Membership to the club provides river access to 3 miles of double bank fishing 362 days of the year.
Fly Fishing, mostly!
The club is fly fishing only throughout the official trout season but allows bait fishing during the winter months.
Varied Fishing
The vast majority of the stretch is good wading water with a wide variety of water types from shallow riffles through to deep glides. There are also some challenging deeper pools.
Carefully Managed
There is a good head of wild fish supplemented by careful limited stocking. Whilst most members practice catch and return, there are rules about how many and what size fish you can take.
About the River
The fishing starts in the Bridge Pool at Cromford Bridge just by our Grade 2 listed fishing lodge which was built by Richard Arkwright and bears the legend “Piscatoribus Sacrum”. Walking downstream through Cromford Meadows there are some fast shallow riffles followed by deeper glides to the railway bridge. Underneath the bridge is a locked gate to which only members have a key and this leads to Provost Ham’s, a large pool that always holds plenty of fish. Continuing downstream through a short wooded section are a series of riffles and glides. The fisherman’s path then opens out into the Sheep Meadow section which can also be accessed from our car park next to the rugby club. There’s some wonderful fishing all along this relatively slow section especially on long summer evenings under the trees.
At the bottom of the sheep meadow are Signal Box rapids which is another popular fishing area. Continuing downstream you have a wooded section on the right bank but Spencer’s meadow on the left. There’s access to the river from both banks and is mostly wadeable during the summer. Near the start of the Severn Trent Water works and High Peak Junction car park there is a very wide and deep area but that shallows out as it reaches the footbridge from the public car park. From the footbridge members have a key to unlock the gate through to the bottom section of the water works and the famous Outfall…..if you are having a bad day then come here and grab yourself a 5 pounder! Below the outfall is a lovely section down to the railway bridge followed by a section of riffles and rapids down to the viaduct where you reach the Birchwood.
The first section through the Birchwood is a long glide ending at the Magic Mirror pool just above the weir which holds plenty of rising fish on a summer’s evening. Below the weir is a real mix of water types, providing challenging and diverse fishing suitable for both euro nymphing methods and traditional upstream nymphing, as well as pockets of calmer water for dry fly when there’s a good hatch on. Eventually you reach Doar’s Glide where you can spend a complete evening using a variety of styles: it fishes well to duo, dry and upstream nymph. At mayfly time between the two sets of steps it can be full of rising fish. The lower steps at the railway bridge effectively mark the lower end of fishing on this stretch. Through the gate is Homesford Meadow with some lovely fishing with easy wading including Costello’s pool and some faster water immediately below it. This is followed by some great dry fly water if conditions are right all the way down to the weir next to the Homesford car park. Below the car park is an 80 yard stretch on the left bank only which is not fished as much as it should be with some great Euro water.
