On the river and at the Tweed Angling Fair

On the river with Pat last week, he was on holiday in the Lake District and wanted to learn how to Spey Cast with the double Handed Salmon rod and by the end of the session he was doing a good job considering it was his first time.

I was then off the river for a few days whilst working with schoools in SW Scotland introducing youngsters to Entomology which was there second session in a series of sessions designed to build up the whole environmental picture. I was then off to the Tweed Angling Fair which I attend annually as part of the AAPGAI demonstration team for fly casting as well as providing the casting tuition at the event with the rest of the team. The show is a great event for anglers and if you haven't been before it is well worth putting next years date in your diary which is usually the first weekend in May.

Back to the river Eden again on Monday and the Salmon smolts are now beginning to drop down the river making there way to the sea to continue natures amazing cycle, and the Brown Trout are now beginning to rise much more readilly on the river just waiting for a nice dry fly to tempt them. Monday morning was difficult but we had one or two in the afternoon although the action was very sporadic due to intermittent North East gusts of wind which kept switching the fish off again. Since then it has got a bit better with plenty of cloud cover and if the weather would make it's mind up and warm up for longer periods we are in for some good sport, and as well as the continuous hatches of Grannom sedges we are still seeing, other insect life is also improving on the river and the Olive Uprights are now increasingly appearing on the water. I have also been hearing good reports from Lake Ullswater of some good catches of Browns. However with low water conditions prevailing this does not suit the Salmon angler and at least a few inches of fresh water would improve the situation, but as we all know, once it begins to rain it seems to forget to stop. We are never happy are we!

A bit more Salmon Casting tuition on Tuesday and a short fishing session yesterday with Ben and his son Rowan who were over on holiday from Holland, but unfortunately they only managed one small fish and lost another, although there were some really good trout breaking surface all around. Well that's Fishing!

With regard to the above reference to Ullswater Lake, if anyone is interested in a boat fishing trip to the more productive bays on the Lake, I can recommend just the man to accommodate you. His name is Geoff Johnston and he is a qualified AAPGAI instructor who has fished the lake very successfully for many years. If you are interested, you can contact him at geoffjohnston@theeden.fsnet.co.uk