2023 Editor's Choice Fishing Hotels
Editor’s Choice Fishing Hotels
The Devonshire Arms - Four Nights for the Price of Three Autumn Escape Special Offer
Skipton
There are five miles of double-bank fishing on the upper stretches of the River Wharfe, which runs through the Duke of Devonshire’s Bolton Abbey Estate. Apply for one of a limited number of day tickets if you wish to fish for wild and stocked brown trout and grayling. An experienced river keeper can give you advice and guidance.
The Inn at Whitewell
Clitheroe
Four rods on seven miles of the Hodder are available to residents at the Bowman family’s traditional inn on the riverbank. You can fish for brown trout, sea trout, salmon and grayling in season, with a ghillie on request. Afterwards, wash your tackle in the dog shower and tuck into the inn’s famous fish pie.
Kinloch Lodge
Isle of Skye
Skye Ghillie Mitchell Partridge can be your guide and tutor for a day’s fly-fishing for wild Scottish salmon and brown trout at Lord and Lady Macdonald’s former hunting lodge on the shores of Loch Na Dal. All fishing tackle can be provided, or you can take your own. There can be few more idyllic locations.
Ballyvolane House
Fermoy
Guests staying at Jenny and Justin Green’s Georgian country house can fish on the Cork Blackwater, one of Europe’s premier salmon rivers. They recommend an award-winning guide, Glenda Powell, who can arrange beats and equipment hire. Justin’s late mother, Merrie, was a keen angler, and Ballyvolane has a long fishing tradition.
Dolffanog Fawr
Tywyn
There are views of Tal-y-llyn, a lake brimming with brown trout, from Lorraine Hinkins and Alex Yorke’s farmhouse B&B. Top rivers for salmon and sea trout are minutes’ drive away, and the Dee at Bala, for grayling, is half an hour by road. Mountain lakes and the sea also beckon in this truly beautiful part of Wales.
The Peacock at Barlow
Chesterfield
Lord and Lady Manners’s Peak District hotel is at the heart of the fisheries on the Haddon Estate, through which flow the Derwent, Wye, Lathkill and Bradford rivers, offering more than 15 miles of fishing. All fish are wild; the Derbyshire Wye is the country’s only river in which to fish for wild rainbow trout.
The Meikleour Arms
Meikleour
This old coaching inn has a long history of catering for anglers, with some of the best spring salmon fishing where the River Isla meets the Tay on the Meikleour Estate. They run fly-fishing courses for groups and individuals, organise fishing packages, and in January host the official opening of the River Tay salmon fishing season.
Lake Country House Hotel & Spa
Llangammarch Wells
With a well-stocked trout lake in 50 acres of woodland and the River Irfon running through on its way to join the Wye, there is great fishing on the doorstep for residents at this personable hotel. Tuition can be arranged, and for partners who don’t share a love of the sport, they offer fishing and spa breaks.
Currarevagh House
Oughterard
Guests have direct access to Lough Corrib, one of Europe’s best lakes for brown trout. Everyone from the novice to experienced fisherfolk is catered for, with a ghillie, boat hire and a tackle shop. Local children get a week off school to catch the mayfly for which Corrib is known, to sell as bait.
Walwick Hall Hotel
Hexham
James Stokoe, winner of the BBC’s Earth’s Wildest Waters: Big Fish/Big Catch competition, has been quite a catch for this small, luxury country-house hotel. He has fished on the Tyne since he was 13, and will share his expertise with hotel guests, with guided days’ fly fishing for salmon and sea trout on a river he has known for 20 years.
2022 Editor's Choice Fishing Hotels
Editor’s Choice Fishing Hotels
The Devonshire Arms - Four Nights for the Price of Three Autumn Escape Special Offer
Skipton
Part of the Bolton Abbey Estate in the Yorkshire Dales national park, this luxury hotel offers 4½ miles of double-bank fishing along the River Wharf, where anglers can fish for brown trout and grayling. Tuition can be arranged.
Forss House - 20% off Two Night Hogmanay Package Special Offer
Thurso
The Forss river curls around this house, and the owners post a weekly fishing report on their Facebook page. They can advise on rods that may occasionally be available for weekly rent, and arrange trout fishing on nearby lochs.
The Inn at Whitewell
Clitheroe
There are seven miles of river to explore at this traditional inn on the banks of the Hodder, with 14 pools and plenty of runs. Four rods are available for trout, sea trout and salmon in season; ghillies are available for hire.
