Fishing
Fishing on the River Torridge
The Half Moon Inn is one of the few remaining fishing inns in Devon and has exclusive access to 7 miles of Salmon, Sea Trout and Brown Trout fishing on the River Torridge. Fishing is available from March 1st to September 30th and Day Tickets are available for both residents and non-residents. Bar manager Adam and Charles will book you in to ensure that you have the best possible experience whilst attending the river, and can offer support to guests seeking advice and tuition.
During the Winter and early Spring (2023/2024), the Torridge Rivers Association were able to open our Salmon Hatchery facility beside the mill at Monkokehampton, on the River Okement, for the first time in four years.
Fishing News
On the evening of the 20th August, our young guest Jacob Gray caught his first ever Sea Trout! Jacob is only 9 years old and his Grandad Martin Weeks has been a regular visitor of the Half Moon for many years. It’s great to see that the art of catching Sea Trout is being passed on through Martin’s family.
Charles’ Fishing Log
Charles Inniss, MBE, is a resident of Sheepwash and has been fishing the River Torridge since the age of 6 after moving to Devon with his family in 1949. He has dedicated much of his life to protecting the river, serving the community and working with the Torridge Rivers Association, which he founded and has been Secretary of since day one.
Charles’ book “Torridge Reflections” was published in the Autumn of 2012 and launched at the annual Torridge Fisheries Dinner on October 13th.
He continues to provide us with fishing and river updates, which you can keep up to date with here throughout the year.
August 2024 Report:
Anglers fishing our beats have enjoyed some superb Brown Trout fishing throughout June and July with several rods catching up to 20 fish in a day. As in recent years the trend is for catches of larger trout with reports of several fish in excess of 2lb. There are still a few hatches of mayfly. Most of the fish have been caught on a dry fly: the favourites being Adams, Grey Wolf and GRHE. Nymphs and sedges have also been successful on occasions.
So far this season rods fishing the Half Moon beats have caught over 350 brown trout.
There seems to have been a better run of sea trout this year, but they are now well spread throughout the system.
The salmon fishing has been disappointing. With so few rods fishing for salmon, catches probably do not reflect the number of fish in the river.
Currently the river is low and clear. Hopefully there will shortly be a good spate to encourage a late run of salmon in September.
May 2024 Report:
After a cold, wet start to the season, the weather warmed up and the river slowly cleared and dropped back to a good fishing height. Towards the end of the month there were good hatches of may fly with the brown trout feeding on the surface during spells of warm sunshine. The trend towards an increase in the size of the trout has continued with several fish caught over 1lb. So far this season over 100 brown trout have been caught, but this does not include many small trout which are often not recorded. Prospects for June are good with the increasing chance of catching a sea trout.
Early April 2024 Report:
The river has been in spate since the first day of the season. When the river eventually drops and clears there will hopefully be salmon spread along all the lower and middle stretches of the river.
End of 2023 Season Report:
It was a fishing season of contrasts. May and June were hot and sunny with some excellent brown trout fishing. This was followed by a typical British summer, often with spells of quite heavy rain, resulting in good river flows. There were some good catches of sea trout in June and July. The season ended on a high with three salmon caught in the last week, including a fish of 15lb on the last day of the season. Total catches for the season: 10 salmon, 38 sea trout and 249 brown trout. Not all the small brown trout are recorded. One of the highlights of the season has been the large number of good sized trout caught with several fish over 2lbs.
The last catch of the season, caught by Brian Lovering
Fishing Report: April 2023
The salmon season opened on 1st March and was low after six weeks without any appreciable rain. Spring salmon were showing below the weir at Beam and two fish were hooked but none landed. Several well mended kelts were caught on the middle beats of the river and our weather pattern changed towards the middle of the month with four weeks of heavy rain and several bank high spates. At long last (Mid-April) the weather has settled down and the river is in perfect condition. The first salmon of the season was caught by Alastair Blundell in the Junction Pool at Okement Foot on Monday 16th April. A superb spring salmon of approx 9lb. We can now look forward to the first fly hatches and brown trout feeding on the surface, so anticipate and really good year.
Fishing Report: August 2021
After the incessant rain in May with the river continuously in spate and unfishable the weather has been changeable and apart from a few small rises the river for the most part has been in good condition.
Due to the Covid restrictions the number of visiting anglers has been limited. Towards the end of June there were some good hatches of Mayfly with several trout over 1lb being caught on a dry fly.
The anglers fishing after dark have caught some large sea trout. Gus Jarrard, fishing with his father caught his first sea trout: a fish of 7lb on the Riversmeet beat and shortly afterwards his father landed a 4lb fish. The school peal are now present in all the beats.
