A private Eden beat and guided breaks, Esthwaite Water, and a fly lake at Brampton

Fly Fishing in Cumbria

The River Eden. 4 bookable beats, with prices, seasons and who to book through in one place.

Four ways into Cumbria

Most people arrive here with one of these four questions. Pick the one that sounds like yours.

What a day costs Compare prices Month-by-month day-ticket rates across every river we hold pricing for. Stay and fish Fisheries and estates Operators taking bookings, some with rooms and equipment hire. A cheaper day Under £200 Trout-season day tickets at £200 or less.

Where to fly fish in Cumbria

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 Cumbria

Every river we list in Cumbria, busiest first.

Cumbria

River Eden

1 beat

Day ticket fly fishing in Cumbria

4 beats in Cumbria

Day tickets and permits on Cumbria's rivers. Each listing includes pricing, species, and booking details.

Brown Trout 4 Rainbow Trout 3 Stillwaters 3 Dog Friendly 2 Wild Only 1 Grayling 1 Budget 1

Esthwaite Water Fisheries

Esthwaite Water

£25 per rod

New Mills Trout Fishing Park

Fly Lake

£20 per half day

Esthwaite Water Fisheries

Greenhow’s Tarn

£25 per half day

River Eden

Kings Arms River Eden

£15 per rod

All 1 on the River Eden Every beat we list

Fish species in Cumbria

What the beats above hold, and where else in England you can fish for the same species.

Brown Trout

Grayling

Rainbow Trout

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 Cumbria

Fishery operators taking bookings on Cumbria's rivers. Each listing covers tickets, accommodation, and equipment hire where available.

River Eden

The Kings Arms, Temple Sowerby

£15 per rod 1 beat

Cumbria’s fly fishing on FishingBeats is one spate river and a handful of lakes, and we list only a small part of it. The River Eden is first a salmon river, with sea trout, brown trout and grayling, and it can rise quickly after rain.

The Kings Arms at Temple Sowerby has a private fly-only beat on the Eden: £15 a rod a day (£10 for guests), four rods at most, for grayling and brown trout. The Tufton Arms Hotel in Appleby sells guided trout breaks on the river, £495 for two people sharing for two nights, with a guided day on the water for both.

Esthwaite Water Fisheries runs the 280-acre lake in the Lake District National Park for brown trout, all catch and release, from 15 March to 30 September (adult day permit £25). It also runs Greenhow’s Tarn, a 4.5-acre fly-only water, barbless and strictly catch and release (£35 a day). New Mills Trout Fishing Park at Brampton has a stream-fed fly lake holding rainbow and brown trout, from £15 for two hours catch and release.

It suits a day or two on the Eden with a bed at the pub, or a day on a lake.

Finding fly fishing near you in Cumbria

The map above plots Cumbria'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 Eden rises near Black Fell Moss, Mallerstang, Cumbria. 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

Cumbria fly fishing FAQs

The questions people ask before booking a day in Cumbria, answered from what we actually list.

01Is all the fly fishing in Cumbria private?

No. Most of the water is privately owned, but a great deal of it is let by the day. We list 4 beats in Cumbria you can book a day rod on without being a member of anything. Beyond that there are syndicates and clubs, which take a season ticket or a membership rather than a day ticket, and some of those run waiting lists.

02Which Cumbria river should I fish first?

The River Eden has the most beats to choose from, which makes it the easiest to find a day on at short notice. Booking a ghillie for a first outing is worth the money on any of them.

03Do I need a rod licence to fish in Cumbria?

Yes. Anyone aged 13 or over fishing for trout, grayling, salmon or coarse fish in England needs an Environment Agency rod licence, and it is separate from whatever the beat charges you. Buy it online before you go. The beat ticket gives you the right to fish that water; the licence gives you the right to fish at all.