Temple House
Ballymote
Hook a ‘monster’ pike, perch or bream on Templehouse lake, which is a mile long. The hotel offers all the fishing equipment you need, a guide or ghillie, and the use of its four boats if you fancy hosting a jolly fishing party.
Enniscoe House
Ballina
This 18th-century mansion overlooks beautiful Lough Conn, which is renowned for brown trout and spring salmon. The owners can arrange a day’s angling for you courtesy of a local fishing outfit, with boat hire and ghillies.
Newport House
Newport
Fly-fishers head to this Georgian mansion on Ireland’s Newport river, which runs to seven miles and has many pools and streams, with an excellent run of spring salmon, among other fish. Or hire a boat and fish from Lough Beltra.
Kinloch Lodge
Isle of Skye
You will be well placed at this hotel on the lovely shores of Loch Na Dal to take advantage of Skye’s excellent salmon and trout fishing; the hotel is plugged into the best local guides and ghillies to help organise your day.
The Trout at Tadpole Bridge
Buckland Marsh
You can arrive by boat if you wish at this pescatarian-themed riverside pub with rooms – it has its own mooring on the Thames. It is also ideally positioned for fly fishers looking to land a trout from the area’s many chalk streams.
From £130 per night
Glenapp Castle
Ballantrae
You can learn how to fly-fish in the River Stinchar, which is on the doorstep of this luxurious Ayrshire country house, or venture north to the Doon or Girvan rivers. The more adventurous can book the skippered boat for sea fishing.
2021 Editor's Choice Fishing Hotels
Editor’s Choice Fishing Hotels
The Peacock at Rowsley - 'Complimentary tea or coffee and homemade shortbread biscuits on arrival' Special Offer
Rowsley
Only guests at Lord and Lady Manners’s hotel can fish for trout in low season on the 15 miles of banks along four rivers running through the Haddon Estate. One is the Derbyshire Wye, known for its population of wild rainbow trout.
The Devonshire Arms - Four Nights for the Price of Three Autumn Escape Special Offer
Skipton
Running through the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire’s Bolton Abbey Estate is the River Wharf. You can fly fish for trout and grayling along a 4½-mile stretch surrounded by the scenic Yorkshire Dales.
Forss House - 20% off Two Night Hogmanay Package Special Offer
Thurso
A 42-pound salmon was landed in 1954 at the bottom of this Highland retreat’s garden, looped around by the River Forss. We can’t guarantee anything similar but occasional rods are available to rent, with permits available on other rivers.
Shieldaig Lodge - £150 Discount Three Night Christmas Package Special Offer
Gairloch
You can join a local fisherman for creel fishing on a sea loch and the lodge’s chefs will cook a seafood platter with your spoils. Shieldaig also has loch and river fishing on its 26,000-acre Highland estate, with ghillies and tuition.
The Inn at Whitewell
Clitheroe
On the banks of the Hodder in the Forest of Bowland, this rural inn has residents- only rights to fishing on seven miles of riverbanks. There are 14 pools and interesting runs, along with the services of a ghillie should you need them.
Temple House
Ballymote
Monster pike of up to 46 pounds lurk in the 200-acre Temple House Lake – the one on the hall’s mantelpiece weighs a measly 32 pounds. This is a great place for coarse fishing, including perch and bream, with four boats to take on the water.
Newport House
Newport
The fishing rights to eight miles of the Newport river are held by this Georgian mansion overlooking the estuary. It is one of the few Irish fisheries where spring salmon can be fished from a boat. Your catch can be frozen or smoked.
Hotel Endsleigh
Tavistock
A ghillie will give you tips on the best way to cast and catch salmon on eight miles of the Tamar at Olga Polizzi’s country hotel, built as a fishing lodge for Georgiana, Duchess of Bedford. Tackle and tuition are available.
Lake Country House Hotel & Spa
Llangammarch Wells
It’s a short walk from Jean-Pierre Mifsud’s former fishing lodge to the well-stocked trout lake. More experienced anglers can try their luck for trout and grayling on seven miles of the River Irfon, which runs through the hotel grounds.
2020 Editor's Choice Fishing Hotels
Editor’s Choice Fishing Hotels
The Peacock at Rowsley - 'Complimentary tea or coffee and homemade shortbread biscuits on arrival' Special Offer
Rowsley
Guests at Lord and Lady Manners’s manor house hotel, as well as day-ticket holders, can fish on more than 15 miles of the four rivers that run through the Haddon Estate, including seven miles of the Derbyshire Wye, the only river in the UK with wild rainbow trout.
