River guide
River Trent in Derbyshire
6 checked stretches so far — day tickets, club waters and guest tickets, all checked against the clubs' own pages on 2 October 2026.
The lowdown
The Trent through Nottinghamshire is proper big-river fishing — wide, powerful and famous for barbel, with chub, bream, roach, dace, pike and the odd nomadic river carp thrown in. Through the city it's urban and handy; downstream past Stoke Bardolph, Gunthorpe and on towards Newark it opens out into long, quiet meadow stretches.
Almost every yard is controlled by a club, society or federation, so the first job is always working out who runs the bit you fancy and what ticket you need. Some stretches are cheap day tickets, some are members-only, and one or two are limited guest tickets. We've only listed stretches where the rights holder's own website backs up what we say.
Close season reminder
Coarse fishing on English rivers is closed from 15 March to 15 June inclusive. That's the law for coarse fish on rivers — it's not a club rule, and game-fishing seasons work differently.
GOV.UK — Freshwater rod fishing rules: when and where you can fishStretches
6 of 6 checked stretches. No rankings — we don't know which is "best" on your day, and neither does anyone else.
River Trent – Dr’s Surgery, Willington
River Trent · Day ticket, members or night permit
Dr’s Surgery is a proper River Trent coarse-fishing venue at Willington, run by Derbyshire County Angling Club. It’s separate from the excluded Finger Lake frontage, with access through DCAC membership or a Catch day ticket.
Species not listed by the club.
Checked 6 Oct 2026
River Trent – Sawley/Shardlow section
River Trent · Members only
The Sawley/Shardlow section is a proper mixed River Trent stretch, running around the River Derwent confluence, Sawley and Sawley Weir. It flips from slow, deep water to shallow, fast-running river, with bream and roach in the quieter areas and barbel and chub showing in the pace.
Checked 6 Oct 2026
Newton Solney — Newton Water Old Stretch
River Trent · Members only
Newton Water Old Stretch is SDAA’s lowland River Trent water at Newton Solney, with roughly 20 pegs on the Derbyshire bank. It sits close to the River Dove confluence, with the Trent forming the county boundary with Staffordshire here.
Checked 6 Oct 2026
Ingleby (John Thompson) — River Trent
River Trent · Members only
Ingleby (John Thompson) is a proper River Trent coarse-fishing stretch run by Derby Railway Angling Club. Expect fast gravel glides, deeper pools and slacks, with barbel and plenty of silverfish in the mix.
Checked 6 Oct 2026
River Trent – Willington section
River Trent · Members only
A proper mixed coarse stretch on the lowland, navigable Trent near Willington Bridge, run by Pride of Derby Angling Association. It’s members-only water, with roach, chub, barbel and bream on the club’s list.
Checked 6 Oct 2026
River Trent — Swarkestone to below Shardlow
River Trent · Members only
A big, proper Derbyshire Trent holding from Swarkestone down to below Shardlow, run exclusively by Derby Railway Angling Club. It’s membership water rather than a casual day-ticket job, with rural floodplain and navigable river character in the mix.
Species not listed by the club.
Checked 6 Oct 2026
Pins mark the access postcode each club gives, not the bank itself. Exact boundary map: see rights holder.
Access & tickets
Annual coarse ticket
Derbyshire County Angling Club
Includes coarse membership access to the River Trent Dr’s Surgery stretch and is valid for 12 months from purchase.
£85 (as listed 06/10/2026)
Covers: River Trent – Dr’s Surgery, Willington
Coarse ticket with night permit
Derbyshire County Angling Club
Includes night fishing on Dr’s Surgery.
£105 (as listed 06/10/2026)
Covers: River Trent – Dr’s Surgery, Willington
Day membership
Derbyshire County Angling Club
Available for selected waters through Catch. Check Catch for Dr’s Surgery availability and the current price.
Covers: River Trent – Dr’s Surgery, Willington
2026/27 standard adult ticket
Pride of Derby Angling Association
Pride of Derby membership or season ticket; members-only River Trent access.
£100 per year (as listed 06/10/2026)
Covers: River Trent – Sawley/Shardlow section
New standard adult joining fee
Pride of Derby Angling Association
Applies to a new standard adult membership.
£20 (as listed 06/10/2026)
Covers: River Trent – Sawley/Shardlow section
Gate key
Pride of Derby Angling Association
Listed for access to the locked car parks.
£10 (as listed 06/10/2026)
Covers: River Trent – Sawley/Shardlow section
Adult SDAA membership, 2025–2026
Swadlincote & District Angling Association
Published adult membership for the season.
£55 (as listed 06/10/2026)
Covers: Newton Solney — Newton Water Old Stretch
Senior SDAA membership, 2025–2026
Swadlincote & District Angling Association
Published senior membership for the season.
£35 (as listed 06/10/2026)
Covers: Newton Solney — Newton Water Old Stretch
Junior registration, 2025–2026
Swadlincote & District Angling Association
Registration is free. New members pay an additional £10 for a key.
Free registration; £10 key charge for new members (as listed 06/10/2026)
Covers: Newton Solney — Newton Water Old Stretch
Associate Coarse membership
Derby Railway Angling Club
Permits coarse fishing on the club’s waters, subject to listed exclusions.
