Inland Fisheries

Freshwater Fishing on the Isle of Man

All anglers MUST hold an angling licence issued by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and must purchase a licence before they fish anywhere on the Island’s inland waters. Licences are available for periods of a season, a week or a day. To fish any of the eight reservoirs you must hold a Reservoir licence, and a separate licence is required for fishing any other inland waters.

River Fishing

With numerous small, clear, fast flowing streams, the Isle of Man offers a unique opportunity to fish for wild brown trout across the Island. You may fish the fly, worm or spin in streams cascading down from the mountains, through the rolling countryside and in tree-lined valleys. Many anglers choose to spin rather than fly fish these streams due to the dense cover, however excellent results will come to the practised fly fisherman.

Migratory Fish

Salmon and sea trout are both native to the Island and Manx rivers hold surprisingly good stocks of migratory fish. Given enough water, there should be sea trout in the major rivers by June, with salmon arriving later in the year, usually by late September. The main rivers frequented by migratory fish are the Sulby River in the northern half of the Island and the Neb, which flows into the sea at Peel on the west coast. However, sea trout can be found in some of the larger pools in the smaller streams.

Reservoir Fishing

The Island has eight reservoirs, which can provide some challenging stillwater trout fishing and offer a great contrast as they vary from sheltered lowland reservoirs to exposed upland waters in the central hills. Whilst wild brown trout can be found in all of these reservoirs, six of them (Ballure, Clypse, Kerrowdhoo, Cringle, Sulby and West Baldwin) are also stocked on a regular basis throughout the angling season with rainbow reared at the Government's fish hatchery at Cornaa.

The reservoirs vary in size from the deep, clear Sulby Reservoir (154 acres) located directly under Snaefell to the lowest-lying Ballure (3.5 acres) just on the outskirts of Ramsey. The Clypse and Kerrowdhoo reservoirs just north of Douglas are restricted to fly fishing only.

For safety reasons none of the reservoirs allow wading and no boats are available.

Angling Seasons

Seasons are different for the reservoirs and streams on the Island. Fishing on reservoirs opens in March and goes through to the end of October. The season on the streams begins in April and for brown trout continues until the end of September. After this, there is another month's fishing for migratory fish only, until the end of October.

Rod Licences

The rod licensing system on the Isle of Man differs from that of the UK in that one licence is required to fish all of the reservoirs and a separate licence must be purchased should you wish to fish elsewhere (e.g rivers). These licences are available from the majority of Post Offices and from the Head Office of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry at Rose House in Circular Road, Douglas. Most types of licence can also be purchased from the Department of Tourism and Leisure at the Sea Terminal and from several tackle shops across the Island. Licences are available for a day, a week or a season. However, for the month of October, which is the most productive for migratory fish, you can only fish the rivers if you hold a season licence.

Senior citizens (aged 65yrs & over) and eligible disabled persons may opt to purchase a reservoir adult season licence with a reduced daily bag limit at a concessionary price (click here for eligibility criteria). These concessionary licences are only available at DAFF's offices at Rose House, and at Post Offices. There are also reductions for students (a person who has not turned 19 years of age by 31st December). For children under 14yrs of age on 31st December in the year the licence is issued, licences are required but are issued free of charge, and they must only fish when accompanied by an adult (18yrs & over). Click here for a list of the licence fees for 2008.

Regulations

On the reservoirs, no more than 4 trout can be caught and killed on any one day, and anglers must not continue to catch and release after a fourth fish has been caught and killed. There is a smaller bag limit of 2 trout for senior citizens and eligible disabled persons fishing with a concessionary season licence.

On other waters, anglers are permitted to catch and kill up to 6 fish each day, of which no more than 2 can be salmon or sea trout. Again, anglers are not permitted to continue catch and release after the capture of the sixth fish.

Please note that it is now an offence under the Inland Fisheries (Duties) Regulations 2007 to sell, offer or expose for sale any fish to which a licence issued under these regulations applies.

Catch Returns

From 2003, river anglers are being encouraged to submit catch returns at the end of the season, whether or not they have succeeded in catching any fish. The catch return form is incorporated as part of the Other Waters licence and should be returned to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry via a Freepost address by the 1st January of the following year.

These returns will be used to monitor trends in the Island's fisheries, will act as useful indicators as to the status of our native fish stocks, and will assist in directing resources to the areas most in need.

Access

Your licence will allow you to fish but does not grant you access to the waterside. However, very few stretches of private streams are private fishing, and where they are, boards advertise this. In general, river access is at the courtesy of the landowner whose permission should be obtained before fishing.

The Fish Hatchery, Cornaa

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry operates a fish hatchery at Ballaglass near Cornaa in Maughold. All the rainbow trout released into the reservoirs are reared at this site, which is open to the public at specific times. The majority of the fish are reared to a size of just over a pound in weight before stocking, although larger fish are regularly released with these, just to keep the fishing interesting!

On average approximately 25,000 fish are introduced to the reservoirs over the angling season.

To arrange a visit to the Hatchery, please telephone 812224 or 686044 to check on opening times.

The Work of the Freshwater Fisheries Section

The Freshwater Fisheries Section has responsibility for the supervision and protection of fisheries and for fostering the establishment and development of such fisheries.

A new and developing area of responsibility is the implementation of a migratory salmonid monitoring strategy for the Department. This will provide information on the status of the native fish stocks in the various watercourses across the Island, and thus set a baseline from which improvements can be instigated.

Over time, with such initiatives as habitat improvement schemes, it is hoped that the native fish stocks on the Island will be protected and enhanced through the work of the Department and other supportive organisations.

In addition, Rainbow trout are reared at the Hatchery for the re-stocking of the Island's reservoirs for recreational angling.

Salmon are also reared by the Section, for introducing to rivers and streams on the Island following pollution incidents or after habitat improvements have been carried out in order to boost the native stocks.

The Section also enforces the Inland Fisheries Act 1976, under which it is empowered. This includes the investigation of, and where necessary, prosecution of freshwater pollution incidents.

Rod licence checks and anti-poaching patrols are routinely carried out to deter poaching and protect the fishery interests.

There are 6 full time members of staff in the Section, and also a number of voluntary 'River Watchers' who are fully warranted under the Act and carry out both rod licence checking duties and anti-poaching patrols. The Section also part sponsors the River Management Project, which aims to promote good practice in watercourse management within and outside of Government. For more information on this initiative, click here.