River Exe and Tributaries Association

The River Exe and Tributaries Association, known as RETA, looks after the River Exe and the streams that feed it. It works to protect and restore the river’s fish stocks and habitat, and it runs the Fish The Exe scheme with the Environment Agency and the Dulverton Angling Association. The scheme sells day and evening tickets on a run of beats between Dulverton and Bickleigh, and the money raised goes back into RETA’s conservation work on the river.

To fish the middle and lower river you join RETA, which costs £30. The upper river, the Little Exe and the Barle are covered by the Dulverton Angling Association instead, which costs £35. Once you are a member, tickets for the beats are booked through Lance Nicholson Tackle.

RETA asks every angler to return all salmon, to use no treble hooks, to keep barbs fully closed and to use a knotless net. Four of the beats are listed here: Bickleigh, Bolham, Hartnoll and Cove Quarry.