegate Reservoir in Macclesfield Forest. Membership is limited to 100 and costs £235 for a senior in 2026.
The same club fishes about nine miles of the upper Dane and Clough Brook for wild brown trout. It does not stock, every fish is returned and hooks must be barbless. The Hug Bridge beat of the Dane is the one that sells day tickets in the trout season, three a day, and the club asks for them to be requested well ahead, preferably seven days. Eaton Flyfishers have six stretches of the Dane near Congleton, with trout from 15 March to 30 September and grayling from 16 June to 14 March. For 2026 it is £170 with an £80 joining fee, and you should email the club to ask whether places are open.
Bollin and Birkin Flyfishers hold Birkin Brook, Mobberley Brook, about 9.6 kilometres of the Bollin and a stretch of the Peover Eye. The brooks are fly only on barbless hooks with every fish released. Membership is £40 for 2026 with no joining fee, and there is a waiting list. Lymm Angling Club has the Mill length of the Bollin and a stretch of the Peover Eye at Bate Mill. Silver membership is £82.50 to renew or £148.50 for a new member including the £66 joining fee. Bollington and Royal Oak Angling Society has a short length of the River Dean, and says it is at capacity for 2026 to 2027, with a waiting list for next season.
Four ways into Cheshire
Most people arrive here with one of these four questions. Pick the one that sounds like yours.
Where to fly fish in Cheshire
Every beat and fishery we list in the county, plotted against the boundary. Click a river to read what that stretch is like.
Fly fishing rivers in Cheshire
Every river we list in Cheshire, busiest first.
Day ticket fly fishing in Cheshire
Browse all 18 beatsDay tickets and permits on Cheshire's rivers. Each listing includes pricing, species, and booking details.
New Platt Fisheries
New Platt Lake
On enquiry
Birkin Brook
Birkin Brook
On enquiry
Mobberley Brook
Mobberley Brook
On enquiry
River Dane
Back Dane, Gradbach
On enquiry
Clough Brook
Clough Brook, Wildboarclough
On enquiry
River Dane
River Dane, Bartomley Bottoms
On enquiry
River Dane
River Dane, Hug Bridge
On enquiry
Ridgegate Reservoir
On enquiry
River Bollin
River Bollin, Bollin and Birkin Flyfishers
On enquiry
River Bollin
River Bollin, Mill Length
On enquiry
River Dane
River Dane, Eaton Flyfishers
On enquiry
Fish species in Cheshire
What the beats above hold, and where else in England you can fish for the same species.
Three different kinds of operator, and most visitors want the first. A fishery or estate owns the water and sells you a day on it. A club or syndicate holds water for its members, sometimes with day tickets alongside. A guide or agent sells days on water somebody else owns, and often comes with you.
Fisheries and estate waters in Cheshire
Fishery operators taking bookings on Cheshire's rivers. Each listing covers tickets, accommodation, and equipment hire where available.
Clubs and syndicates in Cheshire
Membership bodies holding water in Cheshire. Some sell day tickets alongside membership, others are members-only, and a few run a waiting list.
Club · Cheshire
Bollin and Birkin Flyfishers
£40/yr 4 stretches
Club · Cheshire
Bollington and Royal Oak Angling Society
On request 1 stretch
Club · Cheshire
Eaton Flyfishers
£170/yr 1 stretch
Club · Cheshire
Lymm Angling Club
£82.50/yr 2 stretches
Club · Cheshire
Macclesfield Flyfishers Club
£235/yr 5 stretches
Finding fly fishing near you in Cheshire
The map above plots Cheshire's beats and fisheries against the county boundary, so you can see roughly how far a stretch is rather than just its name on a list. Tap a marker for a quick read on price and species before you go further. If you're weighing this county against somewhere else, or want to see every day-ticket beat in the country at once, the full beat map covers all of them.
A day ticket is usually a half day or a full day on the water, so it's worth weighing the drive against how much fishing you'll actually get out of it. A longer trip makes more sense for a full day than for two or three hours in the afternoon.
For scale, the River Dane rises near Dane Head, Axe Edge Moor, near Buxton, and the Peover Eye rises near Near Chelford, Cheshire. Beats sit further downstream from there, not at the source itself. The map above is the more exact guide to which stretch is closest to you.
FAQ
Cheshire fly fishing FAQs
The questions people ask before booking a day in Cheshire, answered from what we actually list.
01Is all the fly fishing in Cheshire private?
02Which Cheshire river should I fish first?
03Do I need a rod licence to fish in Cheshire?
Worth a read
Fly fishing in other counties
Nearest first, measured from where Cheshire's fishing actually is rather than from the county town.
18 bookable beats
Across 7 rivers
