Spate · Granite · Devon / Dartmoor, GB-ENG

River Walkham

River Walkham venue image

The Walkham is a classic small Dartmoor freestone — a granite-bedded spate stream that drops off the west moor through Merrivale and Horrabridge before joining the Tavy below Buckland Monachorum.

Prime · Brown Trout
Gold-ribbed Hare's Ear · 10-14
Primelive now
About as good as it gets
Low and clear — careful approach country. Take your time — read the water before you cast.
75% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.22 mLast reading 10h ago
  • Water temp15.2°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Gold-ribbed Hare's Ear
Gold-ribbed Hare's Ear10-14
Upstream, sub-surface
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.22 m
Last reading 10h ago
Water temp15.2°C
ClarityClear
Weather13°C
WindSW 10 km/h
Pressure1008 hPa
Rain · recent11.3 mm
Rain · ahead37.3 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Ideal
15°C est.ideal 1016°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
Excellent — water temperature is working for you, but time of day is the limiting factor today.
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 2pm

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 12 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(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 with Pro.

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Evidence
Survey-backed · regionalHigh confidence

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

Through the year
0–3 scale · August highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
March BrownHatch
2
3
2
CapererHatch
2
3
3
2
Heather FlyHatch
2
2
Autumn DunHatch
2
3
2

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

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box

Short-rod pocket-water fishing at its most distilled — a small Dartmoor granite stream of wild browns, fished cast by cast into every pocket and run.

Local classics: Half Stone·Blue Upright
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Gallery · 1
  1. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The Walkham is a classic small Dartmoor freestone — a granite-bedded spate stream that drops off the west moor through Merrivale and Horrabridge before joining the Tavy below Buckland Monachorum. It is the kind of pocket-water trout fishing the south-west does best: short broken pools, wild brown trout that rarely make a pound, hatches reliable enough to keep a dry fly honest from April through autumn. The Tavy, Walkham and Plym Fishing Club holds most of the rod fishing, and the Horrabridge gauge falls almost as quickly as it rises — a wet morning and you can be fishing the same afternoon. Small numbers of sea trout (peal) reach the lower river from mid-June via the Tavy confluence; salmon are rare strays.

  • Granite
Water quality (WFD)
  • EcologyModerate
Water quality details
  • Dissolved oxygenHigh
  • Ammonia (Phys-Chem)High
  • pHHigh
  • PhosphateHigh
  • TemperatureHigh

EA (England) · GB108047007870

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 75%
How the 81 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time40 × 13%5.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity61 × 12%7.3
Conditions total= 81
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 15 March30 September

Sea trout: Variable seasonal (2026)

Related guides
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts
Clubs & associations