Shows and Slots Driving Interest in Staffordshire’s Best Fishing Spots

With canal, lake, reservoir, coarse commercial fisheries, and the River Trent, Staffordshire boasts a great many fishing spots for avid anglers to explore. Naturally, carp is the big-ticket catch, reaching hefty sizes across the county, but you can also fish for perch, trout, chub, rudd, bream, tench, catfish, and pike at Staffordshire’s best fishing spots.

Fishing has been a popular pastime for decades here, but it’s impossible to deny the uptick of anglers, particularly those seeking big catches, over the last ten years or so. Naturally, getting those social media pictures certainly drives some, but others pick up the rod and reel having experienced the fun of fishing second-hand via popular shows and even online slots.

Fishing’s place in pop-culture

Once seen as a casual sport of tranquillity, fishing has been transformed in pop culture to be about explosive wins and big catches. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the surge of popular fishing slots at leading brands. Paddy Power’s Casino, for example, offers The Big Bass and Fishin’ Frenzy series, which have notoriously been the big-hitters thanks to the many iterations that mix up the gameplay.

Of the two, Big Bass Bonanza and its spinoffs best reflect the new craze of fishing for the big prizes. The premise is simple: land fish with their weights reflected as increasing prizes as well as the fisherman, and you catch them all. It emphasises both the patience of classic fishing as well as the potential for a big booming catch.

While online slots are very popular, especially among anglers waiting for the lure to bob, it’s the TV shows that appear to have had the most profound impact. Spearheaded by Brits Jeremy Wade and Robson Green, exotic fishing shows remain incredibly popular here and overseas. Extreme Fishing and River Monsters are wildly different shows, and yet, both lean heavily on the battle to catch rare, exotic, and big fish.

Top fishing spots in Staffordshire

Staffordshire has a rich history of fishing and makes it very easy for anyone to get involved. The Leek and Moorlands Fishing Club is one of the oldest in England. Founded in 1885, an annual fishing licence only costs £30 per year – which is best paid as the Staffordshire Live Report details. Once you have your licence, it’s time to find the perfect spot for you.

Many anglers in the UK like to go after carp; they grow to superb sizes and are a classic catch in the UK. One of the best spots, which only has ten pegs, is the Ashley Hall Pools, which is also known for having a few pike swimming around as well. You could also try Millbrook Fisheries. Here, their focus is carp, with around 200 hand-picked specimens in the waters. As it stands, the carp record here is 39lbs 15oz.

If you don’t fancy fishing for carp and want a different challenge, you can find big pike in Cudmore Fishery, Trentham Estate, Ashley Hall Pools, and the River Down over at Draycott Mill. Of course, as has been popularised by the big fish focus, many anglers seek the mighty catfish. The bottom-feeder can be caught at the Cudmore Fisheries, and in 2011, they even banned dogs due to fears of them being engulfed by the resident catfish.

Big-fish angling is all the rage right now, powered by popular slots and TV shows, and it just so happens that Staffordshire has plenty of big fish and predatory fish pools ready to deliver exciting catches.