Farmoor Reservoir on Oxford’s doorstep, and Cotswold-edge streams on the Windrush and Glyme that are members’ water

Fly Fishing in Oxfordshire

The River Windrush and the River Glyme, plus 1 more river. 5 bookable beats between them, with prices, seasons and who to book through in one place.

Open the beat map Browse the beats

Four ways into Oxfordshire

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.

Where to fly fish in Oxfordshire

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 Oxfordshire

Every river we list in Oxfordshire, busiest first.

Gloucestershire · Oxfordshire

River Windrush

4 beats

Oxfordshire

River Glyme

1 beat

Day ticket fly fishing in Oxfordshire

5 beats in Oxfordshire

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

Wild Only 5 Brown Trout 5 Rainbow Trout 1 Stillwaters 1

Farmoor Fishery

Farmoor Reservoir

£25 per half day

River Glyme

On enquiry

River Windrush

Windrush at Asthall

On enquiry

River Windrush

Windrush at Widford

On enquiry

River Windrush

Windrush at Worsham

On enquiry

All 3 on the River Windrush All 1 on the River Glyme Every beat we list

Fish species in Oxfordshire

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

Brown Trout

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.

Clubs and syndicates in Oxfordshire

Membership bodies holding water in Oxfordshire. Some sell day tickets alongside membership, others are members-only, and a few run a waiting list.

Example photo Example photo · River Kennet

Club · Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire

Cotswold Flyfishers

£495–£660/yr 16 stretches

Oxfordshire’s river fishing on FishingBeats is almost all members’ water. Cotswold Flyfishers holds the Windrush at Asthall, Widford and Worsham, and a beat on the Glyme, and the club does not sell day tickets. These are limestone streams, not chalk streams. The club describes the Windrush as holding wild trout with a prolific early mayfly and a few grayling, and the Glyme as a small stream with a good mayfly of its own. The Evenlode and the Leach also run through the county, but we list no day-ticket water on either.

The ticket you can buy is at Farmoor, the Thames Water reservoirs just west of Oxford. There are two: one is catch and release, the other lets you take trout home. They hold brown, rainbow and blue trout, and you can fish from the bank or hire a boat. The fishery’s own notes are useful for planning: buzzer in spring and summer, dry fly in the warmer months, lures all year, and boats in winter when the fish sit deep.

Take-home tickets start at £24 for two fish over the last seven hours, with four fish for the day at £34. A catch and release day is £32. You can ring the ranger to book ahead, or pay on arrival.

Oxfordshire suits someone after a day on a big reservoir close to the city. The river water is for members.

Finding fly fishing near you in Oxfordshire

The map above plots Oxfordshire'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 Windrush rises near Near Snowshill, above Temple Guiting, Cotswolds, and the River Glyme rises near About a mile east of Chipping Norton. 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

Oxfordshire fly fishing FAQs

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

01Is all the fly fishing in Oxfordshire private?

No. Most of the water is privately owned, but a great deal of it is let by the day. We list 1 beat in Oxfordshire 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 Oxfordshire river should I fish first?

The River Windrush 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 Oxfordshire?

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.