Where to Fish in Edinburgh

By Alex Clayton · Updated 30 October 2026

Fishing in Edinburgh can cost little or nothing. You can fish about 12 miles of the Water of Leith for free with a council permit, coarse fish the Union Canal with a Scottish Federation for Coarse Angling (SFCA) membership costing £8 for an adult, and buy day tickets for stocked trout on the Pentland Hills reservoirs on the city’s southern edge.

The catch is paperwork. There is no rod licence for most of Scotland, but every water needs permission from whoever controls it. Below you’ll find each water’s permit, season and key rules, then fishing near Edinburgh, the legal basics and the common questions.

Edinburgh Fishing at a Glance: Waters, Permits and Seasons

Use this table to pick a water by budget, species and method before you read the detail below.

Water	Fish	Methods	Permit / cost	Season
Water of Leith	Brown trout, grayling (flounder lower down)	Fly; bait allowed below Boggs Bridge	Free council permit	1 Apr to 30 Sep
Union Canal	Coarse fish	Towpath side only	SFCA membership: £8 adult, £5 OAP/disabled, juniors free	Membership runs 1 Apr to 31 Mar
Clubbiedean	Rainbow and blue trout	Bank bait sessions or boat fly	From £25 (4-hour boat fly, catch and release)	1 Apr to 31 Oct
Glencorse	Rainbow, blue and brown trout	Boat only	Ask the fishery	7 Mar to 25 Oct
Loganlea	Rainbow and brown trout	Bank and boat	Ask the fishery	1 Mar to 24 Nov
Harlaw	Rainbow trout	Bank fly only	Malleny Angling	1 Apr to 31 Oct
Threipmuir	Brown trout	Bank (north) or boats (south)	Day permits from Balerno Post Office (north bank)	1 Apr to 30 Sep
Harperrig	Brown trout	Bank and boat fly	Harperrig Fisheries Ltd	15 Mar to 6 Oct
Dalkeith Country Park (Esk)	All fish returned	Fly only, not Sundays	£35 seasonal pass	First Mon in Apr to last Sat in Sep

Duddingston Loch is left out of the table because its permit route needs confirming (see the Holyrood Park section below). Prices, seasons and rules change, so check with the fishery or permit issuer before you travel.

Water of Leith Fishing: Free Trout and Grayling in the City

Water of Leith fishing is free, but the permit is one of the strictest in the city: one rod, 4lb line, barbless hooks and every fish returned.

The City of Edinburgh Council permit covers roughly 12 miles of river, from Bridge Road in Balerno to West Bowling Green Street Bridge in Leith. Some private stretches are excluded, including parts of Balerno, the Lymphoy Estate, Currie, the Kinleith Mill Estate, and small sections in Roseburn and Dean Village. If an owner tells you you’re on private bank, move on.

Download the permit from the council website or collect one from the Water of Leith Visitor Centre, 24 Lanark Road, EH14 1TQ (open 10am to 4pm daily). Carry it whenever you fish. Children under 12 are not granted permits.

The season runs from 1 April to 30 September, and no species may be fished outside it. The main permit conditions are:

catch and release only, using barbless hooks
one hand-held rod, with line no heavier than 4lb
no spinning and no fixed line
fly only from Balerno to Boggs Bridge; fly or bait from Boggs Bridge down to Leith
stop fishing when the water is above 18C
salmon, sea trout, eels, lampreys and bullheads are protected, so do not fish for them

The fish you are after are brown trout and grayling, with flounder in the lower river. The council asks anglers to send catch returns to naturalheritageservice@edinburgh.gov.uk.

Best for: light fly or bait fishing for trout on a budget. Skip if: you want to spin or take fish home.

Union Canal Fishing: Coarse Fishing Through the SFCA

Anglers from England often go looking for a Canal & River Trust permit for the Union Canal. They won’t find one. In Scotland the canal is managed by Scottish Canals, and fishing comes with membership of the SFCA.

Canal fishing is included with an annual SFCA membership: £8 for adults, £5 for OAPs and disabled anglers, and free for juniors aged 18 or under on 1 April. Membership runs from 1 April to 31 March.

The Scottish Canals rules:

fish from the towpath side only
no fishing within 25m of a lock or swing bridge
up to 3 rods, no more than 15ft apart, and never left unattended
no fixed leads or bolt rigs; barbless hooks are encouraged
return every fish alive, and remove none
cut waste line into 2cm lengths before binning it

The canal is a coarse fishery. For current form and productive stretches, ask the SFCA or a local tackle shop, since swims change with weed, boat traffic and the season. English canals run under a different permit system, covered in our guides to fishing in Birmingham and fishing in London.

Best for: cheap coarse fishing with up to three rods. Skip if: you want to take fish home.

Pentland Hills Reservoirs: Day-Ticket Trout Close to Town

Each Pentland reservoir has a different controller, method rule and season, so knowing the name is not enough to fish one. The reservoirs sit in Pentland Hills Regional Park on the city’s southern edge, and the park’s fishing pages list who controls each one.

