The Brighouse Angling Association was founded in 1928 as a coarse angling club with the objectives of; promoting the sport of angling, the breeding of fish and providing facilities for members of the association to participate in the sport of angling. The club is run on behalf of the members by a comittee of ten members elected bi-annually and officials that are elected annually. We are able to offer a lake, canal and river angling to our members. Day tickets and match bookings are available for our canal water and Brookfoot lake.
Our river fisheries are on the Calder situated around Mirfield, Brighouse and Elland. and extend to aprox 6miles in total. Some sections are a little difficult to access because of limited parking and the nature of the riverbank but the effort can be worthwhile as coarse fish are in abundance in the lower reaches around Cooper Bridge, Mirfield whereas trout and grayling abound the higher reaches at Elland
The Brighouse Angling Association was founded in 1928 as a coarse angling club with the objectives of; promoting the sport of angling, the breeding of fish and providing facilities for members of the association to participate in the sport of angling. The club is run on behalf of the members by a committee of ten members elected bi-annually and officials that are elected annually. We are able to offer a lake, canal and river angling to our members. Day tickets and match bookings are available for our canal water and Brookfoot Lake.
Our main fishery is Brookfoot Lake. A 3½-acre, mixed coarse fishery, it is situated on the western outskirts of Brighouse via the A6025. We have recently completed a major change to the topography of the lake bed by introducing three islands to the water. This is to reduce the depth of the lake, the aim of the project being to improve the fishery for fish breeding and enhance the local ecological environment for both wildlife and anglers. The lake occasionally attracts some species of birds not usually found on inland waters. A few exotic wildfowl have taken up residence in the area making a welcome diversion to the many indigenous species such as kingfisher, coot, moorhen and the ubiquitous mallard. Close co-operation has been maintained between the club, local Environment Agency, contractors and with advice from Dr Bruno Broughton, Bernice Brewster and made the most of members skills, expertise and time. On completion, the project should prove to make the lake one of the best all round fisheries in West Yorkshire. The latest improvement to the fishery has required the construction of a overflow which will stop the flooding of the lake in bad weather which has been the bane of the water in recent years. Year round access to all pegs on the lake should now be assured. Next up is the completion of access all round the lake which will provide more pegs for anglers.
Adjacent to Brookfoot Lake is a new fishery/match pond. A members only fishery, this was developed as part of the major project from a little used old stock pond, and now named Tony Riley’s Pond after our late president. Though much smaller than the main lake, this also contains a good head of mixed coarse fish. Small carp, bream, tench, roach etc can be had though there are better fish for a bit of interest and excitement. The pond is particularly suitable for the young and novice anglers, some perhaps not quite so young. The canal water offers approximately 3½ mile-6km of typical canal fishing and is part of the British Waterways Calder and Hebble waterway. The sections are identified by local names generally descriptive of their location.. Access is relatively easy to most lengths and for the wheelchair disabled, with parking at or close to access points. Towpaths can be very muddy at times and some long walks/pushes may be necessary to reach all parts of the fishery. The Association has recently become a member of the Boothferry Aire & Calder Joint Canal Committee which now allows members to fish some ten miles of the Aire & Calder Canal from 'Great Heck to Goole'.
Our river fishery is the Calder. The Calder waters are situated around Brighouse and towards Mirfield and amount to some 2½ m - 4k. Some sections are a little difficult to access but the effort can be worth it. Most river species are present but with a growing domination of trout, all of which can make for good sport. Though some sections are exclusively Brighouse A.A., other sections are shared with Bradford No1. Unfortunately our river waters are unsuitable for many but the most ambulatory of disabled members also parking and access is limited. No day tickets are available for our river waters.