Brown Trout

The River Dart offers classic West Country trout fishing in beautiful surroundings, with wild brown trout providing sport throughout the spring and summer months. While many Dart trout migrate—smolting and heading to sea before returning as sea trout—there remains a healthy stock of resident brown trout in the river. Most are of modest size, but fish of up to around three pounds are occasionally encountered.

The brown trout season on the Dart runs from 15th March to 30th September, and the stretches shown in green on the map are available for day-ticket fishing.

Fish Care & Bag Limit

There is a bag limit of two brown trout per day, although catch and release is encouraged.

A 4 or 5-weight outfit with a rod of around 8ft is ideal for Dart trout. A floating line will cover most situations, while an intermediate line can be useful when fishing wet flies.

Early season tactics (nymph / wet fly):

• The classic Dart fly is the Pheasant Tail Nymph, particularly effective in colder spells.
• A Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear nymph is another excellent choice, often fished as a gold-head.
• Wet flies such as March Brown and Blue Upright can also produce well.

Mid-season tactics (dry fly):

As the weather warms, trout will begin rising more consistently. The Dart does not usually produce heavy “chalk stream style” hatches, so fish tend to be opportunist feeders. Productive patterns include:

• Blue Winged Olives (BWO’s) and other olive patterns
• Klinkhamers
• Sedge imitations, especially as sedges are often abundant
• Elk Hair Caddis is a superb all-round choice, particularly later in the season, and can be deadly when fished in faster water.

High summer tactics (small and subtle):

During hot, bright conditions the trout can become fickle. At times, a tiny Black Gnat (around size 20) may be needed to tempt a take.