Fishing on the River Mardle is an absolute Joy to behold. The Mardle twists and turns as it glides down the southern slopes of Dartmoor and through Buckfastleigh joining the River Dart at Salmons Leap just above Austins bridge. Situated at the bottom end of town by the bridge this pool is a lovely spot for sight fishing wild brown trout. The water runs deep up against the bridge wall and holds plenty of smaller fish that are more than willing to rise to the occasional fly. These fish are not big but they provide some of the most pleasurable fishing known to man. Speaking of big fish we also had an encounter with a large salmon. Large salmon swam up to us in the shallow water gave us a glance turned and disappeared into the deeper water under the bridge. I estimate it was a 10 pounder, about this big[ ]. It was the closest encounter we have ever had with a wild salmon and we left the river blown away to have seen such a beautiful fish in such clear shallow water. A very special moment indeed.