Pen-y-Dyffryn - 20% Discount and Complimentary Cream Tea Special Offer
Oswestry
Ideal for a tranquil hour or two with rod and line, and just two minutes’ walk from the Hunter family’s hotel, is a private pool stocked with rainbow, brown and blue trout. Residents can fish for free. Bring your own tackle. You can keep one trout; please throw the rest back.
The Inn at Whitewell
Clitheroe
The River Hodder, flowing south from the Forest of Bowland to join the Ribble, passes through the grounds of Charles Bowman’s characterful inn, which has four rods for trout, sea trout and salmon on some seven miles of river, 14 pools and interesting runs. Ghillies on request.
Kinloch Lodge
Isle of Skye
From June through September – but never on a Sunday, Highland rules decree – guests taking a three-day fishing break at Lord and Lady Macdonald’s hunting lodge can fish for wild salmon, brown and sea trout in river and loch, with the expert help of a ghillie.
Hotel Endsleigh
Tavistock
Built as a fishing lodge for Georgiana, Duchess of Bedford, and formerly home to the local fishing club, Olga Polizzi’s Regency cottage orné is surrounded by parkland landscaped by Humphry Repton, with the Tamar running through. Guests can fly fish for salmon and sea trout on eight miles of riverbank – tackle and ghillie provided.
Lake Country House Hotel & Spa
Llangammarch Wells
The River Irfon, known for its grayling and wild brown trout, flows though the wooded grounds of Jean-Pierre Mifsud’s fishing lodge, in its rush to join the River Wye. As well as seven miles of riverbank there is a well-stocked trout lake. Tuition and tackle available.
Currarevagh House
Oughterard
You need no licence to fish in Lough Corrib at Henry Hodgson’s Victorian sporting lodge from mid-February through to September. The lough is renowned for its wild brown trout – and for the mayfly they gorge on (enterprising local schoolchildren can sell you a box of them).
2019 Editor's Choice Fishing Hotels
Editor’s Choice Fishing Hotels
The Inn at Whitewell
Clitheroe
This fun and characterful old inn stands on the banks of the River Hodder in the Forest of Bowland. Fishing is available to residents on some seven miles of river, with 14 pools. Readers this year praise the professionalism of the ghillie – even though the wily trout and salmon got away.
Ballyvolane House
Fermoy
It is not revealed if the Prince of Wales indulged his love of fly fishing when he stayed at this Georgian country house with the Duchess of Cornwall in July 2018. Had he done so, he would have been in his element, with more than ten miles of salmon and trout fishing on the Blackwater, one of Europe’s most important salmon rivers.
Culdearn House
Grantown-on-Spey
Flexible dinner and breakfast arrangements, a freezer and drying facilities are all available to fishing fans at this Victorian villa. The River Spey teems with salmon. Tuition, ghillies, permits and equipment hire can be arranged, and you can take your pick of malt whiskies to warm you at the end of the day.
Langass Lodge
North Uist
In the luminous, watery landscape of North Uist, guests at this former shooting lodge find an exciting variety of fishing challenges, in lochs, lochans and tidal pools. New legislation mandates a catch-and-release policy for salmon caught in coastal waters, and there are limits on sea trout, but no limit on brown trout – and there’s local lobster for dinner!
Hotel Endsleigh
Tavistock
The Tamar runs through the Arcadian parkland surrounding this regency fishing lodge turned relaxed, stylish country house hotel. As a member of Endsleigh Fishing Club, the hotel offers access to excellent salmon fishing on eight miles of river bank, with any equipment you may need, and a ghillie to show you your beat.
Dolffanog Fawr
Tywyn
Tal-y-llyn lake, stocked with brown trout to supplement wild fish, is almost on the back doorstep of this Snowdonia farmhouse B&B. Alternatively, you can take a short drive to fish for grayling on the Dee, or perhaps go for a spot of fly-fishing off the coast, with your sights on bass, mullet and mackerel.
Currarevagh House
Oughterard
Readers praise the old-fashioned charms of this Victorian mansion in parkland. You can fish from a drifting boat on Lough Corrib, for wild brown trout, pike, perch and salmon. No permit or licence required and no bag limits. In early summer buy mayflies from the local children, who are given a week off school to catch them.
2018 Editor's Choice Fishing Hotels
Editor’s Choice Fishing Hotels
Forss House - 20% off Two Night Hogmanay Package Special Offer
Thurso
Under the big skies of Caithness, wrapped in woodland and a curve of the River Forss, this Georgian mansion offers the grandeur of Scottish country house living but with modern-day warmth and comforts.
