Casting a fly in unlikely places

The main barrier to our sport is accessibility, says Will Martin, who investigates our cities' waterways

Fly-fishing for trout and salmon on rivers has an accessibility problem. However hard we try

to preach inclusivity, it is usually done in £500 waders with a £1,000 rod on a river owned by a friend. Even when I’ve written about the most glorious beats on Dartmoor through the Duchy of Cornwall or the Westcountry Rivers Trust, which are cheap and affordable, I’m usually stood in the middle of nowhere.

In the UK, 17.2 million people live in households that don’t have a car. For readers of Shooting Times this probably comes as a surprise; it did to me. However, over the course of my short tenure as a contributor to this magazine, I have come across a number of reasons why living in a town, city or not having a car shouldn’t preclude you from fishing.

Firstly, you don’t need to be wearing Patagucci waders. While they are comfortable, you can get a pair for £19.99 on Amazon. It might be nice to fish with a £500 Ultralite LL from Hardy, but you can get a fly rod set up from Amazon for £82 including the reel, line and some flies. How good they are, you will have to wait to find out as I review the ultimate bargain set-up in a month’s time.

Then the fishing. Nearly every town or city has a river in it. In fact, a good car journey game is trying to name one that doesn’t. So far the only answer we have come up with is Manchester, although admittedly the Rivers Irwell and Roch run through the county of Greater Manchester, and the city itself of course is famous for its canals and the fishing that they have on offer.

Pollution