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River Taw, Devon – May Fishing Report

The Fox & Hounds Team
June 1, 2026

Fly fishing report for May 2026 at The Fox & Hounds, Devon

Definitely the strangest May we’ve seen in some time, with some of the best fishing days we’ve seen in recent years, but unfortunately too few and far between.

The start of month looked great, including a top up of water levels, but temperatures quickly dropped to become unseasonably chilli with a cold wind, delaying many hatches. Overnight on the 19th we had another good top up, just ahead of a massive shift in the weather with temperatures rising nearly 20 degrees.

Between the extremes there were a few Goldilocks days when everything was just right, but those did provide some exceptional fishing!

May Flies & Fishing

May is always a notable month between the start and end. The riverbanks transform becoming lush with new growth, water temperatures climb steadily and the hatch calendar is full to brimming.

This year was very different to last, not just in the weather, but also the flies that were productive. The dry mayfly imitations that performed that accounted for most of last year’s fish had far less impact, despite the number of mayflies around.

7 times out of 10 popping a small Elk Hair Caddis a couple of feet above a rising fish would do the trick. If it was refused after a couple of casts, changing to an olive coloured emerger, like a Sparkle Dun or CDC Emerger would normally do the trick.

The caddis patterns were a surprise as they didn’t fish well until July last year, and after the grannom in April, there was a lack of caddis around until the latter part of May.

The other notable difference for the month, was that we caught about half the number of fish as last May. Last year may have been exceptional but we had 357 fish returned compared to 186 this year. Much of this can be linked to the number of days on the water and the extremes in the weather conditions, however and a lot of fish that were caught were of a good size. We had more fish over 11” than any month in recent years, and many fish in the 13-14″ range.

At the backend of the month we had a great hatch of Green Drakes (Ephemera danica). These are the large white mayflies with dark stripes that can grow to nearly 2 inches. This is an amazing fishery with big fish sucking down spent flies or thrashing at uprights on the surface. These imitations are huge dry flies tied on size 10 or even on size 8 hooks and seeing your fly smashed by a 14” fish and peeling off line as it heads for the roots is absolutely thrilling!

Buglife

There isn’t much in the hatch calendar that doesn’t start to appear in May, but just like the riverside flora, we saw a continuous progression of new flies emerging.

During the first week of May we continued to see the early olive baetids that emerged in April now joined by Pale Watery, Small Spurwing and and increased number of Yellow May Duns.

Pale Watery

Baetis fuscatus

Small Spurwing

Centroptilum luteolum

Yellow May Dun

Heptagenia sulphurea

Similarly, March Browns were joined an increased number of their kissing cousins, the Olive Uprights. Both Rhithrogena germanica and R. semicolorata are at top the league tables in terms of pollution sensitivity, so seeing both of these in good numbers was rewarding.

Olive Upright Spinner

Rhithrogena semicolorata

The downturn in temperature corresponded to species of mayflies most evident on the river. We had to check against hatch temperatures, but they did indeed correspond to the proliferation of Iron Blues followed shortly by Blue Winged Olives (Seratella ignita, not the US generic use of the name) and the Turkey Browns we were seeing as mature nymphs in April.

Paraleptophlebia submarginata

Once the BWOs started they really didn’t stop and through much of the month they accounted for a good percentage of the mayflies on the river. As things started to warm up we finally saw the Large Brook Duns emerge in force. We had seen a few at the start of the month, but given the number of very large nymphs we saw in April, we were starting to wonder about them. These together with the BWOs may have accounted for a lot of the success on the larger emerger patterns.

Large Brook Dun

Ecdyonurus torrentis

But the most memorable part of the month has to go to the Green Drakes (Ephemera Danica). We noted an uncharacteristically high number of nymphs in the early spring and were disappointed when we only saw a few in the first week of May. However, with the hot weather at the back of the month however, the skies filled with them dancing over the water. When the fish finally switched onto them, we had some of the most exciting fishing in recent years. Beautiful evenings, rises everywhere, and big, fat, hard fighting fish!

We’ve also started to see a number of different caddisfly species in the latter part of the month. While the smaller caddis patterns are still doing well, it should be noted that the caddis we’re seeing are anything from 10mm right up to 20mm (yes, I know I’m going back and forth between metric and imperial – I’m old!).

We also have a few different species of stonefly appearing, including Yellow Sallies, but we have seen fish targeting them and the Stimulator pattern that would bring fish up last May hasn’t had a sniff this year. Perhaps June will see more action with the stoneflies.

For June I think we’ll stop worrying about the unpredictable weather and just enjoy the days as they come. We’ve got a bit of rain to start the month off, cooling the water temperatures and topping up the river.

If you’re able to join us, our Fishing Break is a Dinner Bed & Breakfast package that includes fishing for £165/night, and our Ultimate Fishing Package combines a stay in our Luxury Treehouse with fishing, as featured in Trout & Salmon Magazine last year. Both can be booked online or by contacting the hotel.