Spate · Mixed · Devon

River Taw

North Devon's principal wild brown trout, sea trout and salmon river — Dartmoor granite headwaters at Taw Head falling onto Culm Measures shale through Eggesford and Umberleigh before joining the Torridge in the joint estuary between Instow and Appledore.

Species

Prime conditions — go now

Low and clear — careful approach country. Cover the water properly, fish each lie once.

75% confidence in this read
Water temperature for sea trout
Ideal
9°C est.ideal 8–15°C
0°14°28°
Why this score · for sea trout
  • Temperature10028% weight
  • Flow8022% weight
  • Clarity8518% weight
  • Feeding Time9513% weight
  • Pressure857% weight
  • Insect activity4612% weight
Conditions
Level
Dry recently
No gauge reading
Water temp
8.8°C
Estimated
Clarity
Clear
Air temp
12°C
Wind
NW 6 km/h
Light breeze
Pressure
1023 hPa
Rain · 48h
0.0 mm
No meaningful rain
Rain · ahead
1.0 mm
No meaningful rain · next 48h

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

How to fish it · for sea trout
When
From dusk into the first half of the night.
Where
Deeper pools and slower glides · hold water and current seams.
Method
Fish dark patterns on a sink-tip or lightly sunk line, especially near structure.
Kit
10 ft #6/7 rod, floating line with a sink-tip option, 8–10 lb fluoro tippet for the swing.
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though insect activity could be better. ⏰ Sea trout become most active after dark, but this stretch closes at 21:03 — before that window fully opens. Fish hard in the last legal hour: overcast skies and warm evenings can bring fish on early even in fading light.
Through the year
0–3 scale · May highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Salmon runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
March BrownHatch
2
3
2
GrannomHatch
2
2
Large StoneflyHatch
2
3
2
Yellow SallyHatch
2
3
2

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

Directions
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About this water

North Devon's principal wild brown trout, sea trout and salmon river — Dartmoor granite headwaters at Taw Head falling onto Culm Measures shale through Eggesford and Umberleigh before joining the Torridge in the joint estuary between Instow and Appledore. The upper Taw around Sticklepath and the tributaries (Mole, Bray, Yeo, Little Dart) are first-rate wild brown trout water with strong upwinged and sedge hatches from April through autumn — sparsely fished and full of character. The famous salmon and sea trout beats sit on the larger, slower-responding lower river — the Fox & Hounds water at Eggesford, the River Taw Fisheries & Conservation Association beats and Umberleigh — which holds water longer than the Dartmoor spate streams and often fishes well on the second and third day after a spate. The sea trout run is among the best in southern England; Ted Hughes, who lived by the Taw at North Tawton from 1961, wrote about it, and Williamson's Tarka the Otter is set in this Two Rivers country.

  • Mixed
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon1 March → 30 September
  • Trout15 March → 30 September

Sea trout: Variable seasonal (2026)

Salmon: Negligible (2026) — EA 2024 Salmon Stocks Assessment classifies the Taw 'at risk' — egg deposition below Conservation Limit. C&R mandatory. The river still produces salmon every season but stocks are well below historical levels; the better story now is the sea trout run, which remains one of the strongest in southern England.

Other water nearby · 5