The original Linlithgow Angling Club had been established in 1956. While the club did not have any waters of its own, many “all nighters” were fished throughout the season to venues such as Lochs Awe, Earn, Rannoch, Laidon, Tay and Ba.

A group of professionals including doctors and educationalists set up the present club in 1974, membership originally being by invitation only. This resulted in the club’s membership rising to only twenty four after ten years. With membership eventually being opened to all fair anglers, the current membership is over ninety.

The club gradually became associated with the Forth Area Federation of Anglers and was one of the driving forces behind the reinstatement of Linlithgow Loch as a fishery. This commitment to improving waters has continued with the establishment of the present Linlithgow Angling Club. Members have been working since the 1980s to bring the River Avon back from its unenviable position as an open industrial sewer. With the closure of the last paper mill at Westfield in 1991, the main sources of pollution had finally gone. Through the negotiations of committee members, Inveresk, the previous owners of Westfield mill, contributed to the cost of restocking the river with brown trout. As river conditions improved, runs of migratory fish became more frequent. The club has negotiated migratory fishing rights with the Crown Agents, leading to the fishing which we now enjoy on around 10 miles of one of the best trout rivers in Central Scotland.

The Club's Fishing

The Club cannot issue day tickets or season tickets because of the conditions of the Club’s lease. The good news, however, is that adult membership of the Club is only £26 per year with a £15 joining fee for new members. There are discounts for senior citizens and juniors under 16. This means that for less than the cost of a boat on some rainbow waters, you can have a full season’s fishing on the River Avon.

The Club has exclusive access to approximately ten miles of mostly double bank fishing approximately six hundred yards above the Union Canal aqueduct at Carriber Glen downstream to Tod's Mill below the viaduct which carries the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway over the river. This beat is fly only and while the water is not regularly stocked, good catches can be taken given decent conditions. River managers appointed by the Club are on the river most days and they, or the river bailiffs, will be pleased to show new members the access points and pools along the river.

The Club also shares two other beats with Slamannan and Avonvalley Angling Clubs as part of the River Avon Federation. This means that Club members have access to the river from the Avon Gorge bridge on the A801, to the estuary at Grangemouth with one or two minor exclusions.

The Club also organises boat outings throughout the season to a wide variety of waters.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Club then please click on the “Contact Us” link on the left side menu.