[ed]

hi ,just looking for some advice , aways been interested in trying flyfishing , got the rod , net etc only need the practice , but looking at the prices of some fisheries the average is about £15 for 4 hours keep 1 or 2 fish , so once a week =£60 pounds a month , what i wanted to know is there ways to make it cheaper ie season passes etc . ps the website is magic and the forum is interesting and i hope you understand my first post.

cheers,

Ed

[Barry Robertson]

What area are you from ed?
Down by montrose we have a fishery where you can have a 5 hrs catch and release session for £5.

[ed]

Aberdeen (Bridge of Don)

[Barry Robertson]

Iam sure some of the local lads will help you out when they get online!
There must be some cheap places up that way but you have to mind it must cost a fair bit to run a fishery hence the steep prices at some places.
Could not imagine how hard it must be for a parent who has a kid that loves fishing 

[Sandy Nelson]

HI Ed

Welcome to the forum.

What defines expensive fishing? I get a season ticket for the river on a council run beat and it cost me about £90, runs from Feb 11 to Oct 31st, i can go down any day i like except sundays and fish for as long as i like, this has to be a bargain
However the council look after banks, cut some of the grass and generally let the river look after itself, so it doesn't cost them much.

Now if you consider a fishery, which has to be stocked with expensive fish, most are lost to predators rather than anglers, so there is no return on that.
Then we expect tea/coffee, a nice hut for when it rains, perhaps boats which need looking after, there is constant maintenance so it looks nice, so we go back and then it also has to produce the goods when we are there or we get pissed off at having spent money and not caught owt

£14 is less than a round of golf at most golf courses unless you are a member (and that cost £100's at least)
All they have to do is cut the grass, no fish to stock and the only predators are rabbits and moles .

sorry this might sound like a rant but i think the fisheries up here are actually very good value for money, i'd rather be down the river, but from october to Feb i have no other option if i wish to fish (and only have the option to fish up here because of them) unless you want a trip down for the grayling on the Tay system.

All the trout fisheries in and around Aberdeenshire offer top class fishing, depending on what type of surroundings you like and whether you prefer the bank or the boat, then there is something to suit everyone.

As for if you have Kids, most of the places have the grace to let Kids under 12, fish with a paying adult for free, so do some of the rivers, so i think they play very fair.
Any kid over 12 these days is no longer a kid Many can outfish the grown ups, but they are in the game because they got the chance to try it without it costing Dad double (well probably not )

I would suggest that if money is an option get yourself down the river once the season starts and perhaps only fish once a fortnight for the 'bows Not trying to be cheeky you understand.
Practice is fun, and you can do it in the park with wool instead of flies, you'll find lots of help and advice at any of the fisheries in the area as well and thats always free

Have you tried anywhere yet?

Sandy

[spencie]

If you want, you could join a club like the Aberdeen and District Angling Association, where for an anual fee you get access to Salmon, sea-trout, brown trout and Rainbows on several beats of the Don, Dee, Ythan, Loch of Loirston plus exchnge permits to other beats and rivers.

Excellent value for some top fishing.  You can still fish the trout ponds as well when the rivers are closed of not fishing well.

Stuart

[Alex Burnett]

Any kid over 12 these days is no longer a kid  Many can outfish the grown ups,

Sandy

Talking from experience Sandy      That lad o' yours givin' you a good run for your money,    .
You taught him too well.

Alex

[Sandy Nelson]

Talking from experience Sandy      That lad o' yours givin' you a good run for your money,    .
You taught him too well.

Alex

He's only 11

 

[Alex Burnett]

Have to agree with Sandy

Some People turn up at a Fishery & expect it to look nice, they expect hot Coffee or Tea, they expect to catch fish, they expect to utilise the Fishery Manager(ess)'s knowledge of what should be catching. Yet some people want to pay as little as possible for the privalige.
Sorry I think we as anglers get the best end of the deal.

[Iain Goolager]

Just to concur that there are options that can make for a relatively cost effective fishing season.

Stillwaters: Go for a 'catch and release' or single fish ticket (as when you are new to the sport there is a pride to be taken from the 'prize') - compare this against a round of golf (as Sandy said) or a trip to Pittodrie & IMHO its a steal.

Rivers: there are lots of cheap fishings available for both trout & Salmon - I always quote the River Don Roving Ticket which costs in the region of £180 (prices won't be out for this season yet) but it covers four beats on the Don and a stretch of the Urie for Salmon, Sea-Trout & Brownies . Depending on how often you plan to fish the cost per outing obviously reduces - it's a steal - every year I buy this ticket.
Also you can, as said, join the ADAA which has a multitude of waters (and ever increasing) although there is an initial outlay in the joining fee, the actual years fishings is - if I remember - last year was £165 or there about. and anyone looking for a bargain need look no further.

