Scalby Beck Angling Club

Scalby Beck Angling Club members fly fish, spin and worm for salmon (to 10lb+), sea trout to 14lb+) brown trout (to 5lb+) and grayling (to 2lb+). There are also a fine head of course fish in the beck including chub (to over 6lb). See examples above.

Scalby Beck Angling Club have a monopoly of the fishing on Scalby Beck throughout its length. The club rents the fishing rights from the Environment Agency. The fishing rights have habitually been granted exclusively to Scalby Beck Angling Club by the Environment Agency for over a century. The reasons why this monopoly exists seems to be known only by the parties involved. It is difficult to envisage how this arrangement can be in the interests of the taxpayer. Equally, how can the denial of opportunity to other potentially interested parties be viewed as fair or competitive?

It is only right and proper that a fishing club should periodically have to compete with other clubs for fishing rights and negotiate rents with the Environment Agency in the normal widely accepted way to benefit the taxpayer. It plainly makes no sense to grant fishing rights to the same club year after year for over a hundred years without exploring other options.

It goes without saying that catch data etc has the potential to be easily be fabricated by the chosen club for the purpose of obtaining a cheap rent that does not reflect market value. There is significant evidence to indicate that historically SBAC have been paying rent which could be viewed as being far too cheap and does not reflect the quality of the fishing on offer.

Going forward whichever club is chosen by the Environment Agency should be subject to certain conditions in order to secure the fishing rights. These conditions should reflect the times we live in and therefore contain provision for diversity and conservation.

Women should be welcomed as members and treated with respect within any club at all times and as equals with male members. There should be GENUINE opportunities for women to gain membership and once accepted as a member they should not be discriminated against or subjected to abusive behaviour (as has happened historically at this club). Similarly once accepted as a member they should not be ‘managed out of the club’ because of their gender or made to feel uncomfortable as a result of the mysogenistic attitude of certain influential members of an elderly clique present at the club. They should also be encouraged to get involved, take part in the management of the club and to have their voice heard.

There must also be a condition that migratory fish should be returned on a catch and release basis. This is widely practiced by responsible fisheries in support of conservation and the sustainability of declining fish stocks. It seems sensible that this issue should be determined by the Environment Agency alone and should not be a matter to be decided at the club’s discretion.

Although there are signs put up by Scalby Beck Angling Club saying that 'trespassers will be prosecuted' this can be safely ignored as the banks of Scalby Beck are not closed to the public and never have been. See our Access page.

Scalby beck contains indigenous brown trout and is topped up with farmed brown trout by Scalby Beck Angling Club. It is well known for its prolific runs of sea trout when the water is in spate and also produces the occasional salmon. 

Sea trout and Salmon are not found throughout the full length of the beck. They travel upstream from the sea and get as far as the ill fated fish pass below Burniston Road bridge or potentially the weir a short way upstream of Burniston Road bridge.

Runs of sea trout and salmon can occur anytime during the season of April to October when the water is in spate. Typically the best months are September and October during the season. Prolific runs occur out of season during the winter months. Very occasionally during periods of very heavy rain, raw sewage from housing estate overflow systems gets dumped into the beck causing high discolouration, foul smell and death of fish.