Big reservoirs at Chew, Blagdon and Wimbleball, Exmoor’s Barle and Exe, and small wild-trout streams run by clubs

Fly Fishing in Somerset

The River Barle and the River Exe, plus 3 more rivers. 23 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 Somerset

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 Somerset

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 Somerset

Every river we list in Somerset, busiest first.

Somerset

River Barle

6 beats

Devon · Somerset

River Exe

13 beats

Somerset

Mells River

2 beats

Somerset

River Chew

1 beat

Somerset

River Haddeo

1 beat

Day ticket fly fishing in Somerset

23 beats in Somerset

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

Brown Trout 20 Wild Only 14 Wading Allowed 14 Rainbow Trout 9 Stillwaters 9 Grayling 7 Budget 2

Wessex Water Fisheries

Clatworthy Reservoir

£10 for 2 fish

Wessex Water Fisheries

Hawkridge Reservoir

£10 for 2 fish

Wessex Water Fisheries

Sutton Bingham Reservoir

£10 for 2 fish

Example photo Example photo · River Exe

River Exe

Old Woman’s Beat

On enquiry 2 rods

Mells River

Mells Estate Water

On enquiry

Bristol Water Fisheries

Barrow Tanks

£21 for 4 fish

Bristol Water Fisheries

Blagdon Lake

£30 for 4 fish

Bristol Water Fisheries

Chew Valley Lake

£30 for 4 fish

Example photo Example photo · River Exe

River Exe

Bend Pool Beat

£15 per evening

Wimbleball Fly Fishery

Wimbleball Lake

£25 for 1 fish, then C&R

Example photo Example photo · River Exe

River Exe

Hollam Beat

On enquiry

Fed by the River Barle

Anchor Lake

£35 for 2 fish

All 6 on the River Barle All 5 on the River Exe All 2 on the Mells River All 1 on the River Chew All 1 on the River Haddeo Every beat we list

Fish species in Somerset

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

Brown Trout

Grayling

Rainbow Trout

Salmon

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 Somerset

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

Fed by the River Barle

Exe Valley Fly Fishing

from £30 for 2 fish 2 beats

River Barle

Tarr Farm Inn

On enquiry 1 beat

Example photo Example photo · River Exe

River Exe

Exe Vale Fishery

On enquiry 1 beat

Somerset’s fly fishing is mostly stillwater, and a lot of it. Bristol Water runs Chew Valley Lake and Blagdon Lake, both from £30, and the three concrete reservoirs at Barrow Tanks from £21. Blagdon covers 440 acres at the foot of the Mendips and has boats for hire. Chew is relatively shallow, opened in 1956 and is fed by the upper River Chew. Barrow is bank only and has a name for free-rising trout and dry fly.

Wessex Water runs Clatworthy, Hawkridge and Sutton Bingham, with tickets from £10 on its beginner ticket. All three are fly only. Catch and release is not permitted, with one exception: any brown trout must go back. Seasons differ between the three, so check before you travel. On Exmoor, Wimbleball Lake covers 370 acres and has rainbows and wild browns, with an evening ticket from £25. Exe Valley Fly Fishing at Exebridge has two small rainbow lakes, Anchor and Lobbs, and keeps every fish it catches.

The rivers are different. The Barle, the upper Exe and the Haddeo are Exmoor spate rivers, with wild brown trout, grayling on the Exe, and salmon. Dulverton Angling Association manages beats on all three, with day tickets from £10 on some of them, and the Tarr Steps beat is sold through Tarr Farm Inn. Rules on these beats are strict, fly only with barbless hooks, so read the association’s rules before you fish.

Elsewhere there are two small streams that are club water only. The Mells, near Frome, is held by Frome and District Angling Association, and the Chew between Pensford and Woollard by Chew Fly Fishing Club. Both have wild brown trout, and the Chew has grayling too. Neither sells day tickets.

Somerset suits anyone happy fishing stillwater on a big scale, with a few Exmoor days for those who prefer a moorland river.

Finding fly fishing near you in Somerset

The map above plots Somerset'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 Barle rises near The Chains, northern Exmoor, Somerset, and the River Exe rises near Exe Head, near Simonsbath, Exmoor, Somerset. 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

Somerset fly fishing FAQs

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

01Is all the fly fishing in Somerset private?

No. Most of the water is privately owned, but a great deal of it is let by the day. We list 14 beats in Somerset 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.

02When is the fly fishing season in Somerset?

Most beats run their trout season from around 3 Mar – 31 Oct, though each beat sets its own dates and the listings carry the exact ones.

03Which Somerset river should I fish first?

The River Barle 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.

04Do I need a rod licence to fish in Somerset?

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.