This is obviously a very basic starting point and as you find your feet you'll discover your actual preferences and diversify into Pike/ coarse fish, onto Saltwater etc. which is either free or at minimal cost.


Tackle is a very personal thing and there are many bargains for a guy starting out and you can get tackled out for less than someone going out to buy a new push bike, for example.

It's like anything else as you get into it you can spend thousands or a couple of hundred each year once the basics are sorted.

one things for sure - you'll never look back

Iain

[Rob Brownfield]

My spin on things....

I guess its all to do with what you want out of your fishing. I started fly fishng for trout at the age of 11. I fished a trout water in Essex that charged about £8 for 4 fish..thats 1977 and i was a fish monger, simple as that! I killed my 4 fish then bought another ticket for another 4. This went on each weekend. I look back on those few years with regret!

When i moved to Scotland in the mid 80's I discovered the village i lived in had a loch that locals could fish for free, a burn that ran past my house and I got in with a local landowner that let me fish a small loch at his house. These waters all contained wild brownies. I caught my first Brownie from the main loch, a fish of about 12oz, and i looked at its beauty, and thats when Trout fishing changed for me!

I don't like stillwater Rainbow fisheries, I don't like fishing for stocked fish, I dont like sharing a water with someone!!! so I mainly fish wild waters up north that cost a few pounds to fish, or waters out by Braemar that again are about a fiver to fish. This year i am going to concentrate on rivers as I feel they offer more of a challenge for me. Reading the water, sussing out where the fish are in different heights of water, at different times of year etc all adds up to a great days fishing for me. So what the fish might only average a pound or prove elusive, it stimulates my brain and it gets me thinking (and walking) and thats what i want from my fishing.

So, is fishing an expensive hobby? Only if you want to turn up and "expect" to catch fish from a well stocked commercial fishery. If you are willing to hunt out "wild" waters, waters run by non profiatble associations or waters that folk will let you fish for the fee of a bottle of whisky or some help on the estate then its very very cheap.

(Disclaimer- Stocked fisheries come in all shapes and sizes. Haddo is exceptional, friendly, and as wild and natural as a stocked water can be. I don't fish it often, but when I do, i enjoy it. There are other waters that are little more than a hole in the ground, filled with fish where you share the same piece of water with several other anglers casting towards where you have just hooked a fish. Some folk like this, some don't. I am on the Don't side of the fence but it does not mean that I am right or wrong to think that. They have there place in modern fishing, but at a financial cost.

[Jim Eddie]

Ed

Its as expensive as you want to make it, compared to Golf , going to the Fitba, Women    an evening in the pub its cheap 

If you don't want to take fish home the catch and release options at most fishery's are very reasonable. Some places do a catch and realease annual ticket for £200 to £300   

 

Jim

[dseabass]

depends---i usually fish for broonies in lochs and burns and rarely pay for permits --as long as you get permission --in saying that most of the troot fishin is done on the west coast --gairloch and north of it right up to sutherland -after a wee walk into the hills --and no one really bothers you ---if you ever go into any pubs up that way --y,ll rarely hear  of anyone buying permits ---but i would recommend getting a permit for sutherland --its only a fiver for hundreds of lochs --as is gairloch area ---///as for fisherys --well this is me on the methadone therapy at the moment --and i have no problems with paying £10-£16 ---usually i only go for c&R --
christ 5 hours doon the boozer would see a lot more than that disappear across the bar --
to me though fishin is fishin --am no purist --am just as happy sittin wi a couple a bait rods wi a lump a deid fish trying to catch old esox---or castin a spinner for mackerel or pollock  ----bottom line is its a day wi yr mates and ye can spend as little or as much as ye want

cheers davey

[Black Pennell]

Hi Ed,

I'm with the general consensus that its as cheep or expensive as you want it to be. Lately the expensive bit is me getting carried away with tackle.
Most of the new people in my local club cut there teeth on wild brownies which we usually do for free unless we want to use a boat. I am lucky as I'm that bit closer to the west for the odd day out. I also have my local reservoir which is stocked with brownies plus a massive head of Wilde's and costs about £50 a season for the float tube which I could fish every day.
For me small waters are for the closed season and I rely visit them in the summer but I can see this is where the costs could add up. Its all relative as people say golf, footie, beer or women. At the end of the day your on the right web site to compare all the prices of your local fisheries. It's just a case of paying for your expectations.

Rob.