River guide
River Swale in North Yorkshire
2 checked stretches so far — day tickets, club waters and guest tickets, each checked against the club's own pages.
The lowdown
Around Helperby and Brafferton, the River Swale is described as a lowland, slow-meandering river running through pastoral and agricultural surroundings. The club manages three River Swale stretches in this area, including Village Fishery.
It’s coarse and game fishing country, with the club mentioning barbel and chub among the fish sought on its waters. The river fisheries close from 15 March to 15 June inclusive, reopening for the coarse season on 16 June.
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.
River Swale – Village Fishery, Helperby
River Swale · Day ticket
Village Fishery is a proper lowland River Swale stretch near Helperby and Brafferton, run by Helperby & Brafferton Angling Club. It’s available on a £6 day ticket, with the Swing Bridge marking the upper limit for day-ticket anglers.
Checked 7 Oct 2026
Brompton-on-Swale beat, River Swale
River Swale · Day ticket
Brompton-on-Swale is a proper mixed fly and coarse beat on the fast-flowing, flood-prone River Swale. RADAS runs the water, with visiting anglers welcome on a £12.50 day permit.
Checked 7 Oct 2026
Pins mark the access postcode each club gives, not the bank itself. Exact boundary map: see rights holder.
Access & tickets
Village Fishery day ticket
Helperby & Brafferton Angling Club
Available online through the Helperby & Brafferton Angling Club website.
£6 (as listed 07/10/2026)
Covers: River Swale – Village Fishery, Helperby
RADAS day permit
Richmond & District Angling Society (RADAS)
Visiting anglers; valid 6:00am to 10:00pm on the booked date. Individual permit required. No day-ticket concessions.
£12.50 per angler (as listed 07/10/2026)
Covers: Brompton-on-Swale beat, River Swale
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 | Pike | Perch | Barbel | Trout | Chub |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| River Swale – Village Fishery, Helperby | ●* | ●* | ●* | ●* | |
| Brompton-on-Swale beat, River Swale | ●* | ●* | ●* | ●* | ●* |
● named by the club for this stretch · ●* named across the club's waters · blank = not named (not "absent").
Rules — who runs what
Helperby & Brafferton Angling Club
Village Fishery day tickets are available online through the Helperby & Brafferton Angling Club website. The price is £6, and the fishery is open to day tickets throughout the open season.
Club pageRichmond & District Angling Society (RADAS)
RADAS day permits are available to visiting anglers at £12.50 per angler. Each angler must purchase an individual permit; there are no day-ticket concessions.
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
Myton-On-Swale 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
Richmond Lownthwaite 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
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 7 Oct 2026
- GOV.UK — Freshwater rod fishing rules: when and where you can fish
- Helperby & Brafferton Angling Club — home (helperbyandbraffertonac.co.uk)
- Richmond & District Angling Society (RADAS) — home (richmondangling.org.uk)
Rules, prices and ticket availability change — the rights holder's own page always wins.