Avon Dam is the kind of fishery that thins the crowds for you. Park at Shipley Bridge near South Brent and walk — two and a half uphill miles on a tarmac path that climbs into the bowl of South Dartmoor, and by the time you arrive you've earned the silence. Wild brown trout, granite bowl, the wind doing whatever it wants over the moor. Bank only. There's no permit and no fee; an EA non-migratory rod licence covers you. The trout aren't large but they fight, and they fight on flies you tied yourself rather than anything fashionable. The walk back is mostly downhill, which on the right kind of evening feels like the moor's way of saying thank you for coming all that way.

• Reservoir
• Granite