River guide
River Witham in Lincolnshire
8 checked stretches so far — day tickets, club waters and guest tickets, each checked against the club's own pages.
The lowdown
The River Witham through Lincoln and North Hykeham is a relatively deep, canalised urban-edge river. This documented Upper Witham water runs from Firth Road, Lincoln, to Meadow Lane Bridge, North Hykeham, with an average depth of around 7–8ft.
Across this Lincolnshire stretch, the river holds a broad coarse mix, including roach, rudd, bream, perch, pike, chub, dace and occasional eels. The association lists the fishery as day-ticket water, with the coarse close season running from 15 March to 15 June inclusive.
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
8 of 8 checked stretches. No rankings — we don't know which is "best" on your day, and neither does anyone else.
Upper River Witham
River Witham · Day ticket
A proper urban-edge Witham run from Firth Road in Lincoln down to Meadow Lane Bridge, North Hykeham. It’s a relatively deep, canalised stretch averaging 7–8ft, with a £5 day ticket and a good mix of coarse fish.
Checked 8 Oct 2026
River Witham — Stamp End to Kirkstead Bridge
River Witham · Day ticket or members
A cracking, navigable lowland River Witham run from Stamp End to Kirkstead Bridge, with named access around Washingborough, Fiskerton, Bardney and beyond. LDAA day tickets are available online for £5, while members can fish for 24 hours.
Checked 8 Oct 2026
Brayford Pool, Lincoln
River Witham · Members only
Brayford Pool is a broad urban pool in central Lincoln, with LDAA pegs running along Brayford Wharf South. It’s a members-only spot beside the waterfront, close to the Upper Witham bridge and University of Lincoln side.
Checked 8 Oct 2026
River Witham — Long Bennington
River Witham · Members only
A proper rural Witham stretch at Long Bennington, running both upstream and downstream of the bridge. It’s a members-only coarse-fishing water with around 35 pegs on the eastern bank.
Checked 8 Oct 2026
River Witham — Grantham GAAFFS beats
River Witham · Members only
A cracking run of River Witham beats around Grantham, with uncrowded, unspoilt water and naturally sustained brown trout and grayling. It’s proper fly-fishing country, with a notable Mayfly hatch and some brownies pushing 3lb or more.
Checked 8 Oct 2026
River Witham — Tattershall stretch
River Witham · Club members
The Tattershall stretch is Boston & District Angling Association water, running from Walcott pumping station to roughly 200 yards before Thorpe Tilney Lane. There are 50 pegs, including the reedy bay, with a proper mixed-species list headed by bream, perch, roach, rudd and tench.
Checked 8 Oct 2026
Short Ferry Old River Witham
River Witham · Guest ticket
Short Ferry Old River Witham is a cracking bit of old-course river fishing beside Shortferry Caravan Park. It’s patron-only, with year-round access and a good mix of small-fish sport, perch, pike and carp potential.
Checked 8 Oct 2026
River Witham — Boston Marina Sluice Gates to Langrick Bridge
River Witham · Members only
A proper Fenland run from Boston’s marina-side sluice gates up to Langrick Bridge. It’s roughly five miles of broad, slow-moving, embanked Witham water, managed by Boston & District Angling Association.
Species not listed by the club.
Checked 8 Oct 2026
Pins mark the access postcode each club gives, not the bank itself. Exact boundary map: see rights holder.
Access & tickets
Day ticket
Lincoln & District Angling Association
Available online through the Lincoln & District Angling Association website. Valid from dawn to dusk.
£5 (as listed 08/10/2026)
Covers: Upper River Witham
Environment Agency rod licence
Lincoln & District Angling Association
A valid licence is required.
Covers: Upper River Witham
River Witham day ticket
Lincoln & District Angling Association
Available online through the LDAA website. Valid from dawn until dusk.
£5 (as listed 08/10/2026)
Covers: River Witham — Stamp End to Kirkstead Bridge
LDAA membership
Lincoln & District Angling Association
Members may fish for 24 hours.
Covers: River Witham — Stamp End to Kirkstead Bridge
LDAA membership
Lincoln & District Angling Association
Required for Brayford Pool, which is members-only.
