A Guide To Fishing In Nottinghamshire
Pleasure anglers, match enthusiast, river /game fishers and still water aficionados alike will find themselves spoilt for choice when they try fishing in Nottinghamshire. Let’s start with the wonderful River Trent. Rising in the Staffordshire Hills, it progressively dilates as it flows through Burton-on-Trent, Shardlow, Nottingham and finally Trent Falls, where it joins the might Humber.

An historic highway ever since the Bronze Age, the Trent also offers some excellent fishing. Studded with terrific beats all along its length, it’s home to at least 35 different species of fish. The main catches, though, are bream, carp, chub, dace, gudgeon, pike and roach. That’s plenty to be getting on with and this magnificent river will suit the pleasure angler, game enthusiast and match thrill-seeker alike.

The still water angler will find much to entertain him (or her) when fishing in Nottinghamshire, too. There are simply too many still water fisheries to describe, but worthy of mention is the excellent Sapphire Lakes Complex in the rural village of Cromwell, near Newark.

One of the county’s oldest established coarse fishing waters, the Sapphire complex sports three generous lakes set in 11 acres of lush, green countryside.

The 4.5 acre Carp Lake i s a real tree-lined beauty, especially in the summer months when the lily pads are at their peak. Stocked with an even mix of commons and mirrors, you’ll easily bag some 20 pounders (the larger fish are in excess of 32 lbs). 6 – 7 feet deep on averages (in places 9 feet), in the summer some of the bars are as shallow as 2 feet. Margin fishing, especially at night, can yield some excellent carp harvests!

The 28 peg Match Lake holds a good stock of carp, bream, roach and tench; in the summer the lake can be as shallow as 2 – 3 feet at the margins and is around 14 – 15 feet in the centre. In the winter, the fish are prone to gathering in the deeper water so using a maggot feeder may be a good idea. If you want to book a match, you’ll need to call well in advance of the event – Sapphire Lakes is exceptionally popular and gets booked up very quickly.

If the idea of a fishing holiday in a luxury caravan situated in the heart of breathtaking countryside, you really need to come fishing in Nottinghamshire. Lowfields Country Holiday Fishing Retreat offers a glorious rural setting and superb fishing in its eight lakes, two of which are over 300 years old.

The lakes are well stocked with bream, crucians, golden orfe, perch, roach, rudd and tench, as well as common and ghost carp; a week in this idyllic setting will melt the stress of urban living away and leave you feeling at peace with the world.

It would, of course, be remiss to visit Nottinghamshire without calling in at its most famous and iconic feature – Sherwood Forest. And, with the excellent Sherwood Forest Fishery near Mansfield, anglers can enjoy 20 acres of the magnificent forest whist fishing five beautiful lakes (185 pegs in all) for bream, carp, chub, roach and ide.

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