A fishing holiday in the UK can mean two very different things. It can mean a week somewhere with a lake you are allowed to fish, where the fishing is one thing you do among several. Or it can mean a lodge with its own water and a peg outside the door, where the point of the trip is the fishing and everyone in the party knows it.
This guide covers both, because the booking mistake people make is picking the wrong one. We list 116 UK venues where you can stay and fish, across 33 counties, and the notes on each one say plainly which kind of trip it suits.
About this guide:
Cabin Adventures is run by Marketing the Change. Every venue here is checked against its own website and angling listings, and each venue page shows the date it was last checked. Fish stocks, rules and facilities change; confirm the details that matter to you with the venue before you book. If something is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
What a UK fishing holiday actually looks like
Across the venues we list, the water breaks down roughly like this: 83 have carp fishing, 83 have mixed coarse fishing, 22 hold pike, 14 are river venues and 9 have fly or trout water. Most hold more than one of those, which is why a mixed party usually works better here than it does on a club water.
The accommodation is mostly lodges and cabins, with some cottages, shepherd’s huts and a houseboat. 54 have a hot tub, 65 take dogs, and 35 have a private peg or swim attached to the accommodation rather than a shared bank you queue for.
Fishing holidays for families
50 of the venues we list suit families, and 42 of those also take dogs. What makes a venue work for a family is rarely the fishing itself. It is whether there is something to do when a child has had enough of the bank after 40 minutes, and whether the water is safe to have children near.
- Hurst Farm Holiday Cottages, Shropshire. 2 coarse pools and a 3 acre trout lake, so a parent can take a child for an hour on the pools without giving up the day. Sleeps 2 to 6.
- Clovelly Lakes, Devon. 5 spring-fed lakes, which is enough water to spread a group out. Sleeps 2 to 8; Ravensfield House sleeps 12.
- Finlake, Devon. A holiday park with a coarse lake, so the fishing is one option among many rather than the whole trip. Up to 8 in the signature loft.
- Mill Meadow Lodges, Somerset. Private residents’ lake, platforms. Sleeps 2 to 8.
More in the full lodge list, and the family-suited venues are filtered at fishing lodges for families.
Fishing holidays for couples
51 venues suit couples and 32 of those have a hot tub. The pattern that works is a small lodge on its own water, where one person can fish and the other genuinely does not have to.
- The Lake House, Alvechurch, Worcestershire. 7.2 acre exclusive lake, with the lake exclusive to the lodge. Sleeps 2, plus sofa bed for children 12 to 17.
- Houseboat, Richmond, North Yorkshire. 2 stocked estate lakes, trout and coarse. Sleeps 2.
- Waterside Lodges, Cambridgeshire. 3.25 acre lake. Sleeps up to 4 adults.
See also fishing lodges for couples and lodges with hot tubs.
Holidays for anglers who are there to fish
26 venues are set up for serious carp anglers, and 15 of those pair that with a private peg or an exclusive lake. This is the category where the “fishing on site” wording matters most, because a shared lake with 70 swims and an exclusive 1.5 acre pond are both described that way and they are not the same holiday.
- Carp Cabin, Herefordshire. Private stream-fed lake, about 1.4 to 2 acres, exclusive to the cabin. Sleeps 2 adults.
- Countryside Cabins, Herefordshire. A private lake per cabin, 1 to 2 acres. Sleeps 2 to 6.
- S&R Fisheries, Lincolnshire. 6 carp lakes, 1 to 10 acres. Sleeps 3 to 4 per lodge.
- Stenhill Private Fishing Lake & Lodge, Devon. 1.25 acre exclusive lake (FAQs say 1.5). 2 bedroom lodge, up to 4 anglers.
Filtered lists: carp fishing holidays, lodges for serious carp anglers and private fishing lakes with accommodation.
River and fly fishing holidays
14 venues are river venues and 12 are specifically set up for river anglers, which in practice means the accommodation comes with a named beat rather than general access. 9 have fly or trout water.
- Mill Cottage (Cabalva Estate), Herefordshire. 2 mile private River Wye estate stretch. Sleeps 2 adults.
- Dove Cottages, Staffordshire. 2 3/4 miles of the River Dove. Sleeps 5.
- Bank Cottage, Worcestershire. 70m private River Severn bank. Sleeps 7 (8 with sofa bed).
- Secluded Fishing Lodge, Dorchester, Dorset. Langford Lake, trout stillwater. Sleeps 4.
More at river fishing lodges, fly fishing lodges and lodges with pike fishing.
Where in the UK to go
The venues are not spread evenly. Shropshire and the Welsh border carry the most, largely because of the River Severn and Wye; the Fens and Lincolnshire carry the commercial carp waters; the South West is where most of the multi-lake holiday parks are.
- Shropshire: 16 venues
- Lincolnshire: 9 venues
- Suffolk: 8 venues
- Worcestershire: 7 venues
- Devon: 7 venues
- Yorkshire: 7 venues
- Somerset: 6 venues
- Staffordshire: 6 venues
Wales is covered separately at fishing lodges in Wales, and the Lake District at Lake District fishing lodges. If you are looking further afield, we also cover French carp lakes with lodges.
What to check before you book
These are the five things that most often turn out differently from how a listing reads. Every one of them is worth a direct question to the venue.
- Is the water exclusive to your lodge, or shared? “Fishing on site” covers both a private pond and a 70 swim complex.
- Are the fishing rights included or extra? Some venues include them in the let, some sell day tickets on top, and on some river venues you need a separate beat booking.
- Do you need your own tackle and bait? Several venues, particularly the river ones, assume you bring everything.
- Is night fishing allowed? This varies venue by venue and sometimes lake by lake within one venue.
- An Environment Agency rod licence is required for freshwater fishing in England and Wales from age 13, regardless of whether the venue mentions it.
Common questions
When is the best time of year for a UK fishing holiday?
For carp and coarse, late spring through to October is the straightforward answer, and that is also when these venues are busiest and dearest. October to March is quieter and cheaper, the fishing is harder, and this is where the 54 venues with a hot tub earn their keep. River seasons are different again: on most English rivers the coarse season runs 16 June to 14 March, and there is no close season on most stillwaters.
Can you fish right outside the lodge?
At 35 of the venues we list, yes, there is a private peg or swim attached to the accommodation. At the rest the water is on site but shared, which usually means walking a few minutes and picking a spot. The venue notes say which.
Are fishing holidays dog friendly?
65 of the venues take dogs, which is a high proportion, because lodge operators and anglers tend to be the same market. Numbers, sizes and charges vary, so check.
Do you need a rod licence?
Yes, for freshwater fishing in England and Wales if you are 13 or over. It is bought from the Environment Agency and it is separate from anything the venue charges. Scotland works differently and there is no general rod licence there.
What is the difference between a fishing holiday and a fishing break?
Only length, and what that length lets you do. A week lets you learn a water; a weekend usually does not, so a short trip is better spent somewhere with a private peg and a short drive. We have a separate guide to short fishing breaks and weekends.
Browse the full list
All 116 venues, filterable by species, amenity, who they suit and county, are on the UK fishing lodges list.