Freestone · Limestone · Masham / Lower Wensleydale, GB-ENG

River Burn

The River Burn flowing near Masham in North Yorkshire

Small intimate river near Masham with the private, wild feel that makes Yorkshire fishing special.

Today · Not the day for it
Black Gnat
Forecast · Today
Not the day for it
Not much stacked in your favour today. Worth an hour if you are nearby, not worth the special trip.
45% projected
Today's fly
Black Gnat
Black Gnat
Conditions on the water · Today
Proxy gauge
Level
Rising
Proxy
via River Ure
Water temp14.4°C
ClarityUnfishable
Weather18°C
WindN 21 km/h
Pressure1009 hPa
Rain · recent0.1 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

No gauge on this water — conditions are inferred from River Ure. The trend transfers, the absolute level does not.

Water temperature for Grayling
Warm — slow
14°C est.ideal 4–14°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Grayling
When
Midday window — grayling feed best from late morning into early afternoon.
Where
Work runs and glides — grayling shoal in the bottom third of the water column.
Method
Tight-line nymph the bottom third with weighted patterns.
Kit
10 ft #3 rod, floating line, long leader to 4 lb fluoro for nymphs.
Why this works
Good — water clarity is working for you, but time of day is the limiting factor today.
Likely species
Mayflies
Caddisflies
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 12pm

12pm(now) — Heather Fly

Stage: Terrestrials on topApproach: Dry flyActivity: 41%
Also:Daddy Long Legs35%
Peak emergence window9 food groups active

Peak activity at 12pm — Heather Fly (Heather Fly, Peak emergence window)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds as a supporter.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 as a supporter.

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Evidence
Survey-backed · regionalHigh confidence

Backed by regional invertebrate surveys; no sampling on this exact reach yet.

Through the year
0–3 scale · September highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Daddy Long LegsHatch
2
3
2
CapererHatch
2
3
3
2
Hawthorn FlyHatch
2
2
GrannomHatch
2
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Grayling fly box
North Country spider water

A small, secret sort of river — runs, holes, and overhanging cover where every cast has to count. Dry fly and spider are equally at home, and the Hare's Lug soft hackle is a local article of faith.

Local classics: Snipe & Purple·Waterhen Bloa·Hare's Lug
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Tanfield Lodge Lake
5.0 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Bellflask Fishery
6.0 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Leighton Reservoir
7.0 km
Rainbow trout
Leighton Reservoir
7.0 km
Rainbow trout
Leighton Reservoir
7.0 km
Rainbow trout
Gallery · 2
  1. The River Burn flowing near Masham in North Yorkshire
    River Burn near Masham, North Yorkshire
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Small intimate river near Masham with the private, wild feel that makes Yorkshire fishing special. Runs, holes, and pools with overhanging cover where stealth is paramount. Dry fly and spiders are equally at home; the Burn's scale suits both. The Hare's Lug (hare's ear soft hackle) tradition is strong here — a distinctively Yorkshire pattern that blurs spider and nymph. The Burn joins the Ure just south of Masham. Overhanging trees demand accurate short casts and roll-casting. Syndicate and estate-managed access (Fly Fishing Yorkshire syndicate, Swinton Estate). A river for anglers who value intimacy over size.

  • Limestone
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Moderate
  • Chemical: Fail
What this classification means

Classification for the fished main stem of the River Burn at Masham / Swinton — EA waterbody 'Burn from Leighton Beck to River Ure' (GB104027069310), Ure Middle and Lower operational catchment, Swale Ure Nidd and Ouse Upper management catchment, Humber river basin district. Latest EA data (updated 17 March 2025), Cycle 3 2022: Moderate ecological status, held at Moderate since 2019. Heavily modified water body sitting within the North Pennine Moors SAC/SPA. The step down from earlier Good classifications is driven by the fish element (RNAG: surface-water abstraction affecting flow) plus a phosphate 'suspect data' reason-for-deterioration; invertebrates, macrophytes and the other physico-chemical elements are High/Good. Chemical 'Fail' reflects the England-wide ubiquitous-substance failure (mercury and PBDE in biota — measures delivered, awaiting recovery), not a Burn-specific pollution event; the 2022 cycle itself records chemical as 'does not require assessment'. Classifying monitoring sites include Burn at Masham (Badger Lane Bridge) and Burn at Swinton Saw Mill Race. Note: the prior entry pointed at GB104027068800 (Ings Goit from Source to Burneston Beck), a separate small waterbody in the Swale catchment, not the Burn — corrected 2026-06-18.

EA (England) · GB104027069310

The full read · show the working · for Grayling · confidence 55%
How the 69 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature77 × 28%21.6
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity85 × 18%15.3
Feeding Time10 × 13%1.3
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity61 × 12%7.3
Conditions total= 69
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowproxy via River Ureproxy
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 22 March → 30 September
Related guides
Grayling Playbookgrayling tacticsYorkshire & SpidersNorth Country methodsTrout Near Londonaccess guide
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts