Try out the Club

Unlock the fishing spots of Shaftesbury, weather forecasts and many other services with the Premium Club.

10-day free trial

Nouveau : FishAndYou, l'appli des concours de pêche

Avec FishAndYou, vous pouvez créer votre propre concours de pêche, et gagner de l'argent.

Créer mon concours de pêche

Discover everything to fish in Shaftesbury

Find the best moment to go fishing in Shaftesbury, the most caught species, the techniques used, go fish with anglers nearby, find a fishing charter or guide, save your spots and discover new ones.

Go for it!

N°1 | The Stone Loach

The Stone Loach belongs to the Balitoridae family. The current size of the Stone loach is about 10-12 cm and maximum 20 cm. Its longevity is 5 to 6 years. The breeding period takes place between April and July. Fertility is 50,000 to 80,000 eggs. Fishing is allowed from June to March. The stone loach has an elongated body, subcylindrical in its front part and covered with tiny scales. The head is broad and flattened. The mouth is equipped with three pairs of barbells on the upper lip. She does not have an erectile spine under her eye. The caudal fin is slightly indented, almost straight and punctuated with black. The back is brownish in color, the flanks are yellowish and the belly is clear. A dark band is present at the base of the caudal fin.

Fishing period : All year

Minimum size : no restriction

Difficulty :

N°2 | The Eel fish

The Eel fish belongs to the Anguillidae family. The eel can measure up to 1.50 m in length for 4 kg, but the average size is between 40 and 60 cm. They can live up to 50 years old. They reproduce in March. They can be fished from April to September. The eel is a species of snake fish, hence its Latin name "anguis" which means snake. Its anterior part is circular while the caudal section is flattened. Its body is covered with smooth skin and enriched with mucus. The scales only appear late. The eyes of an eel are round. It has a terminal mouth with a prominent jaw. Without pelvic fins, the eel has only small pectoral fins and long dorsal, anal and caudal fins. These meet at the level of the tail.

Fishing period : April to September

Minimum size : 50 cm

Difficulty :

N°3 | The Rudd fish

The Rudd fish belongs to the Cyprinidae family. The current size of the rudd fish is 15 to 30 cm for a weight of 0.5 to 1 kg. It can reach nearly 51 cm in height and weigh 2 kg. The rudd fish can live about 17 years. Egg laying is split and takes place from April to June. The female lays 100,000 to 200,000 eggs. Fishing for rudd is allowed all year round. It is easily identifiable by the diver: the silvery appearance of its body. A closer look at the position of the dorsal and ventral fins will then make the difference between the two species. If the ventral fins are placed further forward than the dorsal fin, it is the ratchet. The mouth, small, terminal, opens obliquely upwards. The back of the rattlesnake is brownish green, the sides and belly are silvery. The iris of the eyes is yellow with golden reflections. Dorsal, anal and pelvic fins are bright red in color.

Fishing period : All year

Minimum size : 15 cm

Difficulty :

N°4 | The Spined Loach

The Spined loach belongs to the Cobitidae family. The Spined Loach has a size of 6 to 12 cm. it can live up to 10 years. The breeding period runs from April to July. The female can lay up to 1500 eggs. It can be fished all year round. Its elongated, ribbon-shaped body is covered with very small scales. Variable in color, light brown to dark brown, its flanks are marked with dark spots aligned longitudinally (the points in the lower row are larger). His belly is very clear and almost white. The head is narrow. The inferior mouth (in the ventral position) is surrounded by six small barbells (4 on the upper jaw and 2 at the corner of the lips). Under each eye, there is a small moving spine that is very inconspicuous (it can be detected mainly by touch). The caudal fin has a black spot growing at its birth and is then marked with four lines of dark dots. The pectoral fins are long. If you have good eyes, you can tell the male from the female by the longer and thicker pectoral fins.

Fishing period : All year

Minimum size : 8 cm

Difficulty :

N°5 | The Largemouth black bass

The Largemouth Black bass belongs to the Centrarchidae family. It has an average size of 50 to 70 cm for 4 kg. Its longevity is about 15 years. Spawning occurs from late spring to mid-summer. The number of eggs varies according to the size of the female, from 2000 to 14000 eggs. It is caught from March to October. Large-mouth black bass is a moderately large and robust fish. Its head is strong. Its terminal mouth is large, broad and oblique. The lower jaw is slightly prominent while the upper jaw extends to the back of the eye. The two dorsal fins are almost entirely separated. The first dorsal fin is rather low and has 10 spines. The second dorsal fin with a rounded shape is higher and has an average of 12 rays. Pelvic fins are short, rounded and have 1 spine and 5 soft rays. The pectoral fins are rather short, broad, rounded at the tip and have 13 to 15 rays. The dorsal side of the body varies from bright green to olive. The sides are pale green or golden green. There is a wide, uniform black lateral band that sometimes extends over the operculum and eye to the muzzle. The sides of the head vary from green to olive. The caudal is devoid of bright colors. The ventral side varies from milk white to yellow.

