Spate · Sandstone · East Devon

River Otter

The Otter rises in the Blackdown Hills and runs quietly through east Devon's red-sandstone country — Honiton, Ottery St Mary, Otterton — before reaching the sea at Budleigh Salterton.

Adrian Pearce

Warm — handle with careBrown Trout are stressed by warm water — handle every fish carefully.

Water estimated at about 19°C from air temperature — there is no water-temp gauge here, so treat the figure as a guide. Above 18°C, the risk of killing a released fish climbs. Fish dawn or dusk only — the water can be two or three degrees cooler at first light. Barbless hooks. Land it fast — under thirty seconds. Wet hands. No air shots. If a fish swims off slowly or rolls, stop fishing for the day.

DepthShaded riffles, deep pools, spring inflows, cold tributary mouths. Work them and move on.
TimingDawn and dusk only. Avoid the middle of the day — the water peaks then and the fish are most stressed.

Marginallive now

Slow going — pick your moments

River temperature is the limiting factor today, not the flow. Fish dawn or dusk if you go at all, and handle everything with extra care.

80% confidence

Notify when prime

What moved it

Level0.18 m
Water temp19.2°C
ClarityClear

Today’s fly

CDC Emerger14-18

Upstream dry, in the film

Live now

Conditions on the water

Live gauge

Trends shown where the gauge supports them

Level

Steady

0.18 m

Water temp

19.2°C

coldwarm

Clarity

Clear

Weather

19°C

Clear

Wind

NE 25 km/h

calmblown out

Pressure

1021 hPa

lowhigh

Rain · recent

0.0 mm

dryspate risk

Rain · ahead

0.0 mm

dryspate risk

Live readings — water temperature is an estimate where the gauge does not record it.

Water temperature for brown trout

Warm — slow

19°C est.ideal 10–16°C

0°14°28°

How to fish it · for brown trout

When

Nymphing can work through most of the day.

Where

Cover mixed depths.

Method

Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.

Kit

9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.

Why this works

⚠️ Water at 19.2°C — above the brown trout caution line (18°C). Fish dawn or dusk only. Land it fast, wet hands, no air shots. Otherwise poor — water clarity is in the right range.

Hatch timeline · todayQuiet day

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 4 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

See the full sub-surface read with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 with Pro.

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Evidence

Survey-backed · regionalModerate confidence

Backed by regional invertebrate surveys; no sampling on this exact reach yet.

Through the year

0–3 scale · July highlighted

Trout season

Daddy Long Legs

March Brown

Grannom

Large Stonefly

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today

Brown Trout fly box

Black Beetle

14-18 · Pattern

Upstream dry, on top

Beats · 3

Ottery Fly Fishing Club water — Tipton St John to HonitonAccess varies

The Otter is a wild brown trout river — not a salmon river.

Westcountry Angling Passport — River Tale at Escot ParkAccess varies

The simplest open visitor access in the catchment is a section of the River Tale (an Otter tributary) at Escot Park, fishable on the Westcountry Angling Passport.

Lower Otter free water — near Budleigh SaltertonAccess varies

There is roughly a kilometre of free fishing on the lower Otter between the footbridge south of Otterton Road Bridge and the South Farm Road bridge near the Budleigh Salterton estuary.

What's coming

Plan ahead

5-day outlook

Cooler water nearby · 2

Water here around 19°C — probably warm enough to stress brown trout. These are likely cooler.

Gallery · 1

Terrain map

About this water

The Otter rises in the Blackdown Hills and runs quietly through east Devon's red-sandstone country — Honiton, Ottery St Mary, Otterton — before reaching the sea at Budleigh Salterton. It is a wild brown trout river of modest scale and modest pretensions: small fish, sober hatches, sparsely fished beats through woodland and water meadow. The Lower Otter Restoration Project, completed in 2023, returned the lowest reach to its natural tidal channel and the river now finishes in a proper estuary again. The famous reintroduced beavers — the River Otter Beaver Trial ran 2015–2020 and the population is now naturalised — are part of the modern character of the place; they have shaped some of the upper-river habitat in ways that have been good for fish as well as for the beavers themselves. Sea trout (peal) push up to the middle river from mid-June; salmon are rare and incidental.

