Spate · Granite · Devon / South Hams, GB-ENG

River Yealm

River Yealm venue image

The Yealm falls off the south flank of Dartmoor above Cornwood and runs through the wooded South Hams country to its estuary at Newton Ferrers — a small, intimate river with a disproportionate sea trout (peal) reputation.

Good · Brown Trout
Gold-ribbed Hare's Ear · 10-14
Goodlive now
A proper day on the water
River dropping into shape after a lift. Fishing well — get there before it drops out.
75% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.25 mDropping after lift
  • Water temp16.9°C
  • ClarityClearingClearing
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
0.25 m
Dropping after lift
Water temp16.9°C
ClarityClearing
Weather15°C
WindW 14 km/h
Pressure1008 hPa
Rain · recent14.9 mm
Rain · ahead28.6 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
Warm — slow
17°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
Good — river flow is working for you, but time of day is the limiting factor today.
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 6am

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 12 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 4 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

A small South Hams peal river with wild-trout upper reaches — largely private, syndicated water, with a steady sea trout run for the size of the catchment.

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 Yealm falls off the south flank of Dartmoor above Cornwood and runs through the wooded South Hams country to its estuary at Newton Ferrers — a small, intimate river with a disproportionate sea trout (peal) reputation. The upper river above Cornwood is granite pocket-water wild brown trout fishing; the middle river through Puslinch and Lee Mill is sea trout country from mid-June. The Yealm has historically been a private and syndicated fishery for much of its length, but the rod-caught peal run is one of the steadier small-river sea trout fisheries in south Devon. Salmon are not a feature.

  • Granite
The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 75%
How the 68 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature70 × 28%19.6
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity75 × 18%13.5
Feeding Time40 × 13%5.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity57 × 12%6.8
Conditions total= 68
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