The freestone rivers of the Yorkshire Dales offer outstanding opportunities for the fly fisher and are equally as important as their southern cousins the Test and Itchen in history of fly fishing. The limestone Rivers Wharfe, Ure and Aire are the most famous but the Swale, Nidd and upper Ribble also provide excellent fly fishing. The techniques and flies used for “North Country Spider” fishing were largely ...

developed on these rivers more than 150 years ago. A mixture of runs, pools and glides these rivers are perfect for practicing all fly fishing methods and techniques both modern and traditional and hold a good head of brown trout and grayling. View video of the River Wharfe.

In addition the Yorkshire Dales offers excellent stillwater fly fishing ranging from stocked lakes and reservoirs to probably one of the best wild brown trout fisheries in the UK. Some of these waters can also be fished from a boat.

The matchless beauty of the Dales countryside is a mix of landscapes from remote fells and moors, bare limestone scars, cliffs and gorges to the green hillsides and lush pastures of the Dales (river valleys), from unspoilt villages and historic market towns to the intricate patterns of its dry stone walls.