The charm of our rivers is that they are wild. Four of them — the Lyd, Lew, Wolf and Thrushel — rise on the flanks or the peaks of Dartmoor, that high granite moorland which covers more than 400 square miles of the south-west. They bring the quality of the moor down into our valleys, bright flashing streams, long pools, gravelly runs, twisting through pasture and woodlands, the banks full of wild daffodils and bluebells. Within a few miles of the hotel, two more rivers, the Carey and the Ottery, join the Tamar, the frontier river that divides Devon from Cornwall. On these six rivers and the Tamar we have altogether 20 miles of private fishing, with individual beats of anything from a half-mile to a mile-and-a quarter, where you can fish alone all day with only a dipper, a kingfisher or a buzzard for company. If you are particularly lucky you may see an otter.


Salmon
Our salmon run is in the Tamar and the Lyd, and we also have access to beats on the lower Tamar some 10 or 15 miles away, where the river is wider and fish can be found as early as April. The mid-river beats at Lifton hold salmon from May onwards, with grilse from July and often some very good fishing in the final six weeks of the season, which closes on October 14th. Salmon average between 6 and 12 lb, grilse 5lb. Our rivers are true spate rivers and therefore catches are dependent on rainfall. When you make a booking you should indicate how many salmon fishing days you want and we will put you down on the list and organise the beats in strict rotation. Your name will be on the list in the hall when you arrive. If you decide not to make a booking until your arrival we will try to give you a beat but this will depend on prior bookings.


Sea Trout
Night fly fishing for sea trout is arguably the most exciting fishing available in the British Isles, and is something for which The Arundell Arms is justly famous. From mid-June to the end of the season in September, sea trout offer the absolute pinnacle of the fly fisher’s art. During the 1980’s we enjoyed some incredible seasons, with over 700 sea trout from our own waters in 1987. Sea trout runs throughout the country have never equalled those boom years, but every season many thousands of sea trout still run the Tamar and rapidly fill our pools.

The local name for sea trout is peal and there are variations, such as harvest peal and school peal, but they really are all sea trout - migratory brown trout. The main run of school peal averages 3/4 lb. to 1 1/2 lb, but there are a number of larger fish up to 6lb. Beats are allocated in rotation. The sea trout run is in the Tamar, Lyd and Thrushel and there is a separate list for night fishing.


Brown Trout
Brown trout on the Tamar system are true wild fish, beautifully coloured and hard-fighting. They breed naturally as they have done for millennia. The size limit is eight inches - a fish of this size will be three years old and fully mature. Any trout over 10 inches is a good fish, with one of a pound (around 14 inches) being exceptional.
The trout respond well to a variety of fly fishing techniques, including the classic across-and-downstream style of wet fly fishing. This method is now unknown to many who have graduated on stocked rivers or stillwaters, and is an excellent way of teaching beginners on the river.

Dry fly is the first choice for the more experienced fisher and, given reasonable water conditions, daily catches of up to 20 or 30 trout can be expected for any competent angler at the right time of the year.

Tinhay Lake
The three-acre Tinhay lake, which belongs to the hotel, is at the bottom of the village. It was formerly a limestone quarry that flooded a century ago. It has gin-clear water and a maximum depth of 90 feet. It is fished from a level grassy bank along the southern shore, and is also used for teaching casting and stillwater techniques on our courses. The lake provides exciting clear-water sight fishing for browns and rainbows. The fish, stocked as pounders, grow to over 10lb and are in superb condition. There is a variety of natural food — buzzers, corixa, sedges, olives, mayflies, damsels, and minnows, allowing serious imitative fishing with nymphs and dry flies. The water remains clear throughout the season, so if the rivers are in spate, Tinhay Lake is always fishable. Being a totally enclosed water, the lake can be fished for rainbow trout at any time of the year.


Saltwater Fly Fishing
We can arrange a trip for hotel guests to the coast to fly fish from the shore for bass and other marine fish with our hotel instructors. Bookings should be made in advance. For more information see Help & Guidance.


Other Fishing
When lowland rivers are in spate, the River Dart high on the moors may be clear. We can issue permits at the hotel. Reservoir fishermen will find excellent brown trout fishing, from bank or boat, at nearby Roadford Lake, or on Bodmin Moor at Colliford Lake. There are also many ‘put and take’ fisheries in the region.

Rules and regulations
All fish taken belong to the fisherman but weight and numbers must be recorded at the hotel. Fly fishing only for trout and sea trout, wet or dry, but spinning for salmon is allowed on the Tamar. No bait fishing is allowed.

We regret that dogs are NOT allowed on the rivers.


Catch limits
All the fish in our rivers are wild. In order to conserve salmon stocks which have been under increasing pressure over recent years, there has been no netting in the Tamar estuary since 2004. Anglers are committed to releasing 70% of rod caught fish. i.e. the first fish must be released, with the option of taking the second. A maximum of one in three salmon can be kept. In addition, all coloured fish and fish over 10lb caught after September 1st must be released. There is a current national bye-law requiring that all salmon caught before the 16th June be returned unharmed to the river.

For sea trout and brown trout we have a bag limit of four fish per rod per day and an 8in minimum size limit for brownies. Fishing may continue after the bag limit has been attained, but we ask that you return the fish unharmed to the river. We encourage catch and release fishing with barbless hooks.

On Tinhay Lake, there is a limit of four trout - brown or rainbow - in a day. Fishing may continue after the bag limit is reached providing all subsequent fish are carefully returned with the minimum of handling.


Parking and access
Please park your car where you are asked to in the beat book and make sure that tractors and farm machinery can get past. Please close all gates and walk down to the river alongside the hedges and not across the fields. Do not pick blackberries, mushrooms, wild flowers, or walk through crops, picnic in fields away from the river or leave rubbish anywhere. We depend on the goodwill of the farmers for access to our beats. Please make a point of not leaving lengths of nylon anywhere in the open as birds can get tangled in it and die.


Transport
You can walk to a few nearby beats but for most of them you need a car. We can sometimes provide transport, or we can organise a self-drive car for you.


Packed lunches and cold suppers
Packed lunches are ordered on the form provided in the dining room on the previous evening or at breakfast. If you want to fish late in the evening, please let us know if you would like us to leave a cold supper for you (dinner ends at 9.30 pm).

To make a reservation please contact us by email at reservations@arundellarms.com