Prime game fishing fot salmon and brown trout on the River Exe in Devon UK

The Equipment

For salmon the water is easily covered with a 10 - 12 ft rod in the Spring and a 9 - 10 ft rod in the summer. We normally fish with a floating line but a sink tip addition or a fast sink braid is useful.
The best salmon flies are Ally’s Shrimp, Silver Stoat, Willie Gunn in a range of sizes and tube lengths or whatever you have confidence in, When spinning, an 8 ft rod is perfect and the best spinners are Mepps number 2 and 3 and the ubiquitous flying C’s.
Felt soled, chest waders are perfect, but you could get away with thigh length in low water. A wading stick is strongly recommended, as is a buoyancy aid. Although on most of the beat wading is not difficult it is tricky at the top of the beat and care must be taken.
Trout  and Grayling your normal fly rod will be o.k. for the wild brownies or grayling although rods of over 9 feet are a little too long. We recommend pheasant tail nymphs, hares ears nymphs in all their varieties as the best pattern for prospecting for fish. Kilkhammers and other dries work later in the season. For catch and release please use barbless or debarbed hooks

The Quarry

As well as salmon to over 15lbs, wild Brown Trout to 20 inches (hut pool). Grayling to 16 inches (Hut Pool Run) and rainbow trout to 6lb have also been taken.