Trout in Dirty Places

As featured by the Independent, BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, and Radio New Zealand

Published in April 2012 by Merlin Unwin Books, Trout in Dirty Places is a guide to the most exciting development in British angling for many years: fly-fishing for trout and grayling in the very centre of towns and cities throughout the United Kingdom.

From Sheffield to South London, and from Merthyr Tydfil to Edinburgh, this is the cutting edge of 21st century fishing. Nothing is more surreal yet exhilarating than casting a fly for iconic clean-water species in the historic surroundings of our most damaged riverscapes – centres of post-industrial decay, but now also of rediscovery and regeneration by the communities living on their banks.

Trout in Dirty Places guides readers towards relaxing, good value fishing on their own doorsteps as a viable alternative to more costly (and carbon-intensive) destination angling: a positive lifestyle choice in challenging moral and economic times. Trout in Dirty Places includes:

  • Fishing- and restoration-focused profiles of 50 urban rivers
  • Interviews with local conservationists dedicated to restoring these city streams
  • Local flies and emerging traditions, and details of how to get involved and support this restoration work

Here’s what reviewers have been saying about Trout in Dirty Places:

  • A truly important book, a landmark in fly-fishing history” – Peter Lapsley, Fly Fishing & Fly Tying
  • “This is exactly what I needed, at the end of a long winter, to get the juices going for a new trout season” – Jon Beer, Trout & Salmon
  • “Absolutely the first in the field in the UK, and well worth a read. I have already cancelled this summer’s flight to northern Karelia!” – Paul Morgan, Coch-y-bonddu Books
  • “I don’t often recommend people’s products, books or businesses – but having recently bought this book I’m going to make an exception to the rule. BUY THIS BOOK” – Mike Duddy, Salford Friendly Anglers
  • “You don’t read anything like this book very often… Buy it and wonder. Great book” – Andrew Herd, Waterlog

A donation from all sales goes to the Wild Trout Trust and Grayling Society.

Signed copies of Trout in Dirty Places can now be ordered direct from the Urbantrout online shop, as well as the publishers’ website and all good bookstores including local branches of Waterstones.

From spring 2017, Trout in Dirty Places is also available as an ebook (Amazon, iBooks and Kobo) at RRP £9.99. Click here for full details.

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8 Responses to “Trout in Dirty Places”

  1. […] Having penned a number of successful books on fly-fishing and the environment, including Trout in Dirty Places: 50 rivers to fly-fish for trout and grayling in the UK’s town and city cent… and Pocket Guide to Balsam Bashing – and how to tackle other Invasive Non-Native Species, Theo […]

  2. […] that runs through your local town… or even right at the end of your street? Theo Pike, author of Trout in Dirty Places, provides five great tips for fly fishing on urban rivers in the […]

  3. […] Friday 17 July, this site’s very own Theo Pike joined Jonny Muir to talk about Trout in Dirty Places, the Wild Trout Trust’s Trout in the Town programme, and all things urban […]

  4. […] that the White Cart Water is known to hold wild trout up to 3lbs – and we know there are plenty of other urban rivers with a similar stamp of wary wild […]

  5. […] chalkstream along the city’s Roman walls, we’ve loved it ourselves, never mind eulogising it in Trout in Dirty Places – and the latest issue of Fly Fishing & Fly Tying tells the story of how Cumbrian Daniel […]

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