The Hodder runs through the Forest of Bowland — moorland and limestone country in Lancashire, the kind of landscape that looks most itself in poor weather, which it gets reliably. Brown trout hold throughout the river, in the riffle edges and pool tails where the current concentrates the hatches. The Forest has a wildness that the farms and stone walls don't diminish. Atlantic salmon and sea trout run from the Ribble, entering the Hodder in autumn and pushing towards the moors. When the leaves are off the alders and the river is dropping after October rain, this is good country to be in. Atlantic salmon are assessed by the Environment Agency against each river's Conservation Limit — many principal rivers are classed 'at risk' with mandatory catch-and-release byelaws; check current rules before fishing.

• Mixed