Limestone · Peak District / Derbyshire, GB-ENG

Derbyshire Wye

A stone weir crossing the River Wye in wooded Monsal Dale, Derbyshire, with a footpath along the near bank

One of England's most iconic wild trout rivers — clear, alkaline limestone water through Bakewell, Rowsley and the Haddon Estate.

Prime · Rainbow Trout
Pheasant Tail Nymph · 14-16
Primelive now
About as good as it gets
Low and clear — careful approach country. Take your time — read the water before you cast.
90% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.26 mLast reading 3h ago
  • Water temp10.7°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Pheasant Tail Nymph14-16
Upstream, sub-surface
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.26 m
Last reading 3h ago
Water temp10.7°C
ClarityClear
Weather10°C
WindE 16 km/h
Pressure1027 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead13.5 mm

The nearest gauge is at Ashford in the Water. It doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Rainbow Trout
Ideal
11°C est.ideal 10–18°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Rainbow Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though insect activity could be better.
Likely species
Mayflies
Stoneflies
Caddisflies
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayQuiet day

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 9 active hatches hour by hour as a supporter.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Supporters see the full sub-surface read.

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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 · October 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
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
Rainbow Trout fly box

Haddon's dry-fly-only water on the Wye and Lathkill has held the line for over 150 years, so the upstream dry is the natural first move. Sight-fish the wild browns, wild rainbows, and grayling on fine tippet and stealth.

Local classics: Grey Wulff·Pheasant Tail Nymph·Red Tag
Beats · 7 · 4 reaches

The Derbyshire Wye is historic, controlled dry-fly water, not an open river. Access splits into a few clear routes: the flagship Haddon Estate Wye (unstocked wild browns, wild rainbows and grayling) reached through The Peacock at Rowsley or club membership; three guided private beats (Hall, Dovecote and Duke's on the Lathkill); and the Cressbrook & Litton club water, whose Monsal Dale day ticket is the clearest public route in. Almost all of it is dry-fly, barbless, no-wading and catch-and-release — choose your beat by how you want to book and fish, then check that beat's rules.

Haddon Estate WyeGuide / lodge
The flagship Derbyshire Wye experience — over seven miles of unstocked, wild-fish limestone water (wild browns, wild rainbows and grayling) generally accessed through The Peacock at Rowsley as a hotel-resident or guided day ticket, or via Peacock Fly Fishing Club membership.
Haddon private guided beats (Wye & Lathkill) · 3 beatsDay rods
Haddon Hall Beat, Dovecote Beat, Duke's Beat (River Lathkill)
The 3 beats
Haddon Hall BeatGuide / lodge
Peacock Fly Fishing Club / Haddon Estate
A guided private beat running roughly 1.5 km downstream of Haddon Hall bridge to the end of the Medieval Park — wild rainbows, wild browns and grayling, covered with the dry fly from the bank. No wading.
Dry-fly-only, bank fishing only, no wading. Guided/private-beat pricing per rod.
Dovecote BeatGuide / lodge
Peacock Fly Fishing Club / Haddon Estate
A guided private beat of roughly 1 km upstream of Haddon Hall bridge towards Bakewell — wild rainbows, wild browns and grayling to the dry fly from the bank. No wading.
Dry-fly-only, bank fishing only, no wading. Guided/private-beat pricing per rod.
Duke's Beat (River Lathkill)Guide / lodge
Peacock Fly Fishing Club / Haddon Estate
A guided private beat of about 1.5 km on the River Lathkill, a Wye limestone tributary — lightly fished, crystal-clear, difficult stalking water for wild brown trout. A technical connoisseur's beat.
Dry-fly priority; crystal-clear stalking water. Guided/private-beat pricing per rod.
Cressbrook & Litton / Monsal Dale · 2 beatsMixed
Monsal Dale Day-Ticket Fishery, Cressbrook & Litton Flyfishers' Club
The 2 beats
Monsal Dale Day-Ticket FisheryDay tickets
Cressbrook & Litton Flyfishers' Club
The clearest non-resident, non-guided public route onto the Derbyshire Wye — about three-quarters of a mile of double-bank day-ticket water from Upperdale Bridge to Cressbrook Mill, in scenic Monsal Dale. Wild browns, wild rainbows and grayling on classic limestone water.
Day-ticket water separate from members' water. Check current club day-ticket method rules before fishing.
Cressbrook & Litton Flyfishers' ClubMembers
Cressbrook & Litton Flyfishers' Club
Custodian of around eleven miles of premium Derbyshire Wye fly fishing from Blackwell (just below Buxton) down to Ashford in the Water. Members' water holds wild brown and rainbow trout, with a thriving grayling population on the lower beats; visitors access the club's water via the separate Monsal Dale day-ticket fishery.
Members' water by club membership; visitor access is via the Monsal Dale day ticket. Wild fishery with full-time riverkeeping.
Haddon Estate Derwent (linked access)Guide / lodge
Context, not Wye water: the Peacock/Haddon access product sells the Wye and the neighbouring River Derwent together, with about three and a half miles of Derwent available to hotel residents and guided guests.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
River Derwent (Derbyshire)
6.0 km
Brown trout · Grayling
Barlow Country Club Fishery
13 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Press Manor Fishing Lakes
13 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout · Brook trout
Carsington Water
15 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
River Dove
16 km
Brown trout · Grayling
Gallery · 2
  1. A stone weir crossing the River Wye in wooded Monsal Dale, Derbyshire, with a footpath along the near bank
    A weir on the River Wye in Monsal Dale, Derbyshire
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

One of England's most iconic wild trout rivers — clear, alkaline limestone water through Bakewell, Rowsley and the Haddon Estate. Its standout claim is biological: the Derbyshire Wye holds the only confirmed self-sustaining population of spring-spawning wild rainbow trout in the UK, fishing alongside wild brown trout and a strong head of grayling. This is historic dry-fly limestone fishing in the Halford/Skues tradition — but it is not open river. The famous Haddon/Peacock water runs on a long-standing conservation regime, and access is controlled rather than casual.

  • Limestone
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Moderate
Water quality details
  • Dissolved oxygen: High
  • Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD): High
  • Ammonia (Phys-Chem): High
  • pH: High
  • Phosphate: High
  • Temperature: High

EA (England) · GB104028057820

The full read · show the working · for Rainbow Trout · confidence 90%
How the 83 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity85 × 18%15.3
Feeding Time70 × 13%9.1
Pressure75 × 7%5.3
Insect activity64 × 12%7.7
Conditions total= 83
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 22 March → 30 September
  • Grayling 16 June → 14 March

    Strong grayling head on clear limestone gravel. Most water is estate/club-controlled — method and access rules vary by beat.

    Prime sport 1 October → 31 December

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