Peak Forest Canal

Peak Forest Canal isn’t a packaged-up commercial fishery with numbered pegs and a café on the bank. It’s a working waterway managed by the Canal & River Trust, with angling alongside boating, walking and wildlife watching. The New Mills Marina area is the nearest named access and landmark.

• 1 lake: New Mills section, upper Peak Forest Canal
• Fish: roach, perch
• Tickets from: Waterway Wanderers adult permit, from 1 April 2026 — £28
• Find it: New Mills · SK22 3EZ

Based on how each lake is set up — not a ranking.

Peak Forest Canal isn’t a packaged-up commercial fishery with numbered pegs and a café on the bank. It’s a working waterway managed by the Canal & River Trust, with angling alongside boating, walking and wildlife watching. The New Mills Marina area is the nearest named access and landmark.

The canal runs for approximately 14.75 miles from Dukinfield Junction to Bugsworth Basin, passing through New Mills, Furness Vale and Bridgemont. There are 16 locks, concentrated around Marple, so there’s plenty of water to explore if you fancy a wander rather than sitting on one peg all day.

The New Mills section is on the upper Peak Forest Canal. Canal fish commonly associated with this waterway include roach, perch, gudgeon and ruffe, although there isn’t a complete official species list for the local stretch. Keep expectations sensible and treat each swim as a bit of a puzzle.

Tackle-wise, a light float approach is the obvious starting point for roach, perch and gudgeon. A small feeder could also be worth a look where the towpath gives you room, while working the margins and any features carefully may turn up a cheeky bite. Exact pegs, depths and underwater features aren’t published, so a bit of walking and plumbing is part of the faff.

This is permit-controlled CRT water, not free fishing. Anglers aged 13 or over need a valid Environment Agency rod licence, plus permission from the fishing-rights holder. The canal is available through the Waterway Wanderers scheme on designated non-rented stretches, with the permit lasting 12 months from purchase.

There are a fair few canal-specific rules to clock before clipping up. No fishing in lock chambers or within 25 metres of lock approaches, water points, swing or lifting bridges. Fishing between permanently moored boats is prohibited, and visitor moorings are subject to signs and boating priority.

Night fishing is allowed on Waterway Wanderers stretches, provided nearby residents are considered, and bivvies are only allowed when they don’t obstruct the towpath. Native fish must not be removed, while zander and other non-native species must not be returned under the permit terms. Bob on if you want a quieter session, but keep it tidy and respectful.

Good background reading. Most of it is a few years old, so treat it as a starting point and ask on the day.

Videos linked by the fishery

• Our read

  Checked Sept '26 — “Peak Forest Canal around New Mills is a proper canal-angling option, with the New Mills section sitting on the upper canal near New Mills Marina. It’s permit-controlled rather than a commercial day-ticket fishery, so sort the paperwork before tackling the towpath.”

This is our own summary of recurring public feedback and the venue details we checked, not a copied customer review or a promise you’ll catch. Feedback changes, so we keep it separate from the Tackle Index score.