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Our December 1999 contribution from Jon Beer

Well, what parsimonious lot we fly-fishermen are, to be sure. No sooner do I mention that there is wild fishing to be had for the price of a couple of pints than mails start dropping in like confetti.

Many thanks to Jon Morris who reminded me of a lovely stretch of the Ure - and its tributary the Bain - at Bainbridge for the princely sum of £4 (and £8 the season). There are some clonking trout and grayling here and if you walk along the limestone bedrock of the banks you can understand why: the place always seems to be littered with crayfish carapaces. Streams with crayfish always produce fat trout: they are such a convenient way of converting insects to trout food. Tickets and further information available from the Rose and Crown Hotel, Bainbridge. Tel: 01969-650225.

Downstream, at Ripon, the little River Laver joins the Ure. It is a tiny stream running through a wood in its upper stretches and it looks like it might have dozens of small brown trout. And so it does. But it also has some trout up to a pound. The Laver is the smallest stream I have found with good-sized grayling too. The Ripon Piscatorial Association has some five miles of the thing, excluding a short stretch held by the Army. It also has a six miles, mostly double bank, of the Ure at Ripon. This is streamy, trout and grayling water in its upper half, above Bridge Hewick. The ticket price covers both waters. Day ticket £4; weekly ticket £12, available from Ripon Angling Centre, 64 North Street, Ripon. Tel: 01765 604 666.

Look: none of the fishing I mention here will cost you more than a fiver - unless a price has changed very recently in which case, no doubt, you will be kind enough to let me know and I will pass it on. I will also pass on details of any other good fishing UNDER A FIVER you care recommend. It would be helpful if you could include a description of the water, its character and how much there is of it and so forth. We could get end up with a very tasty little directory here. What follows is a selection from my scrapbook of day-tickets. You will gather that I am a renowned skinflint.

The River Clyde would be at the top of my list of value fishing. Last summer I fished the waters around the village of Crawford. I was stunned. The trout were very large and very subtle and the fly-life was extraordinary. The upper river is broad and gravelly and just about perfect provided you go there after May. Before then you will find yourself fishing with lots and lots of other folk who think it's perfect too.

The United Clyde Angling Protective Association has around 40 miles of fishing upstream of Motherwell. This is mainly for trout and grayling but runs of salmon and sea trout are increasing. A season ticket costs £21, day-tickets £5. These are available from tackle shops throughout Lanarkshire, Post Offices in Crawford and Abington (and elsewhere), the Tourist Information office in the motorway services at Abington. Further information from the secretary of the UCAPA, J. Quigley, 39 Hillfoot Avenue, Branchalwood, Wishaw ML2 8TR. Tel: 01698 382479

You get nearly as much fishing on the Duchy of Cornwall waters of Dartmoor. Not as much fish, perhaps, but a lot more scenery. For your £4 day ticket you may roam most bits of the East and West Dart above Watersmeet and the tributaries of Cherrybrook and Wallabrook. Tickets are available all round the moor from post offices, hotels and pubs such as the Forest Inn, Hexworthy, Tel: 01364 631 211.

A few miles north, the East Lyn River drains the northern edge of Exmoor. The Lyn is stunningly beautiful, rattling between gert big boulders in the depths of a steep-sided wooded gorge. It is also one of the few rivers where you are never far from a cream tea: I think that is important in a fishery. The National Trust owns several miles of the gorgier bits of the river and the cream-tea-room at Watersmeet. Fishing on this Watersmeet and Glenthorne Fishery for trout costs £3 a day (WT £10. Salmon DT £13.50, WT £35.) Tickets from Brendon House Hotel Brendon, Lynton, N. Devon EX35 6PS. Tel: 01598 741206. Further up the Lyn, at Malmsmead, the Lyn begins as the confluence of two streams, Oare Water and Badgworthy Water. These are the setting for the dreadful novel, Lorna Doone, and if you fancy fishing your way up the Doone valley you can get a £5 ticket for the west bank of Badgworthy Water, from from Mrs Burge, Oare Mead Farm (between Malmsmead and Oare Church) 01598 741 267. You can also get a magnificent cream tea at the Buttery, beside the river at Malmsmead.

I will finish with a river in Wales. It is how I began: when the Fish and Fly Website opened in April 1998 I was praising the little fish I found on a perfect, sunny day on the little River Alwen in north Wales. (You can find that first piece by whizzing back through the features directory). Someone had been banging on to me that the Alwen "was not what it used to be." Frankly, I didn't care. It was quite lovely enough when I found it. The Alwen at Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr is a small rocky river, rattling along a stony bed before pulling up short into a deep and mysterious pool below the Crown Inn beside the bridge. The inn has a stretch of double bank fishing upstream of the bridge and Cerrigydrudion AA has a further mile or so, mostly double bank. Both can be fished on a day ticket from the inn. The fishing is free if you stay at the Crown (B&B £15). Please call ahead for tickets or accommodation, Tel: 01490 420 209. For day visitors the ticket will set you back all of £4.50.

If you have your own information to add please drop us a line.

Jon Beer contributes regularly to publications including Trout & Salmon and The Telegraph. If you have any comments, do not hesitate to get in touch or use the message board.