Spate · Limestone · Swaledale / North Yorkshire

River Swale

River Swale venue image
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Muscular spate river with power and temperament — strong current, broken water, boulder-strewn runs where spiders excel.

Poor · Brown Trout
Pheasant Tail Nymph · 14-16
Poorlive now
Not the day for it
River steady at a fishable height. Take your time — read the water before you cast.
80% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.52 mLast reading 4h ago
  • Water temp20.9°C
  • ClarityClear
Today’s fly
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Pheasant Tail Nymph14-16
Upstream, sub-surface
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.52 m
Last reading 4h ago
Water temp20.9°C
ClarityClear
Weather14°C
WindW 8 km/h
Pressure1020 hPa
Rain · recent2.6 mm
Rain · ahead4.8 mm

Live readings only. Trends shown where the gauge supports them.

Water temperature for brown trout
Warm — slow
20.9°Cideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for brown trout
When
Olives April into May; Mayfly late May where it holds; sedges through summer; small dark flies into October. Spate-driven — fish the drop after rain.
Where
Pool tails and riffle heads through the upper dale; below Richmond the Swale flattens into longer glides. Pocket water is key on the upper river.
Method
Upstream dry to risers when olives or sedges are off; North Country spider on the swing in cooler water — Snipe and Purple, Partridge and Orange, Waterhen Bloa. Move upstream slowly, fish each lie properly.
Kit
9 ft #4 — Yorkshire freestone default. Floating line, 9 to 12 ft leader to 4 to 5 lb fluoro. Studded boots for slick stones.
Why this works
⚠️ Water at 20.9°C — above the brown trout caution line (18°C). Fish dawn or dusk only. Land it fast, wet hands, no air shots. Otherwise poor — water clarity is in the right range.
Hatch timeline · todayQuiet day

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 3 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Evidence
Survey-backed · regionalModerate confidence

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

Through the year
0–3 scale · July highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Grayling seasonSeason
2
2
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
Daddy Long LegsHatch
2
3
2
March BrownHatch
2
3
2
GrannomHatch
2
2
Large StoneflyHatch
2
3
2

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

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Cooler water nearby · 1
Water here at 20.9°C — the fishing's alive, but these are cooler if you'd rather rest the warm water.
River Balder
21 km
~13°C
Brown trout · Grayling
Gallery · 1
  1. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Muscular spate river with power and temperament — strong current, broken water, boulder-strewn runs where spiders excel. Cover-water fishing at its best: every seam, neck, and eddy holds a fish. The turbulent water gives fish seconds to decide; a Snipe & Purple fished tight in the broken seams produces immediate takes. Strong wading skills essential — the Swale's current demands respect. Excellent grayling in winter. Club-based (Richmond & District) with day permits available. A river for practicing watercraft and reading current.

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

EA waterbody 'Swale from Muker Beck to Clapgate Beck' (GB104027069121) — the upper-Swaledale main stem (Reeth, Grinton, Marske, Downholme). Latest EA data (Cycle 3, 2022): Moderate ecological status. Chemical 'Fail' reflects the England-wide ubiquitous-substance failure (mercury and PBDE in biota); the 2022 cycle itself records chemical as 'does not require assessment'. Corrected 2026-06-18 from GB104027069000, which is Colburn/Risedale Beck (a Swale tributary), not the main stem.

EA (England) · GB104027069121

The full read · show the working · for brown trout · confidence 80%
How the 22 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature15 × 28%4.2
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time60 × 13%7.8
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity44 × 12%5.3
Limiting factor: Water temperature (20.9°C) is outside Brown Trout's preferred range (10–16°C)= 58
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
What would change the calculation
Cooler water — back toward the 10–16 °C ideal band — would lift the score and ease welfare.
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout22 March → 30 September
  • Grayling16 June → 14 March
Related guides
Grayling Playbookgrayling tacticsYorkshire & SpidersNorth Country methodsTrout Near Londonaccess guide
Booking & contacts