River guide
River Dove in Derbyshire
2 checked stretches so far — day tickets, club waters and guest tickets, each checked against the club's own pages.
The lowdown
The River Dove stretch here lies on the Staffordshire–Derbyshire border near Ellastone and Norbury. This beat runs above and below Norbury Weir, with a fish pass beside the hydroelectric turbine installed at the end of 2016.
Migratory access is improving and salmon are expected to increase, although this stretch is not classed as salmon fishing water. The river supports named wild brown trout, rainbow trout and grayling, with the Dove Farm water managed as wild fishing and strictly catch and release.
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
2 of 2 checked stretches. No rankings — we don't know which is "best" on your day, and neither does anyone else.
Dove Farm – Norbury Weir stretch of the River Dove
River Dove · Guest ticket
A compact, varied bit of the River Dove above and below Norbury Weir, run as a small owner-managed club by Dove Farm. It’s wild fly fishing rather than a manicured fishery, with natural trout and grayling and strictly catch and release.
Checked 9 Oct 2026
Lower Dove and Churnet
River Dove · Members or guest ticket
A cracking LADFFA club stretch covering the Lower Dove and Churnet, with the Dove section between Rocester and Uttoxeter and the Churnet joining in upstream from the confluence. It’s a mixed bit of river, with shallow riffles, deeper pools and plenty of proper river-valley scenery.
Checked 9 Oct 2026
Pins mark the access postcode each club gives, not the bank itself. Exact boundary map: see rights holder.
Access & tickets
Guest day ticket
Dove Farm
Strictly limited availability for guests staying at Dove Farm cottages. Not issued to the general public.
Covers: Dove Farm – Norbury Weir stretch of the River Dove
Annual LADFFA membership
Leek and District Fly Fishing Association
Limited membership; waiting list stated as three years in 2026. Pay annually or monthly.
£372 annually or £31 per month (as listed 09/10/2026)
Covers: Lower Dove and Churnet
New-member initial fee
Leek and District Fly Fishing Association
Refundable initial fee for a new member.
£500 refundable (as listed 09/10/2026)
Covers: Lower Dove and Churnet
Guest ticket
Leek and District Fly Fishing Association
Arranged by an LADFFA member. One angler or two anglers; subject to the member’s daily and seasonal limits.
£20 for one angler or £30 for two (as listed 09/10/2026)
Covers: Lower Dove and Churnet
Species
We only tag a stretch with a fish when the club names it. Some clubs name fish across all their water rather than stretch by stretch — those are flagged on the card.
● named by the club for this stretch · ●* named across the club's waters · blank = not named (not "absent").
Rules — who runs what
Dove Farm
Day tickets are available only in strictly limited numbers to guests staying at Dove Farm cottages. Dove Farm does not issue day tickets to the general public, and enquiries are required for availability and pricing; guided fishing or tuition may also be arranged.
Leek and District Fly Fishing Association
LADFFA membership is limited and normally has a waiting list, stated as three years in 2026. Members can arrange guest tickets: £20 for one angler or £30 for two, with a maximum of one guest ticket per day and six per season.
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
Rocester 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 any decent-sized river, 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 9 Oct 2026
- GOV.UK — Freshwater rod fishing rules: when and where you can fish
- Dove Farm — fly fishing (dovefarm.co.uk)
- Leek and District Fly Fishing Association — lower dove and churnet (ladffa.com)
Rules, prices and ticket availability change — the rights holder's own page always wins.