Day ticket coarse fisheries
Perhaps the most common are commercial Day Ticket fisheries which offer ‘Pay as You Go’ angling. Here you pay a fee to fish all day, part of the day or for being able to fish overnight or for longer periods. The longer you stay, the more you pay.
As their name implies, day ticket commercial coarse fisheries are run as out-and-out businesses and range from smaller venues with three or four waters and few or no facilities up to bigger venues with a dozen or so lakes, on-site tackle shops, a cafe, toilet facilities and car parks.
They also vary in the types of fish they offer. Whilst some of the smaller venues simply cater for pleasure anglers looking for a pleasant day’s general fishing, the larger ones also cater for match anglers by holding competitions and for specimen carp anglers. Indeed, some of the more specialised venues offer fishing for carp to over 40lbs and even bigger catfish.
Day ticket trout fisheries
There are also many day ticket stillwater trout fisheries where anglers fly fish for trout. Unlike commercial day ticket coarse fisheries where anglers pay for the amount of time they spend at a venue, trout fisheries have a different charging system. This is split into different categories and is usually based on the number of fish caught or the time spent fishing.
Typically, stillwater trout fisheries allow anglers to pay to catch two, three or more trout which they can take home to eat. Anglers who buy one of these tickets are usually asked to complete a catch report at the end of their session so that the fishery owners can replace the number of fish which have been taken.
Most also offer a cheaper ‘catch and release’ ticket – sometimes known as a Sporting Ticket – where anglers pay to fish but agree to return to the lake any fish which they catch.
Angling clubs
In addition to fishing ‘commercials’, many anglers also join their local angling club which offers the opportunity to fish a selection of rivers and pools which the club controls for a set annual fee. Having paid your membership fee you can fish any of the club’s waters as often as you want.
Membership costs vary widely. Smaller clubs which control just one, two or three waters often charge as little £30 or £40 for a full year’s fishing whilst bigger clubs which offer angling on a much wider selection of lakes and rivers in some cases charge three or four hundred pounds a year.
Many of the more popular clubs have a limit on the number of members they allow and once this limit is reached prospective members have to join a waiting list which, in some cases can be several years long!
