A western Dartmoor spate river running fast over granite into the Tamar. Salmon and sea trout with wild brown trout in the moorland sections. Short, steep and responsive to rain — classic Devon spate water. Atlantic salmon are assessed by the Environment Agency against each river's Conservation Limit — many principal rivers are classed 'at risk' with mandatory catch-and-release byelaws; check current rules before fishing.
The Tavy rises in the high blanket bog of northern Dartmoor, at Tavy Head just south of Fur Tor and Cut Hill, within half a mile of the sources of the Taw and the Okement. From there it cuts a rough, steep-sided valley south-west, squeezing through the boulder chaos of Tavy Cleave before it emerges among the farmland and runs down past Tavistock to join the Tamar near the tide. It is no gentle lowland river: swift and clean, it crashes over and around a granite bed, rising and falling hard with the moorland weather. The water is acidic and quick-clearing off the granite, peat-stained in spate. The Tavy carries a good run of salmon and the sea trout — peal — for which the Devon rivers are known. Wading is serious granite-boulder work, slick and uneven, and the Cleave in particular is no place to be caught by a rising river.
Wading: Slick granite boulders, fast to rise in Tavy Cleave
Summer-autumn runs (June–September), nocturnal peak season pattern
- Granite
- Partly confined
- Step pool
- Pool riffle