Sandstone

The full read · show the working · for brown trout · confidence 80%

How the 33 is built — score × weight = contribution

Temperature36 × 28%10.1

Flow80 × 22%17.6

Clarity95 × 18%17.1

Feeding Time75 × 13%9.8

Pressure80 × 7%5.6

Insect activity59 × 12%7.1

Conditions total= 67

Can you trust it?

Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated

Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved

Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey

What would change the calculation

Cooler water — back toward the 10–16 °C ideal band — would lift the score and ease welfare.

Directions

Apple Maps Google Maps

Seasons & zones

Trout15 March → 30 September

Sea trout: Variable seasonal (2026)

Related guides

Booking & contacts

Spate · Sandstone · East Devon

River Otter

Google Places

The Otter rises in the Blackdown Hills and runs quietly through east Devon's red-sandstone country — Honiton, Ottery St Mary, Otterton — before reaching the sea at Budleigh Salterton.

Marginal · Brown Trout

CDC Emerger · 14-18

Warm — handle with careBrown Trout are stressed by warm water — handle every fish carefully.

DepthShaded riffles, deep pools, spring inflows, cold tributary mouths. Work them and move on.
TimingDawn and dusk only. Avoid the middle of the day — the water peaks then and the fish are most stressed.

Marginallive now

Slow going — pick your moments

River temperature is the limiting factor today, not the flow. Fish dawn or dusk if you go at all, and handle everything with extra care.

80% confidence

Notify when prime

What moved it

Level0.18 m
Water temp19.2°C
ClarityClear

Today’s fly

CDC Emerger14-18

Upstream dry, in the film

Conditions on the water

Live gauge

Level

Steady

0.18 m

Water temp19.2°C

ClarityClear

Weather19°C

WindNE 25 km/h

Pressure1021 hPa

Rain · recent0.0 mm

Rain · ahead0.0 mm

Live readings — water temperature is an estimate where the gauge does not record it.

Water temperature for brown trout

Warm — slow

19°C est.ideal 10–16°C

0°14°28°

How to fish it · for brown trout

When

Nymphing can work through most of the day.

Where

Cover mixed depths.

Method

Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.

Kit

9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.

Why this works

⚠️ Water at 19.2°C — above the brown trout caution line (18°C). Fish dawn or dusk only. Land it fast, wet hands, no air shots. Otherwise poor — water clarity is in the right range.

Hatch timeline · todayQuiet day

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 4 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

Start free trial

14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

See the full sub-surface read with Pro.

Start free trial

14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 with Pro.

Start free trial

14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Evidence

Survey-backed · regionalModerate confidence

Backed by regional invertebrate surveys; no sampling on this exact reach yet.

Through the year

0–3 scale · July highlighted

Trout season

Daddy Long Legs

March Brown

Grannom

Large Stonefly

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today

Brown Trout fly box

Black Beetle

14-18 · Pattern

Upstream dry, on top

Beats · 3

Ottery Fly Fishing Club water — Tipton St John to HonitonAccess varies

The Otter is a wild brown trout river — not a salmon river.

Westcountry Angling Passport — River Tale at Escot ParkAccess varies

The simplest open visitor access in the catchment is a section of the River Tale (an Otter tributary) at Escot Park, fishable on the Westcountry Angling Passport.

Lower Otter free water — near Budleigh SaltertonAccess varies

There is roughly a kilometre of free fishing on the lower Otter between the footbridge south of Otterton Road Bridge and the South Farm Road bridge near the Budleigh Salterton estuary.

What's coming

Plan ahead

5-day outlook

Cooler water nearby · 2

Water here around 19°C — probably warm enough to stress brown trout. These are likely cooler.

River Axe

19 km

~18°C

Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout

River Tone

22 km

~18°C