Shieldaig Lodge - £150 Discount Three Night Christmas Package Special Offer
Gairloch
Field-sports fans and whisky aficionados beat a path to this Victorian hunting lodge, in a ‘glorious location’ on a vast wooded estate by Loch Gairloch.
The Inn at Whitewell
Clitheroe
Overlooking the River Hodder in the Forest of Bowland, this sprawling 18th-century manor house is joyously traditional, with stone-flagged floors, open fires and bags of atmosphere.
Enniscoe House
Ballina
Solitary Nephin, Ireland's highest stand-alone mountain, provides a dramatic backdrop to this classic, pink-washed Georgian country house in wooded grounds on Lough Conn.
Ballyvolane House
Fermoy
With breakfast served until noon, afternoon tea by the drawing room fire, shooting, fishing and communal dining, a house-party atmosphere prevails at this Georgian country house.
Langass Lodge
North Uist
If you don’t see owners Amanda and Niall Leveson Gower around their small hotel, they may be at sister venture Hamersay House, or out diving for scallops and gathering mussels for supper.
The House at Temple Sowerby
Penrith
Between the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales national parks, in the quiet Eden valley, this country house B&B offers an elegant retreat against a background of fell views.
2017 Editor's Choice Fishing Hotels
Editor’s Choice Fishing Hotels
Knockinaam Lodge - Two Night Golf Package Special Offer
Portpatrick
Where the road ends and the Irish Sea begins, this former Victorian hunting lodge with a private cove is secluded, unapologetically traditional and rich in comforts and good food.
Forss House - 20% off Two Night Hogmanay Package Special Offer
Thurso
Under the big skies of Caithness, wrapped in woodland and a curve of the River Forss, this Georgian mansion offers the grandeur of Scottish country house living but with modern-day warmth and comforts.
The Inn at Whitewell
Clitheroe
Overlooking the River Hodder in the Forest of Bowland, this sprawling 18th-century manor house is joyously traditional, with stone-flagged floors, open fires and bags of atmosphere.
Enniscoe House
Ballina
Solitary Nephin, Ireland's highest stand-alone mountain, provides a dramatic backdrop to this classic, pink-washed Georgian country house in wooded grounds on Lough Conn.
Howtown Hotel
Penrith
If you want a hotel with hi-tech wizardry and hot tubs, this place is not for you, but ‘if you are happy with traditional hospitality’ and ‘like to be cosseted, Howtown Hotel will do nicely’.
Lake Country House Hotel & Spa
Llangammarch Wells
A ‘narrow and hairy’ road leads to Jan and Pierre Mifsud’s hotel in wooded grounds on the River Irfon, with views to the Cambrian mountains.
Currarevagh House
Oughterard
‘A long private road through woodland’ leads to Henry and Lucy Hodgson’s Victorian country house, ‘lost in time’ in 180 acres, overlooking Lough Corrib.
2016 Editor's Choice Fishing Hotels
Editor’s Choice Fishing Hotels
Ballyvolane House
Fermoy
With breakfast served until noon, afternoon tea by the drawing room fire, shooting, fishing and communal dining, a house-party atmosphere prevails at this Georgian country house.
Culdearn House
Grantown-on-Spey
Set back from the road in its own mature grounds, Sonia and William Marshall’s Victorian house stands on the edge of a swathe of the ancient Scots pine woodland, haunt of the capercaillie, that surrounds Grantown.
Hotel Endsleigh
Tavistock
‘An enchanting destination’ is how readers describe Olga Polizzi's Regency hunting lodge, which stands by the River Tamar in an Elysian landscape designed by Humphry Repton.
Best UK hotels for anglers
Anglers can combine a luxury hotel stay with fishing at one of our recommended fishing hotels. They have been independently reviewed and chosen based on their facilities, ambience and attention to detail.
You could cast your rod at Hotel Endsleigh near Tavistock on the banks of the River Tamar. The 19th-century fishing lodge has been restored and has eight miles of fishing and a ghillie to show you the ropes.
Try Forss House, Thurso, for salmon or trout fishing – in 1954 a fish weighing 42lbs was caught at the bottom of the garden. Tasty packed lunches for fishing trips are available and the hotel has a room for hanging rods, gutting and freezing fish or drying out wet gear.
Currarevagh House in County Galway is set in 180 acres of private parkland and woodland bordering on Lough Corrib. Fish on the lough for wild brown trout – with ghillies available if needed.