1. Sutherland, Scotland
To borrow a line from the writer and eager angler Jonathan Raban, hanging a “gone fishing” signal on the door is like asserting to the world that you’ve got retreated to your personal personal Tahiti. Sutherland is my Tahiti: distant, wild, achingly lovely – someplace I can get misplaced within the hill lochs for a couple of days. I take a tent and can eat the trout I (hope to) catch after which restore to the lodge on Loch Inchard for a correct meal, a shower and mattress.
The place to remain: Rhiconich Lodge (01971 521 224). Charges from £39.50 per individual per evening, together with breakfast. Permits obtainable for the Rhiconich Property’s 11,500 acres.
2. Lough Corrib, Connemara, Eire
There’s a particular college vacation within the village of Oughterard, on the west coast of Eire, that they name Mayfly week. Could is the very best month to fish for the red-fleshed Corrib trout, and the village takes on a pageant ambiance right now as fishermen descend in town to go “dapping”. This native customized entails hooking a dwell mayfly in your line and suspending it on the water’s floor to lure the hungry trout. Earlier than the vacation grew to become official, lecture rooms would empty yearly as enterprising youngsters bunked off to catch hatching flies and promote them in bins to fishermen. Relatively than police the truancy, the native schoolboard determined to waft and provides the youngsters an official vacation. Very Irish.
The place to remain: Corrib Wave Guesthouse (+353 91 552 147), on Lake Corrib, two miles from Oughterard. Charges from £24 per individual per evening, together with breakfast.
3. South Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia
I’ve not had my best ever day fishing right here, attempting to find flathead from the surf, however how typically do you get to see humpback whales breaching on the horizon and wallabies poking their heads over the dunes as you stroll alongside the seaside lazily casting your line into the ocean?
The place to remain: Couran Cove (+617 5509 3000) Resort, on the island, 40 minutes by ferry from the Gold Coast. Charges from £134 per individual per evening for room solely.
4. Tusket River, Nova Scotia, Canada
“Then away to the center of the deep unknown, the place the trout and the wild moose are. The place the hearth burns vivid, and the tents gleam white, beneath the northern star” (Albert Bigelow Paine, The Tent Dwellers, 1908). I had lengthy dreamed of staying in a log cabin within the backwoods of North America, Jack London-style, idling my days away flicking out a fly looking for brook trout. The Tusket River lies within the Tobeatic wilderness: deep, deep forest and residential to black bear in addition to moose. Take a information – you do not need to get misplaced right here. Lodging is modelled on the good searching lodges of the flip of the century – big spruce logs and chiselled granite.
The place to remain: Trout Level Lodge (+1 902 482-8360). Charges for a double room solely begin at £54. The lodge will repair you up with an area information, for round £100 a day.
5. River Lochy, Queenstown, New Zealand
Queenstown is the self-proclaimed adrenalin sports activities capital of the world, and whereas some folks could elevate an eyebrow on the point out of fly-fishing in the identical sentence as steely-nerved bungee leaping, that is undoubtedly the high-octane finish of the game. There are solely two methods into the Lochy River – by helicopter or by boat throughout Lake Wakitipu. Sheltering beneath bushes and behind rocks within the gin clear waters that run by the folds of the Eyre Mountains, the wild brown and rainbow trout develop to thumping nice sizes, though they’re notoriously skittish. Native information important
The place to remain: The Dairy, Queenstown (+64 03 442 5164). Double rooms, with breakfast, from £123 an evening.
6. River Lanio, Swedish Lapland
One other hypnotic slice of wilderness. Salmon, sea trout and grayling glide by fast-flowing glacial waters.
The place to remain: Go to Sweden has lodging recommendations.
7. River Moyola, Northern Eire
The river rises within the rolling Sperrin mountains and meanders by moorland and meadows, however you might be solely 40 minutes from Belfast right here. At Castledawson, it runs behind a council property flying the union flag, however put the Troubles behind you and push on upstream past the bridge: you’ll quickly be enveloped by excessive hedgerows and small-holding Eire once more. Good for wee brown trout and native dollaghan. Top off on potato desserts from Ditty’s Residence Bakery within the city to tide you over until dinner.
The place to remain: Laurel Villa Visitor Home, Magherafelt, Co Derry, 028 7963 2238. Charges from £25 per individual per evening, together with breakfast.
8. River Wye, Monsal Head, Derbyshire
The Peak District is near my coronary heart – I grew up close by – and, for my cash, Monsal Head presents essentially the most scenic fishing spot in England. The river threads its method by a deep and slim gorge and there’s no finer place to be on an early summer time morning than casting a fly from the financial institution to a rising wild brownie, the crimson spots on its flank flashing within the daylight. Within the night, while you emerge from the darkening valley by way of the vertiginous winding lane, benefit from the view over a pint on the Monsal Head Lodge.
The place to remain: The Peacock at Rowsley (01629 733 518). Double room from £145, together with breakfast. Monsal Dale Fisheries (01629 640 159): £25 for a day ticket
9. River Teifi, Wales
Lengthy gone are the times when the rivers of Wales have been bible black with air pollution. Now even the Taffy across the Millennium Stadium boasts an excellent head of fish. However the true prize is sea trout, sewin, and the Teifi round Lampeter and Llandysul positively boils with them. Solely hassle is you need to catch them at nighttime, which makes casting tough, nevertheless it all provides to the alchemy.
The place to remain: Falcondale Mansion Lodge, Falcondale Drive, Lampeter, Ceredigion (01570 422 910). Doubles from £130, with breakfast. Will Mains (01559 363 700) can advise on the very best fishing beats within the space. Fishing day tickets: £17 by DR Jones and Son Llandysul (01559 363700).
10. The one which obtained away: Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
It is good to dream … that is the holy grail for fly-fishermen. The tip of the rainbow on the backside of the world, it prices a king’s ransom to organise, however ticks all the precise bins for walloping fish, surroundings and journey. Perhaps sooner or later.
The place to remain: Roxton Robinson Bailey (01488 689 700) can prepare tailored inclusive itineraries, with flights, from £4,950.
