River guide
River Trent in Leicestershire
2 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
2 of 2 checked stretches. No rankings — we don't know which is "best" on your day, and neither does anyone else.
Castle Donington — Washlands (south bank, upstream section)
River Trent · Members only
A proper varied bit of lowland Trent, with steady opening fields, deeper willow cover, a fast gravel bend and bridge swims that can really turn up fish. It’s DRAC water on the south bank at Castle Donington, running down from West Meadow towards the A50 and Shardlow.
Checked 13 Oct 2026
Castle Donington — West Meadow (south bank, downstream of Railway Bridge)
River Trent · Members only
West Meadow is a lightly fished River Trent stretch on the Castle Donington side, downstream of the Railway Bridge. It’s a proper walk from the car park, but that extra faff helps keep the bank quieter.
Checked 13 Oct 2026
Pins mark the access postcode each club gives, not the bank itself. Exact boundary map: see rights holder.
Access & tickets
2026/27 Associate Coarse membership
Derby Railway Angling Club (DRAC)
Coarse fishing on DRAC waters, subject to listed exclusions.
£70 (as listed 13/10/2026)
Covers: Castle Donington — Washlands (south bank, upstream section)
2026/27 concessionary Associate Coarse membership
Derby Railway Angling Club (DRAC)
Concessionary coarse membership.
£55 (as listed 13/10/2026)
Covers: Castle Donington — Washlands (south bank, upstream section)
2026/27 Trent & Dove Night Permit
Derby Railway Angling Club (DRAC)
Separate permit required for night fishing on the River Trent.
£20 (as listed 13/10/2026)
Covers: Castle Donington — Washlands (south bank, upstream section)
2026/27 Associate Coarse membership
Derby Railway Angling Club
DRAC membership
£70 (as listed 13/10/2026)
Covers: Castle Donington — West Meadow (south bank, downstream of Railway Bridge)
2026/27 concessionary coarse membership
Derby Railway Angling Club
DRAC membership
£55 (as listed 13/10/2026)
Covers: Castle Donington — West Meadow (south bank, downstream of Railway Bridge)
Trent & Dove night permit
Derby Railway Angling Club
Required for night fishing the River Trent
£20 (as listed 13/10/2026)
Covers: Castle Donington — West Meadow (south bank, downstream of Railway Bridge)
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 | Carp | Bream | Roach | Pike | Perch | Barbel | Rudd | Chub |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castle Donington — Washlands (south bank, upstream section) | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ||
| Castle Donington — West Meadow (south bank, downstream of Railway Bridge) | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
● 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
Derby Railway Angling Club (DRAC)
This is DRAC membership water rather than a day-ticket stretch. The 2026/27 Associate Coarse membership is £70, with concessionary membership at £55; a new adult member joining fee of £20 applies.
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
- Derby Railway Angling Club (DRAC) — home (drac.org.uk)
- Derby Railway Angling Club — home (drac.org.uk)
Rules, prices and ticket availability change — the rights holder's own page always wins.