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. Atlantic salmon are assessed by the Environment Agency against each river's Conservation Limit — many principal rivers are classed 'at risk' with mandatory catch-and-release byelaws; check current rules before fishing.

• Mixed