ARAnglerRadar evidence & rules

England · Environment Agency ecology

The survey record,
ranked.

Drawn from 1,519 surveyed waterbodies and 52 species. Every table below ranks monitoring, not fishing. The Environment Agency samples where it needs data, so a water near the top has been visited often — which is not the same as being good to fish, and frequently means the opposite.

Waters

Most surveyed waters

Number of distinct survey sites on the water. Long rivers accumulate more sites than short ones, so this partly measures length.

  1. 1Lincolnshire Lakes163 sites
  2. 2River Tees122 sites
  3. 3River Wear122 sites
  4. 4Warwickshire Avon118 sites
  5. 5River Coquet87 sites
  6. 6Test82 sites
  7. 7River Calder73 sites
  8. 8River Don66 sites
  9. 9South Tyne62 sites
  10. 10River Lune59 sites
  11. 11Lugg57 sites
  12. 12River Kennet56 sites
  13. 13Main Avon Sites53 sites
  14. 14River Esk48 sites
  15. 15Itchen46 sites

Waters

Most species recorded

Distinct species recorded across all surveys on the water. A wide, well-sampled lowland river will out-score a clean upland stream that holds three species and nothing else.

  1. 1Lee48 species
  2. 2River Don44 species
  3. 3Lincolnshire Lakes44 species
  4. 4Medway - main river41 species
  5. 5River Hull39 species
  6. 6River Frome38 species
  7. 7River Stour Middle36 species
  8. 8River Aire36 species
  9. 9Main river sites36 species
  10. 10Main River Parrett36 species
  11. 11Eel Survey36 species
  12. 12Wensum (central)35 species
  13. 13Roding35 species
  14. 14River Leadon35 species
  15. 15RIVER TRENT35 species

Fish

Most widely recorded fish

Number of separate waters the species has been recorded in — a measure of spread across England, not of how many fish there are.

  1. 1Brown / sea trout2,208 waters
  2. 2European eels > elvers1,544 waters
  3. 3Bullhead1,441 waters
  4. 4European eel1,315 waters
  5. 53-spined stickleback1,299 waters
  6. 6Stone loach1,295 waters
  7. 7Roach1,185 waters
  8. 8Perch1,083 waters
  9. 9Gudgeon1,000 waters
  10. 10Minnow973 waters
  11. 11Dace943 waters
  12. 12Chub914 waters
  13. 13Pike885 waters
  14. 14Atlantic salmon837 waters
  15. 15Common bream563 waters

Fish

Most recorded fish

Number of survey sites that recorded the species at least once.

  1. 1Brown / sea trout10,260 sites
  2. 2Roach5,830 sites
  3. 3European eels > elvers5,583 sites
  4. 4Bullhead5,401 sites
  5. 5Perch4,938 sites
  6. 6Stone loach4,749 sites
  7. 7Gudgeon4,666 sites
  8. 8Dace4,474 sites
  9. 9Chub4,370 sites
  10. 10European eel4,221 sites
  11. 11Pike4,153 sites
  12. 123-spined stickleback4,095 sites
  13. 13Atlantic salmon3,937 sites
  14. 14Minnow3,666 sites
  15. 15Common bream2,441 sites

Fish

Least recorded fish

Recorded at the fewest sites. Many are marine or estuarine strays that turned up once in a freshwater survey; being rare here means rare in this dataset, not rare in England.

  1. 1Blue orfe1 site · 2009
  2. 2Cod1 site · 2014
  3. 3Dover sole1 site · 2014
  4. 4Pouting / Bib1 site · 2014
  5. 5Red mullet1 site · 2014
  6. 6Straight-nosed pipefish1 site · 2005
  7. 7Viviparous blenny1 site · 1987
  8. 8White sucker1 site · 2004
  9. 9Whiting1 site · 2014
  10. 10All species2 sites · 2025
  11. 11Allis shad2 sites · 2018
  12. 12Arctic charr2 sites · 1998
  13. 13Golden grey mullet2 sites · 2013
  14. 14Non-native species2 sites · 2004
  15. 15Orfe varieties2 sites · 2011

Waters

Longest monitored

Years between the first and most recent recorded survey. A long span means the water has been revisited over decades, which makes change over time visible.

  1. 1River Petteril51 years · 1975–2026
  2. 2Warwickshire Avon49 years · 1976–2025
  3. 3Leen49 years · 1973–2022
  4. 4Lee48 years · 1978–2026
  5. 5River Cam48 years · 1976–2024
  6. 6Main Fowey48 years · 1977–2025
  7. 7Hayle48 years · 1977–2025
  8. 8Main Warleggan48 years · 1977–2025
  9. 9River Swilgate48 years · 1976–2024
  10. 10Main Cardinham48 years · 1977–2025
  11. 11Lee Navigation47 years · 1978–2025
  12. 12River Frome47 years · 1978–2025
  13. 13St Neot47 years · 1977–2024
  14. 14Main Camel46 years · 1980–2026
  15. 15Blakeney Brook (Blackpool Brook)46 years · 1978–2024

Waters

Most recently surveyed

Latest survey date on record. Freshness varies enormously across the holding; most waters have not been visited for years.

  1. 1River Dearne2026-07-02
  2. 2Darent - main river2026-07-01
  3. 3River Aire2026-07-01
  4. 4Hoff Beck2026-06-30
  5. 5Tarset Burn2026-06-24
  6. 6Hilton Beck2026-06-24
  7. 7Trout Beck2026-06-23
  8. 8River Aln2026-06-23
  9. 9River Ouse2026-06-22
  10. 10River Wansbeck2026-06-22
  11. 11Soar2026-06-19
  12. 12LillyBrook2026-06-18
  13. 13Weaver2026-06-18
  14. 14Medway - main river2026-06-18
  15. 15Spratford Stream2026-06-17

How to read these

Effort, not abundance.

These tables count survey records. They do not count fish. A species absent from a ranking has not been recorded by these surveys, which is not evidence it is absent from the water. Nothing here establishes fishing access, permission or quality.

Open the source dataset ↗Browse rivers A–Z →Browse species →
Environment Agency ecology data under the Open Government Licence v3.0.