All you need to know about fishing in Wales

For the visiting angler, Wales has some of the best fishing opportunities in the UK. Our dramatic coastlines, beautiful rivers and wild lakes are the perfect places to wet a line in unspoilt scenery, and there are dozens of fish species to aim for, whatever time of year you visit. Whatever you fish for, here in Wales we have it covered.

Wales has excellent game fishing, coarse fishing and sea fishing – something for everyone!

Wales has some of the best game fishing to be found in the UK, especially for fly fishers looking for wild fish in wild places.

Wales is renowned for its game fishing rivers. Thanks to our hills, valleys and mountains Wales has hundreds of rivers and streams, which run fast and cold. These are ideal habitat for game fish such as our native brown trout, sea trout (known locally as sewin) and salmon. In fact, most rivers and streams in Wales will have game fish in them, with the chance of catching a fish of a lifetime. Another draw are grayling – these highly prized members of the game fish family can be found in prolific numbers in several Welsh rivers.

Let’s not forget our game fishing lakes. Wales has over 500 of them – including dramatic glacial mountain lakes (llynnoedd) and wild windswept reservoirs. Almost all of them hold stunning wild brown trout and many of them are stocked with hard fighting rainbow trout, which thrive in the cool oxygenated water. We also have plenty of small stillwater fisheries, which are well stocked with specimen trout and have excellent facilities on-site. 

Find out more about game fishing in Wales.

Surrounded by sea on three sides, you are never far from salt water in Wales. As to be expected, our sea fishing is simply fantastic.

Wales has a huge variety of sea fishing marks from the shore. From surf beaches and harbours, to rocky headlands and dramatic estuaries, our diverse sea fishing allows you to target multiple species such as bass, cod, pollack, wrasse, smooth-hound, flatfish, rays, bull-huss and even shark. What’s more our sea fishing from the shore is free.

With so many coastal towns, Wales has excellent boat fishing thanks to charter boat skippers, who offer their services on a for hire basis, often including fishing tackle and bait. A day out with a Welsh skipper will be a day to remember. Whether it’s fun fishing with the family for mackerel, or a session chasing huge sharks and conger eels, Wales has some of the best boat fishing in Britain.

Find out more about sea fishing in Wales.

Wales has superb coarse fishing opportunities, with hundreds of fisheries and large lakes that offer great angling.

Small stillwater fishery lakes and ponds can be found all over Wales. These are stocked with coarse fish such as specimen carp, bream, tench, roach and perch. We also have lots of large reservoirs and natural lakes that offer fantastic angling for coarse fish, especially for big bags of bream and monster pike. Many of our coarse fisheries have accommodation available on site and are close to visitor hot-spots.

Whilst most of our rivers have game fish, we do have several excellent coarse fishing rivers. The most famous of these is the river Wye, which for the most part flows through Wales. The Wye is without doubt the best coarse fishing river in the UK. In it you will find barbel, chub, dace, grayling, pike and perch all of which grow large. Other good coarse fishing rivers include the Taff in Cardiff, the River Dee and the River Severn.

Find out more about coarse fishing in Wales.

Visit Fishing In Wales - the website for Welsh angling. Featuring over 1000 fishing locations for sea, game and coarse fishers, the Fishing In Wales website uses intuitive interactive maps, allowing you to find fishing spots and angling facilities in Wales quickly and easily.

Search for fishing lakes, sea fishing trips and fishing holidays in Wales.

Check out Ceri's itinerary ideas for long weekend fishing breaks in Wales, find places to visit for easy access sea fishing and much more on the Fishing In Wales blog pages.

Croeso i Pysgota yng Nghymru / Welcome to Fishing In Wales!