Sea Trout

Almost all the sea trout caught in the Upper Teign Fishing Association water are caught during the hours of darkness, although fish are taken during the day when fishing for trout or salmon when the river is dropping from a spate. Please note that the only legal method for sea-trout within the national park is the artificial fly and that all sea-trout caught by any other method must be returned as quickly to the water as possible. Night fishing of any kind is restricted to the fly.

The Slabs at the top of Upperton Pool

The sea trout runs are not as dependent on water conditions as salmon runs are. The sea trout will practically drag themselves over dry gravel to get upriver so the fishing is much more dependable than the salmon fishing is. Early spates will bring the fish into the upper pools by May whereas in a dry year you might have to wait until June or even July to catch a fish in Chagford weir pool.

Suitable tackle for sea trout fishing would consist of a rod between 9 ft and

9 ft 6 in in length for a 6 or 7 line with floating and intermediate lines being the general order of the day. A 9 ft tapered leader with a tip strength of 7 lb would be suitable for a floating line, perhaps going shorter for an intermediate line.

Fly selection for sea trout fishing includes Alexandra, Stoats Tail, Badger & Orange, Silver Stoat, Teign Ghost, and Teal Blue & Silver. These can be tied on doubles or singles, sizes 6 through to 12, or the popular aluminium tubes ranging in sizes 3 in down to ½ in.

The pools available for ticket fishing include Fingle Weir Pool, Drogo Weir Pool, Dogsmarsh Weir Pool and Chagford Weir Pool. Fish can be as far up as Chagford by May but this is very dependent on water conditions. Wading is not necessary to cover these pools at night. When night fishing please exercise due caution. The Association strives to maintain the banks and work has been done at Drogo Pool and Fingle Pool in the last few years but please note that erosion continues and in some areas the banks have been undermined. It is strongly recommended that you walk the bank by day to look for potential hazards. In particular the upper part of Drogo Weir Pool has suffered from the spates in 2007 and extreme caution should be exercised here as the water is very deep close to the bank.

A 6 lb 10 oz sea trout for Lesley Bryant from Upperton Pool

a couple of seasons ago

The size of fish on the river varies through the year. Few sea trout are caught before the end of April and fishing usually gets going with the arrival of May. Average weights of fish range from 2 lb to 4lb during May and June, when the catches start to increase. The size drops to 1 lb to 2 lb come late June through August but the numbers can increase as the school peal come in. Some larger fish make a reappearance later in the season with 5 lb fish in September, though some fish are becoming rather dark by then and frequently released. There was a 9 lb fish landed in 2007.

Currently there are no catch limits for sea-trout on the UTFA waters but we do urge restraint and in particular request that sea trout in excess of 5 lb and as many school peal as possible are released.