Coarse Fish Species

By Alex Clayton · Updated 24 October 2026

In the UK, a coarse fish is any freshwater fish that is not a game fish, and game fish means salmon, trout and char. Every other freshwater species, from a minnow to a big carp, sits on the coarse side of the line.

This guide covers the main coarse fish species grouped by where you find them, how to tell the common look-alikes apart, and when the law lets you fish for them. Carp, pike and perch have their own sections, which you will find alongside all UK fish species.

What Counts as a Coarse Fish in the UK

A 30lb (13.6kg) carp and a three-inch minnow are both coarse fish. A small wild brown trout is not.

That makes no biological sense, and it was never meant to. The coarse and game split is a British angling convention from the early 19th century, when salmon, trout and char were the prized quarry and everything else was lumped together as “coarse”. It describes how anglers and fishery rules sort fish, not how scientists classify them.

Grayling is the fish that starts the arguments. It carries a small adipose fin like a trout and many anglers treat it as game, yet some lists put it with the coarse species. Follow the local byelaw and the club or fishery rules for your water rather than any list, this one included.

The label matters because the coarse close season and plenty of fishery rules hang on it, as the close season section below explains. Zander counts as coarse too, but this page concentrates on the silver fish and bottom feeders behind most catches on rivers, canals and club lakes.

The Main UK Coarse Species and Where You Find Them

You have a canal, a river or a club lake near you, and you want to know what lives in it before you spend money on bait. Start with the water type, because each of the main coarse fishing species has its favoured kind of swim.

Species	Typical water	Why anglers target it
Roach	Rivers, canals and stillwaters	The bread-and-butter float fish, found almost everywhere
Rudd	Still and slow waters, often near weed	Feeds high in the water, so it suits a light float in summer
Bream	Big lakes, stillwaters and slow rivers	Moves in shoals, so one bite often means more to come on the feeder
Tench	Weedy stillwaters	A classic summer fish that pulls hard in weedy swims
Chub	Rivers, plus some stillwaters	Takes almost any bait and holds under cover
Barbel	Faster, gravelly rivers	A strong bottom feeder and the target of dedicated river anglers
Dace	Clean, flowing rivers	Quick, shoaling fish that test your float control

That is the core list of coarse fish UK anglers meet most often. The species guides below this article cover the rest one by one.

For a first session, pick a stillwater or a canal and fish a float with maggot or bread. Roach, rudd and small bream are widespread, they shoal and they bite freely, so you learn more in a morning than you would waiting for a single barbel on a big river. Flowing water and specimen fish can come later.

On Windermere I mostly target bream with a feeder. In my experience they travel in shoals, so when the first fish comes, keep feeding the same spot and expect the next bite rather than moving.

Smaller and Lesser-Known Coarse Fish

On a busy match water, the first fish a beginner catches is as likely to be a gudgeon or a bleak as a roach. Most species lists skip them, so anglers end up holding a fish they cannot name.

Gudgeon and minnow: small, bottom-hugging river fish, and often the first bites on a single maggot fished near the bottom.
Bleak: small and very silver, shoaling near the surface on rivers.
Ruffe: a small, spiny fish that looks like a dull perch.
Ide and golden orfe: the orfe is the ornamental gold form of the ide, met mostly in stocked stillwaters.
Eel: has rules of its own. On rivers, you cannot fish for eels during the close season unless a local byelaw allows it.
Sturgeon: not a wild British river fish in angling terms. You will only meet one in some stocked commercial fisheries, so check that fishery’s rules before you target them.

If you cannot place one of these, or one of the bigger silver fish, the next section gives you the quick checks.

How to Tell Look-Alike Coarse Fish Apart

You have a silver fish in the net, you want to log it, and you cannot decide whether it is a roach or a rudd. A few quick checks sort out most coarse fish in seconds.

Pair	Check first	Then check
Roach vs rudd	Eye: roach red, rudd more yellow or golden	Mouth and fins: rudd has an upturned mouth and a dorsal fin set further back, behind the line of the pelvic fins
Chub vs dace	Mouth: chub noticeably wider	Body: dace stay small, slimmer and silvery
Bream vs silver bream	Easily confused when young	See the silver bream guide

Roach and rudd are the pair anglers mix up most, and our guide on how to tell roach and rudd apart goes deeper. Small chub are often logged as dace, so look at the mouth first: a chub’s is clearly wider for its size.

Young common bream and silver bream are hard to separate at a glance. The silver bream guide walks through the cues.

Roach, rudd and bream also hybridise, so a fish can show a mix of features and no single cue is foolproof. If yours fits neither column, read up on roach-bream and roach-rudd hybrids before you log it.

Handle the fish with wet hands on a mat, photograph it if you are unsure, and return it quickly. Check the eye and mouth first, the fins second.

When You Can Fish for Coarse Fish: Close Season and Licence Rules

In England and Wales you cannot fish for coarse fish on rivers from 15 March to 15 June inclusive. Most stillwaters and canals stay open all year, but not all of them, and that is where anglers get caught out.

Water	England	Wales
Rivers	Closed 15 March to 15 June inclusive (all rivers, streams and drains)	Closed 15 March to 15 June inclusive
Most stillwaters and canals	Open all year, but some canals and stillwaters are covered	Open all year
SSSIs and protected sites	Check local byelaws and the fishery	Certain SSSIs keep a close season

The river dates come from the GOV.UK freshwater rod fishing rules, and in England the Environment Agency applies the close season to all rivers, streams and drains. In Wales, Natural Resources Wales says stillwaters and canals have no coarse close season, except for certain SSSIs.

In England, protected sites and local byelaws can add restrictions, so check the local fishing byelaws on GOV.UK and the fishery’s own rules before you go.

The Environment Agency reviewed the river close season and kept it, judging that the benefits of change did not outweigh the risks to fish stocks. During it you can still fish for game fish on rivers, subject to local byelaws, but not for eels unless a local byelaw allows it.

You need a rod licence to fish for freshwater fish in England and Wales, close season or not. Under 13s do not need one, and 13 to 16 year olds need a free junior licence. Check the current price on GOV.UK before you buy.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules and licensing, so check with the relevant authority there. Our guide to fishing seasons and close season rules covers the detail.

Frequently asked questions

Is carp a coarse fish?

Yes. In UK terms any freshwater fish that is not salmon, trout or char is a coarse fish, so carp, pike and perch all count. On rivers in England and Wales they follow the coarse close season, 15 March to 15 June inclusive.

Is grayling a coarse fish or a game fish?

It is disputed. Many anglers and fisheries treat grayling as a game fish, while some lists class it as coarse. Follow the local byelaw and the club or fishery rules for the water you fish rather than a general list.

Can I fish canals during the close season?

Usually, yes. Most canals and enclosed stillwaters in England and Wales are open for coarse fishing all year, but some are not. Check the canal or fishery rules and the local byelaws before you go, and carry a valid rod licence wherever you fish.

Which coarse fish should a beginner target first?

Roach and rudd, on a float on a stillwater or canal. They are widespread, they shoal and they bite freely, so you get plenty of practice at casting, striking and landing fish. Move on to small bream once you catch roach regularly.