Ian Macdonald fishing the weir pool on one of our River Clwyd beats.
Welcome to Rhyl and St Asaph Angling Association
The Rhyl & St Asaph Angling Association controls 21 river beats for salmon, sea trout and wild brown trout fishing on the rivers Clwyd, Elwy and Aled. These rivers are situated amid stunning scenery which includes the Vale of Clwyd, North Wales. The river Dee offers fishing for salmon, sea trout, brown trout and grayling and members have access to 5 rods on the Bala and Llanderfel beats. The Dee is one of the best grayling fisheries in Europe. A rod share with Llandeilo Angling Association allows fishing on the rivers Towy and Cothi.
We have our own spring-fed lake stocked with hard fighting rainbow and brown trout, and also rods for Llyn Brenig, Llyn Aled Uchaf and Alwen Reservoir with two rods bookable on every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from January 1st to December 31st.
Our club lake is exclusively for members’ use and we also offer a "Lake Only" membership package.
The association was formed when two long-standing clubs amalgamated, these being Rhyl Angling Club and St Asaph Angling Association, hence our name! We now control 21 beats, several of which are owned by the Association. Some beats are reserved for members only and two are bookable to ensure there is no overcrowding.
Our beats on these rivers and their tributaries offer some of the best game fishing in the area. They are well known for sea trout, or sewin, as it is known in Wales. Some of the sea trout caught each year on these beats weigh in excess of 5lbs and fish up to 10lb have been caught. The main run of sea trout usually starts entering the river system from June onwards although some large fish enter early in May. The best months for night-time fly-fishing are usually July, August and September. There can be a back-end run of salmon but it's believed that many fish do run after the fishing season has ended on October 17th. The club allows all legal fishing methods (fly, spin, worm subject to the All-Wales Bylaws).
Wild Brown Trout: We encourage voluntary catch and release for all brown trout caught on our rivers. We've seen an improvement in the numbers and quality of wild brownies in recent years - almost 1,100 were caught and released by our members in the 2016 season - truly wild fish between one and two pounds are not uncommon, and the same remarkable fish of five and a half pounds has been captured twice on one of our River Elwy beats.
Our beats are within comfortable travelling distance of the North West of England and the Midlands with easy access from the A55 dual carriageway. Once you are in St Asaph, you are no more than 15 minutes drive from most of our Clwyd and Elwy beats, and it's just 31 miles to the river Dee at Llanderfel. So all are easily accessible for a day or even an evening fishing trip.
One-day or five-day visitor permits for non-members for some of our beats are available online from this website HERE or over the counter from Foxons Tackle (see Links Page). This is for salmon, trout and sea trout fishing on the rivers Clwyd, Elwy and Aled.
For any new members who may be new to fly fishing, free tuition can be arranged at our "Introduction to Fly Fishing Days" and the club is always happy to show off our beats to prospective members with no obligation.
We also have a junior section & to encourage youngsters to fish, after an initial £10 charge, there is no annual fee for anyone under age 16, and age 16 - 21 the annual fee is just £30.
We are a friendly club with a hard-working committee who meet on a regular basis. Our river keeper and assistant river keeper organise beat maintenance parties which help to keep our beats and access to them in good order. In 2018 we carried out a remarkable 815 working hours on our beats.
Please take the time to read through the other sections of this website - if you are interested in joining us the contact details of all our association officers are detailed on the contact page so if you have any questions please feel free to ring or email.
Here are a couple of nice sea trout caught and released by a member in the 2024 season.
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