Covers: Ingleby (John Thompson) — River Trent
Associate Trout & Coarse membership
Derby Railway Angling Club
Permits fishing all club waters for game and coarse fishing.
Covers: Ingleby (John Thompson) — River Trent
Night Permit
Derby Railway Angling Club
Required to night fish the River Trent.
Covers: Ingleby (John Thompson) — River Trent
2026–2027 adult standard season ticket
Pride of Derby Angling Association
Club members’ standard ticket, giving access to the club’s river and other standard waters.
£100 (as listed 06/10/2026)
Covers: River Trent – Willington section
New adult joining fee
Pride of Derby Angling Association
Payable by new adult members.
£20 (as listed 06/10/2026)
Covers: River Trent – Willington section
Gate key
Pride of Derby Angling Association
Required where applicable for locked car park access.
£10 (as listed 06/10/2026)
Covers: River Trent – Willington section
Associate Coarse membership
Derby Railway Angling Club
Covers coarse fishing across club waters. Memberships run annually from 16 June.
Covers: River Trent — Swarkestone to below Shardlow
Associate Trout & Coarse membership
Derby Railway Angling Club
Covers both game and coarse fishing across club waters. Memberships run annually from 16 June.
Covers: River Trent — Swarkestone to below Shardlow
River Trent night permit
Derby Railway Angling Club
Required for night fishing on the River Trent.
Covers: River Trent — Swarkestone to below Shardlow
Species
We only tag a stretch with a fish when the club names it. Some clubs name fish across all their Trent water rather than stretch by stretch — those are flagged on the card.
| Stretch | Bream | Roach | Pike | Perch | Barbel | Chub | Zander |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| River Trent – Dr’s Surgery, Willington | |||||||
| River Trent – Sawley/Shardlow section | ● | ● | ● | ● | |||
| Newton Solney — Newton Water Old Stretch | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| Ingleby (John Thompson) — River Trent | ● | ● | ● | ||||
| River Trent – Willington section | ● | ● | ● | ● | |||
| River Trent — Swarkestone to below Shardlow |
● named by the club for this stretch · ●* named across the club's Trent day-ticket waters · blank = not named (not "absent").
Rules — who runs what
Derbyshire County Angling Club
Join Derbyshire County Angling Club for coarse membership access, or check Catch for day-ticket availability and the current price. The £105 coarse ticket includes the night permit, while the £85 annual coarse ticket is valid for 12 months from purchase.
Club pagePride of Derby Angling Association
The River Trent is members-only, with no day tickets offered. Fishing requires a Pride of Derby membership or season ticket; the 2026/27 standard adult ticket is £100 per year, with a £20 joining fee for a new standard adult membership. A gate key is listed at £10.
Club pageSwadlincote & District Angling Association
Membership can be arranged by post or by contacting SDAA by text. The association gives DE14 9PL for its secretary’s postal address; that is not stated as the fishing-access postcode.
Club pageThis is Derby Railway Angling Club water and the club does not advertise day tickets for the stretch. Join as an Associate Coarse member for coarse fishing, or take Associate Trout & Coarse membership for all club waters and both game and coarse fishing; memberships run annually from 16 June.
Club pageFished the river recently?
Pick the stretch you fished and add a 20-second update there — one stretch at a time keeps it useful.
Each stretch page lists its own key rules. You'll need an Environment Agency rod licence on all of them.
River levels
Measured readings straight from the Environment Agency. These are the nearest gauges we've matched — not readings from the stretches themselves.
Measured — Environment Agency
Clifton Bridge gauge
Nearest EA gauge we've matched — it isn't on this stretch, so levels on your peg will differ.
Loading latest reading…
We don't publish an "ideal level" — nobody can promise one. Flood water is dangerous: if it's up and coloured, stay well back from the edge. Open River Ready
Measured — Environment Agency
Colwick gauge
Nearest EA gauge we've matched — it isn't on this stretch, so levels on your peg will differ.
Loading latest reading…
We don't publish an "ideal level" — nobody can promise one. Flood water is dangerous: if it's up and coloured, stay well back from the edge. Open River Ready
Measured — Environment Agency
Farndon gauge
Nearest EA gauge we've matched — it isn't on this stretch, so levels on your peg will differ.
Loading latest reading…
We don't publish an "ideal level" — nobody can promise one. Flood water is dangerous: if it's up and coloured, stay well back from the edge. Open River Ready
Tips & reports
Our take (editorial, not club advice): on a big river like the Trent, a lead that holds bottom without dragging is half the battle — go up in weight before you go up in bait. A bit of extra colour after rain often brings barbel and bream closer in, but a fast-rising, debris-filled river is dangerous; if in doubt, don't. Weather tools built for still lakes don't translate neatly to rivers, so we haven't bolted a lake-style weather score on here.
No angler reports on these stretches yet — we'll only show real ones once our moderated river reports are live.
Where this comes from · checked 2 Oct 2026
- GOV.UK — Freshwater rod fishing rules: when and where you can fish
- Derbyshire County Angling Club — home (derbyshirecountyac.org)
- Pride of Derby Angling Association — the river trent (prideofderby.co.uk)
- Swadlincote & District Angling Association — home (swad-districtanglingassociation.co.uk)
- Derby Railway Angling Club — home (drac.org.uk)
Rules, prices and ticket availability change — the rights holder's own page always wins.