Clubbiedean

Clubbiedean (Torduff Road, EH13 0PA) is stocked with rainbow and blue trout, with bait fishing from the bank and fly fishing from boats, and is open from 1 April to 31 October. Access is by a private road with a padlock code, and there is an accessible jetty. The fishery offers rod hire and basic tackle and welcomes families. Its published prices are:

Ticket	1 angler	2 anglers
Bank bait, 4 hours (2 fish, natural bait, one rod)	£30	n/a
Boat fly, catch and release, 4 hours	£25	£45
Boat fly, catch and release, 6 hours	£30	£55
Boat fly, kill, 4 hours (2 fish)	£35	£65
Boat fly, kill, 6 hours (3 fish)	£40	£75

Extra fish are charged at £7.25 per lb.

The other reservoirs

Glencorse: boat only; rainbow, blue and brown trout; 7 March to 25 October.
Loganlea: bank and boat; rainbow and brown trout; 1 March to 24 November, the longest season of the group; cafe, tackle and tuition on site.
Harlaw: bank fly fishing only, with rights held by Malleny Angling; rainbow trout; 1 April to 31 October.
Threipmuir: brown trout, 1 April to 30 September. Malleny Angling has the north bank, with day permits from Balerno Post Office (3 Main Street). The Threipmuir Angling Association, founded in 1893, has the south shore and the boats.
Harperrig: bank and boat fly fishing for brown trout, run by Harperrig Fisheries Ltd; 15 March to 6 October.

Fishing is not permitted at Torduff. Bonaly is open to anglers, but few fish are reported.

Current prices for the other waters could not be verified, so contact Malleny Angling, the Threipmuir Angling Association, Harperrig Fisheries and the Loganlea and Glencorse fisheries.

If you’re new to fly fishing, start at Clubbiedean (rod hire) or Loganlea (tuition). Check with the fishery before you travel.

Duddingston Loch and Holyrood Park

You may be able to fish a loch under Arthur’s Seat, but treat Duddingston as a phone call first, not a turn-up-and-fish water. Holyrood Park is managed by Historic Environment Scotland (HES), which sets the rules.

HES’s published guidance has described a free permit from the Holyrood Park Rangers for Duddingston Loch, with fishing from the north shore only, no wading, rod and line only, and no lead shot or multiple hooks. The current permit route could not be confirmed, so contact the Holyrood Park Rangers through the HES Holyrood Park page before you fish. The park’s other lochs have their own rules, so ask the rangers about those too.

Verdict: worth a phone call, not a speculative trip.

Fishing Near Edinburgh: The Esk at Dalkeith and Bigger Day Trips

For river fishing near Edinburgh beyond the Water of Leith, the closest paid option is the Esk at Dalkeith, south-east of the city. Dalkeith Country Park sells a limited number of £35 seasonal passes for the North and South Esk within the park. Fishing is fly only, every day except Sunday, from the first Monday in April to the last Saturday in September, and all fish must be returned. It is a seasonal pass, not a day ticket, and you contact the park to book an appointment to buy one.

With a car and a free day, two of Scotland’s best-known waters are within reach. Loch Leven in Kinross is a famous stillwater trout fishery, and the River Tweed in the Borders offers salmon and trout. Both run their own permit systems, which those pages cover in detail.

For everything further afield, see our guide to fishing in Scotland or browse our other regional fishing guides.

Fishing Rules in Edinburgh: Licences, Permission and Close Seasons

No rod licence does not mean no rules. In Scotland, permission, close seasons and protected species are what keep you legal.

Licence: you do not need a rod licence for most of Scotland, including Edinburgh, according to GOV.UK. The exception is the Border Esk, including its Scottish parts, which needs an England and Wales licence (this is not the Esk at Dalkeith). See our fishing licence guide.
Permission: every water needs it from the owner, club or permit issuer: the council permit, SFCA membership or a fishery ticket.
Close seasons: the Water of Leith closes on 30 September. Fishing in close time needs written consent from Scottish Ministers. See our fishing seasons guide.
Protected species and keeping fish: salmon and sea trout are off limits on the Water of Leith permit. The Water of Leith, Union Canal and Dalkeith Esk are all catch and release.

Read each permit’s conditions before you cast. They are the rules you will be held to.

Frequently asked questions

Is fishing in Edinburgh free?

Partly. The Water of Leith permit is free for anglers aged 12 and over, with catch and release only. The Union Canal needs SFCA membership (£8 for adults, free for juniors). The Pentland reservoirs and Dalkeith Country Park charge for tickets or passes.

Do I need a fishing licence in Edinburgh?

No. There is no rod licence for most of Scotland, including Edinburgh. You still need permission for every water, such as the council's Water of Leith permit, SFCA membership for the Union Canal, or a fishery day ticket for the reservoirs.

When is the Water of Leith fishing season?

The Water of Leith season runs from 1 April to 30 September. No fishing for any species is allowed outside those dates, and the permit is catch and release only with barbless hooks.

Can you fish the Union Canal in Edinburgh?

Yes, from the towpath side with SFCA membership. Scottish Canals manages the canal, not the Canal & River Trust, and the rules allow up to 3 rods with no fixed leads or bolt rigs.