Fishing period : March to October

Minimum size : 30 cm

Difficulty :

N°6 | The Vendace fish

The vendace fish belongs to the Salmonidae family. Its average size is 45 cm and its weight is 1 kg. The oldest specimens observed were 10 years old. It breeds from October to December. The female lays 30,000 eggs per kg of weight. It is fished from March to December. The vendace is a small, slender and streamlined fish that is very easy to confuse with a bleak, a small lavaret whitefish or a peled whitefish. Unlike the bleak, the vendace is a member of the Salmonidae family, which is why it has a fat fin. It differs from the lavaret and peled whitefish by its much longer lower jaw. In the lavaret whitefish, the upper jaw is longer and in the peled whitefish the jaws are of the same length. It is silvery on the sides, with a white belly and a brown-green, grey-blue or blue-green back.

Fishing period : from March to December

Minimum size : 30 cm

Difficulty :

N°7 | The Ghost Carp

The Ghost Carp belongs to the Cyprinidae Family. With a life expectancy ranging from 40 to 50 years on average, it can reach up to 80 cm long. The breeding period is short, from May to June. The female lays 100,000 eggs per kg of weight. It can be fished all year. From its transition from young to adult fish, many physical characteristics will change. Its scales change color over time, as does its size. Many people tend to confuse a young ghost carp with a goldfish because of its physical appearance and colors. However, the two species are distinguishable: the ghost carp has a flat belly while the goldfish has a more swollen belly. In addition, towards her lips we notice barbells similar to two small moustaches in the ghost carp.

Fishing period : All year

Minimum size : 45 cm

Difficulty :

N°8 | The Three Spined Stickleback

The three spined stickleback belongs to the Gasterosteidae family. The usual size of the three-spined stickleback is 4 to 5 cm for females, with males being a little smaller, about 3 to 4 cm. The life span of the three-spined stickleback varies from 3 to 5 years in natural environments and up to 8 years in captivity. Spawning season extends from March to June. Fertility is 200 to 400 eggs. It is fished from June to March. The three-spined stickleback is a tiny fish with a tapered, laterally compressed body. Its head is quite small, with fairly large eyes, and ends in a narrow mouth that is slightly oriented forward and upwards. The caudal peduncle of the three-spined stickleback is very narrow with a slightly indented caudal fin. The long dorsal fin is set far back, plumbing the anal fin. The dorsal fin of the three-spined stickleback is preceded by three spines, two long and one short, placed on the back of the fish. A curved spine also precedes the implantation of the anal fin. The pelvic fins are replaced by two thorns. The color of this fish is greenish brown for the back, with metallic reflections, silvery for the sides and whitish for the belly. Along the lateral line of the three-spined stickleback, there are no scales but bone plates called "badges", a kind of natural shielding that accompanies the thorny defenses of this fish.

Fishing period : June to March

Minimum size : no restriction

Difficulty :

N°9 | Bitterling Fish

The Bitterling fish is a freshwater fish and belongs to the Cyprinidae family. Its scientific name is Rhodeus Amarus. The current size of the bitterling fish is 5-6 cm. Some individuals can reach a maximum height of 11 cm and a weight of 10 g. This species is one of the smallest Cyprinid in Europe. It lives on average from 2 to 3 years. The spawning period is between April and June. It lays 40 to 100 oocytes. This fish is easy to catch due to its small size. The bitterling is a small fish whose body is high and laterally compressed. The lateral line is short or incomplete. The scales on the back have a grey-green coloring. The sides are clear with silvery reflections. During the breeding period the silver coloration changes to a pink to bright red color with a dark blue sideband. Sexual dimorphism occurs between the male and female during reproduction. A 5 to 8 mm laying tube (ovipositor) develops in the female, which allows her to lay her eggs in the gill cavity of freshwater mussels. The male has a higher body than the female and its colors become brighter during the breeding season. The bitterling fish's eyes are quite large. Its mouth is small, oblique and the upper jaw protrudes beyond the lower jaw. The anal and dorsal fins have a short base and 8 to 10 branched rays.

Fishing period : prohibited all year

Minimum size : not available

Difficulty :

N°10 | The Zander fish

The zander fish belongs to the Percidae family. The Zander is a fish that can reach a length of 100 cm (maximum 130 cm) for a weight of 20 kg and an age of about fifteen years (maximum 20 years). Spawning takes place between April and August. Fertility is high with nearly 200,000 eggs/kg of female. It is caught from May to December. Its body is slender and fusiform. The head is elongated. The back is greenish grey and has slight dark vertical stripes. It has no transverse stripes and the flank is clear. The belly is whitish except in the male during the breeding season when it is darker. No thorns on the gill cover. Its two dorsal fins are separated. The first is spotted and thorny. The caudal fin has 17 soft rays. Its mouth is armed with many teeth and large "canines" that are visible when the animal is motionless due to breathing movements.

Fishing period : From May to December

Minimum size : 50 cm

Difficulty :

7.6

10 am

Take out your rods! The fishes are here.

High

Medium

Low

The best moment to go fishing!

The fishing forecast allows you to forecast your fishing trips and always go at the right time to the right place!

How it works

This is a score of 1 to 10 calculated city by city according to some forty criteria affecting fishing: moon, weather conditions, atmospheric pressure, sunrise / sunset. sun, tides, swell etc .