Afternoon all, Ive seen a few posts recently concerning the cost of fishing, and whether it's value for money or not.

Question is, how much do you think is reasonable for a day ticket on a river beat or decent stillwater?

Shooting, (another country sport with often stocked quarry) can run to hundreds of pounds a day - even for a simulated day, and salmon fishing where there's no stocking outlay for the owner can also cost hundreds, if not thousands of pounds.

Fishing for trout at one of our 'premier' stillwaters can cost around £50 a day, a similar sum to some decent river fishing. Some stillwaters and rivers can be had for £15-20 a day, which given the work that goes into the place seems remarkable value for a whole day's sport, and the possibility of taking something home for dinner! Even the £50 fisheries, if you like that kind of thing, and i do, offer great value, but time and again i hear fishermen on the bank whinging that they're not catching enough/bigger fish for their money. What do you feel is a reasonable price, and why?

Cheers
Alex

What ever the angler is willing to pay My Old man has coarse fished all his life, (now in his 70's) When I tell him I often spend the best part of £40 on a days fishing he has to sit down for a while.

Each water whether Still or River, South or North, home or away has its own unique experience, that is why we dont just stick to one place, so for me I am not just paying for the fishing I am paying for the experience of that particular water.

Would I pay £150 for a day on a chalk stream? Probably for the experience, but most likely only once. I went to the Hebs for a week this summer and had a cracking time, would I go back? No never their are so many other places to experience.

Also some thing to concider is what money is worth, £150 is alot of money to me, to others on this site I am sure it is loose change.

So like I said, whatever the angler is willing to pay.

Mick

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Difficult one that Alex , I would be more unhappy at paying £50.00 and getting my 4 fish in an hour than fishing all day and only catching a couple, ie, I had my chance but its up to me to catch em.
Typically I think its what you consider resonable , but if anyone took the time to work it out how much you are paying per hour on a C and R water then its peanuts.
Fish are expensive to buy , expecially large ones, you pay for the opportunity.

Arnfield to me have a reasonable pricing policy , 2 fish £20.00 plus catch and release, no fish over 5lb to be killed unless you pay extra. seems a damn cheap day to me 10 hours at £2.00 an hour plus a couple of fish if you so choose.

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its not how you tie your flies , its how you tease your flies

Nice summary alex. There is some bargain fishing out there, for example, a season ticket for game fish stretches of the nidd, wharfe, ure and aire costs me around £50 a year, inc. grayling season, which have some cracking sport and members can go as often as they like, but most of these places are deserted.

It does seem that if you don't put a big enough price tag on it people won't give it a second glance, but often get disapointed after they have paid there money, wether it is rational to or not.

Totally agree. I never understand it when i see people at avington or Chalk Springs flogging a lure through a pod of 2-3lb stock rainbows while a 15lb brownie lurks amongst the weeds ten yards further down the bank. once they catch their 4 stockies they complain that for £50 they'd have expected bigger/better fish!

When you consider what that 15lb brown cost to rear, plus those that don't make it, losses through poaching/predation, plus staff costs, rents, etc etc, the money you're asked to pay for a whole day seems very good value. personally i'm glad, if a little surprised that a decent day's fishing isnt a lot more.

Only what the angler can afford...joining a club though must be the cheapest way, then again only if you can raise the yearly fee...if not then you will pay more through day tickets.

Well if you look at what golfers pay for a round which only last 3/4 hours to what most of us anglers pay for a full day and in summer that means THE WHOLE DAY i think we do ok,just my thoughts

Stuarty

"Whatever the angler is willing to pay...." is a good reply.

Couple of comments;

It does seem as if there is a dividing line in terms of price as between Southern England and the rest of the UK and Ireland. Simple explanation; the South is the second most densely populated area of Western Europe aftet the Netherlands. Similarly, there is (apparently....?) less interest in catch and release on small commercial stillwaters in the South than elsewhere.

The prices of other kinds of fishing are constantly heading north, so day ticket trouting is ever more of a bargain in comparison as proprietors try to hold price rises in check. For example, I have been a member of the winter coarse fishing syndicate on the Lower Itchen for six years or so and am almost certainly going to leave after this year. Cost is the principle reason. It's not that I can't afford the £200 for the season ticket and bait, more that I can only spend the money once and there's other things in fishing I would rather do with it. £200 funds some cracking reservoir trouting for me for the year...£80 for a block of six day tickets at Sutton Bingham, plus £120 for six day tickets at Farmoor 2. And I'll certainly enjoy it more.

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JH based near Southampton

I pay between €20 and €30 each for membership of 3 clubs which give me access to probably 60 or 70 miles of wild, unstocked rivers. Usually I meet no-one else on a days fishing. I consider this fantastic value. A couple of times I've fished in a local stillwater, which is fairly well regarded - I think it's around €30 a day C & R. Apart altogether from questions about the quality of fishing I can't see why people fish this place, it's surrounded by great rivers on which a seasons fishing costs the same as days fishing on the stillwater.

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Steve


"There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process." Paul O'Neil

You trying to start a golf thread stu