Covers: Brayford Pool, Lincoln
River Witham day ticket
Lincoln & District Angling Association
LDAA lists £5 from dawn to dusk generally, but Brayford Pool’s own rules state members only.
£5 (as listed 08/10/2026)
Covers: Brayford Pool, Lincoln
Full federation membership
Newark and District Piscatorial Federation
Required for this members-only stretch. No day tickets are available.
Covers: River Witham — Long Bennington
GAAFFS membership
Grantham Angling Association Fly Fishing Section (GAAFFS)
Association membership provides fishing access to the River Witham beats. Membership enquiries are handled through the GAAFFS website.
Covers: River Witham — Grantham GAAFFS beats
Environment Agency rod licence
Grantham Angling Association Fly Fishing Section (GAAFFS)
A valid Environment Agency rod licence is required in addition to association permission.
Covers: River Witham — Grantham GAAFFS beats
Adult association membership
Boston & District Angling Association
Membership runs from 1 January to 31 December.
£40 (as listed 08/10/2026)
Covers: River Witham — Tattershall stretch
Concession membership
Boston & District Angling Association
Membership runs from 1 January to 31 December.
£30 (as listed 08/10/2026)
Covers: River Witham — Tattershall stretch
Junior membership
Boston & District Angling Association
For ages 12–18. Membership runs from 1 January to 31 December.
£10 (as listed 08/10/2026)
Covers: River Witham — Tattershall stretch
Caravan-park patron fishing
Shortferry Caravan Park
Fishing on the river is free for patrons of Shortferry Caravan Park. The water is not advertised as a public day-ticket fishery.
Free (as listed 08/10/2026)
Covers: Short Ferry Old River Witham
Association membership
Boston & District Angling Association
Required for entry to Boston & District Angling Association waters. No membership means no entry.
Covers: River Witham — Boston Marina Sluice Gates to Langrick Bridge
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.
| Stretch | Carp | Tench | Bream | Roach | Pike | Perch | Trout | Rudd | Chub | Eel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper River Witham | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |
| River Witham — Stamp End to Kirkstead Bridge | ●* | ●* | ●* | ●* | ●* | ●* | ●* | ●* | ||
| Brayford Pool, Lincoln | ●* | ●* | ●* | ●* | ●* | ●* | ●* | |||
| River Witham — Long Bennington | ● | ● | ● | |||||||
| River Witham — Grantham GAAFFS beats | ● | |||||||||
| River Witham — Tattershall stretch | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ||
| Short Ferry Old River Witham | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |||
| River Witham — Boston Marina Sluice Gates to Langrick Bridge |
● named by the club for this stretch · ●* named across the club's waters · blank = not named (not "absent").
Rules — who runs what
Lincoln & District Angling Association
The stretch is members-only and is not offered as a standard LDAA day-ticket water. LDAA does not publish a Laughterton day-ticket price; temporary membership is only available by buying a day ticket where day tickets are offered.
Club pageNewark and District Piscatorial Federation
Full and Associate Members can fish here, and visitors can buy a day ticket online or on the bank. For online purchases, your order receipt is your ticket — show it on your phone or bring a paper copy.
Club pageGrantham Angling Association Fly Fishing Section (GAAFFS)
Fishing is offered through membership of Grantham Angling Association Fly Fishing Section. Membership enquiries are handled through the GAAFFS website, which has a members area.
Club pageBoston & District Angling Association
The association website lists annual membership rather than a separate day-ticket price for this stretch. Membership runs from 1 January to 31 December.
Club pageShortferry Caravan Park
Fishing is free for caravan-park patrons. There is no public day ticket advertised, so access is through staying at Shortferry Caravan Park.
Fished 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
Bracebridge 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
Stamp End Sluice 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
Brayford Pool 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 8 Oct 2026
- GOV.UK — Freshwater rod fishing rules: when and where you can fish
- Lincoln & District Angling Association — home (lincolnangling.org)
- Newark and District Piscatorial Federation — weir and capps field (newarkpiscatorial.com)
- Grantham Angling Association Fly Fishing Section (GAAFFS) — home (gaaffs.org)
- Boston & District Angling Association — home (bostonanglingassociation.co.uk)
- Shortferry Caravan Park — home (shortferry.co.uk)
Rules, prices and ticket availability change — the rights holder's own page always wins.