Fishing forecast in York

York sits where the Foss joins the Ouse, with the Derwent running through the Vale to the east. The Ouse drains a great deal of the Yorkshire Dales, which means the river here reacts to weather that fell somewhere else. The forecast below picks the day, and the level decides the rest.

Get the FisHub fishing forecast for York and prepare for your trip in advance. We factor in the weather and give you a forecast several days ahead, so you can plan your fishing.

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Where to fish in York

The main river is the Ouse, which crosses the city and carries the drainage of a large slice of the Yorkshire Dales. The Foss joins it in the middle of York, much smaller and much slower. East of the city the Derwent runs down the Vale.

The character of the Ouse is the thing to understand before choosing a day. It is a lowland river fed by upland catchment, so it rises quickly and falls slowly, and the level rather than the weather usually decides whether a session works.

England has no state register of fishing waters, and the right to fish belongs to clubs and private fisheries rather than to the public. These waters are named here as geography. Permission from the fishery is needed as well as a licence.

Rules and licences

Everyone 13 and over needs a rod fishing licence, on private and club water as well as public, with a fine of up to £2,500 for going without. Under-13s need none and junior licences are free. Source: Environment Agency freshwater rod fishing rules.

All three rivers close to coarse fishing and eels from 15 March to 15 June. Enclosed stillwaters and canals stay open through those months, which is where the carp fishing around York continues while the Ouse is shut.

York is in the Yorkshire region for close season game rules: natural or artificial fly, minnow, worm, shrimp, prawn, sand eel or artificial lures are all permitted, a considerably wider list than the artificial-fly-only rule that applies in the south-east.

Daily river limits are one pike up to 65 cm, two grayling of 30 to 38 cm, and fifteen fish up to 20 cm from the coarse list. Eels except conger go back alive. Lead weights between 0.06 g and 28.35 g are illegal, crayfish are not allowed as bait, foul-hooked fish must be returned, gaffs and tailers are banned, and a rod may not be left unattended.

What bites and on what

Bream are the most reliable of the four on the Ouse, shoaling in the slower deeper water below the city and holding well to steady feed on a feeder rod. They are also the species most affected by a rising river.

Carp around York are largely a stillwater story rather than a river one, and that is what keeps the spring going when the Ouse is closed. Match the carp rod to the water: most of these fisheries are small enough that distance is not the point.

Perch stack around bridge piers, moorings and the Foss mouth. Pike are through the whole system, with the one-fish river limit applying. Grayling appear in the rules with their own slot of two fish between 30 and 38 cm, which is unusual and worth knowing if you fish the faster water with a fly rod. For lure work on the Ouse a longer spinning rod helps cover the width.

How to read the bite forecast

Zero to three, per species and part of day. Pressure first:

Pike	758–764 mm Hg	one fish up to 65 cm from rivers
Perch	758–762 mm Hg	piers, moorings, the Foss mouth
Bream	755–760 mm Hg	slower deep water below the city
Carp	755–765 mm Hg	stillwaters, open all year

Stability second: more than 2 mm Hg between parts of a day, or 3 mm Hg between days, cancels the settled-weather bonus. Level third, and the calculation cannot see it. The Ouse drains the Dales, so rain that fell fifty miles away arrives here as a foot of extra water under a clear sky. See also the fishing forecast for today.

The pressure where you are, in one click:

Fishing through the seasons in York

Spring. Rivers shut from 15 March. Stillwaters take over, and the Yorkshire close season bait list keeps game fishing open on the rivers that allow it.

Summer. The Ouse reopens on 16 June, usually low and clear, which is when the river is at its most readable.

Autumn. The best balance of the year: everything open, levels steadier, fish spread through the system.

Winter. High water more often than not. Pike and perch keep going; the Foss and the stillwaters are the shelter when the Ouse is out.

What experienced anglers say

On a river fed from the hills the first habit is to read the level before the forecast. A settled barometer over a rising river is a worse day than an unsettled one over a steady river, and no pressure band accounts for that.

The second is to fish the inside line when the water is up. Fish move off the main flow and tuck in close, often much closer to the bank than anglers expect, and long casts in high water usually put the bait in the wrong place.

Questions and answers

Which rivers run through York? The Ouse crosses the city and the Foss joins it in the centre. The Derwent runs east of York through the Vale. All three are rivers, so all three are closed to coarse fishing and eels from 15 March to 15 June.

Where can I fish near York in the spring? Not on the rivers between 15 March and 15 June. Enclosed stillwaters and canals stay open all year under the national rules, which is why the still water fisheries around York carry the spring for carp anglers.

What baits are allowed around York during the close season? York is in Yorkshire, where game fishing during the coarse close season may use natural or artificial fly, minnow, worm, shrimp, prawn, sand eel or artificial lures. The south-east of England is restricted to artificial fly only.

Can I trust the forecast literally? It reads the barometer, not the river. The Ouse drains a very large part of the Yorkshire Dales and rises fast after hill rain, so the city can be dry and sunny while the river is up a foot and carrying colour.

More fishing nearby

Other towns with a forecast are listed on the fishing forecast in the United Kingdom page, and the way the score is worked out is explained under fishing forecast.