Fishing is becoming a more and more popular sport and increasingly holiday cottages are offering packages which include fishing. These range from small groups of cottages specifically specialising in lake fishing to individual bothys in Scotland with access to river fishing. Sitting by the water, watching the current flow past, hearing the birds and wildlife, patiently waiting for that ever elusive bite – is there any occupation more British than fishing? The British countryside has an abundance of lively, calm, or challenging fishing, and fishing might be the perfect way for you to spend a part of your holiday. Renting a holiday cottage in the country opens up to you a huge number of diverse and previously unobtainable pursuits for a brief snatch of time, so make the most of it and enjoy that traditional country pursuit: fishing. Spending all the day by the water is only bettered by coming home to a comfortable cottage and delicious supper in the local pub - all achievable with us. Take a large party out with you, enjoy a picnic with the whole family, then all pitch in fishing. The many levels of fishing mean you don't need to be an angler extraordinaire to revel in the back-to-basics pleasure of sitting and talking by running water or even stay on a boat or in a cottage with a mooring. If you need help there are a number of independent companies and people on hand who can step in and guide you to the best spots and most likely places, a reassuring service! A day's fishing is great fun for the whole family, and will open the eyes of your kids to the complexities of the country, so rarely seen in city life. Fishing is (obviously) not an exclusively country pursuit: rent a cottage by the sea, or up in Scotland by one of its saltwater lochs and this can result in some of the most beautiful fishing. Sitting in a boat, gently rocked by the waves, could be the perfect way for you to escape the pressures and demands of daily life, concentrating solely on something requiring little to no technology and simple old-fashioned good sense. The top places to fish in Britain include the Hampshire Avon, which has played host to a number of famous anglers such as Aylmer Tryon who caught a barbell weighing 14lb 60z (September 1934) which held the British record for fifty years. The Hampshire Avon produces a variety of course fish, and is set in beautiful rolling Hampshire countryside. The Spey is one of the finest salmon rivers in the world, not to mention the most majestic, and although it can be tricky to gain access during peak season (season runs February 11 to September 30) outside peak time some fishing can be obtained. Anglers account for seventeen per cent of activity in the Norfolk Broads, where rivers Bure, Waveney, and Yare share their tributaries with lakes. Boats are a must and provide that added frisson and excitement to the day's adventure.