Jon Dickman landed a 15lb salmon at Madeira and Peter Inman caught his first salmon at Beam: a 7lb fish from Yew Tree. Several grilse have been caught: maybe these are the fruits of the hatchery run by The Torridge Fishery Association.
With the first of the autumn rains, September can often provide the best fishing of the season.
Fishing Report: 22nd June 2021
The river took a long time to settle after the very wet spell in May with a series of bank high spates. Two salmon have been caught. Jon Dickman landed a superb 15lb fish at Madeira and Ed Weeks a 5lb grilse on the Riversmeet Beat.
The sea trout seem to be well spread along the main river. Gus Jarrold caught his first sea trout in the Junction Pool at Riversmeet: a wonderful fresh fish of 7lb and shortly afterwards his father landed a 4lb fish from the same pool, having already lost two: all between 11.00pm and midnight on Saturday 19th June. The peal have now started to arrive and several averaging 1lb have been taken.
The trout anglers have enjoyed some good fishing with excellent hatches of mayfly in the last week.
Fishing Report: June 2020
At long last some much needed rain. Between 12th/15th June there has been over 50mm of rain: more than in the previous twelve weeks!! The river has risen but coloured. Salmon have been seen running the weir at Beam and when the weather settles there will be some good fishing for both salmon and sea trout.
There has been some excellent trout fishing, particularly during the last fortnight of May with good hatches of Mayfly. With the hotel closed fishing effort has been light but day rods have enjoyed some good sport on a dry fly landing several trout over 1lb.
The prospects are now much more encouraging.
Fishing Report: June 2019
For the first week of June the glorious sunny weather and low river levels combined to provide some more excellent brown trout fishing which has been the best for many years. Heavy rain on 7th followed by 10 days of unsettled weather led to a rise in river levels. Two salmon were caught: an 8lb fish at Beam from Yew Tree and a 10lb salmon from Brightlea from Sycamore Pool: both were absolutely fresh.
There has been a good run of sea trout with 41 being caught during the last fortnight of the month: most being about 2lb with a few upto 4lb. As the water cleared during the last week the best fishing has been on dark. Beam and the Riversmeet beats have fished best.
Fishing Report: End of May 2019
Apart from a thunder shower on 9th May which increased the flow of the river slightly there has been no appreciable rain since early April. Needless to say the salmon fishing has been slow: a couple of fish were lost at Beam over the weekend 10th/13th and salmon have been showing on all the middle river beats.
There are several sea trout being caught: both on a dry fly in the daytime and at night with a traditional wet fly. Most of the fish are in the 2lb range, but two of 4lb have been caught at Beam. On the last night of the month Martin Weeks caught four at Beam and lost three more.
The trout fishing for the last three weeks has been outstanding: more fly life and more activity on the surface resulting in some excellent catches, including several fish over 1lb and a few over 2lb: the best being a superbly conditioned fish of approx. 3.5lb. Overall it has been a most encouraging start to the season.
Access improvements to all the beats have continued this spring: particularly the home beats.
The weather is more unsettled this week (early June) with hopefully enough rain to bring a rise in river levels.
Fishing Report: 20th May 2019
Apart from a thunder shower on 9th May which increased the flow of the river slightly there has been no appreciable rain since early April. Needless to say the salmon fishing has been slow: a couple of fish were lost at Beam over the weekend 10th/13th and salmon have been showing on all the middle river beats. During the last week 4 sea trout have been caught on dark: all in the 2.5/3lb range.
There may not have been enough water to encourage a run of salmon, but it has been ideal for the trout fishermen. The trout fishing for the last three weeks has been outstanding: more fly life and more activity on the surface resulting in some excellent catches, including several fish over 1lb and a few over 2lb: the best being a superbly conditioned fish of approx. 3.5lb. Also several sea trout have been caught on a dry fly, mostly from the home beats at Sheepwash. As I pen this, the mayfly are starting to appear.
Access improvements to all the beats have continued this spring: particularly the home beats. Overall it has been a most encouraging start to the season.
Fishing Report: September 2018
At long last the autumn rains have arrived and as I write this (21st September) the river is in spate for the first time since early May. Let’s hope the frustrated salmon anglers can enjoy some good fishing before the season ends at the end of the month.
For most of the summer fishing virtually came to a standstill, due to very low flows and high water temperatures. However during the last three weeks the trout fishing has improved with several rods reporting good catches both with a dry fly and nymph.
The low river levels have given us the opportunity to carry out much needed maintenance on most of the beats.
