Much of the Same (with a bit more rain)

Andrew playing a Brown Trout

As discussed in my last post (May 2nd) I intended to indulge in a little more trout fishing with my good friend Tony before the weather changed, and as luck would have it the day was quite a nice one, although to continue the trend the conditions were changeable throughout the day with warm spells when we caught a few fish, and cold snaps when we didn't. However during the day we did have some good sport and reports were also coming in of several Salmon being caught up an down the river.



A nice little Eden trout on the dry

The conditions over the following two days were very similar, but this time I was providing tuition and guiding for salmon and trout for a couple who were travelling up to the river Tweed the next day and then on to the river Tay to fish for salmon. We did see a couple of salmon as we arrived on the lower Eden, and following a tuition session they covered the water very well, but unfortunately to no avail as the fish had other ideas. Nevertheless they did drop me an email later in the week to inform me of their success in Scotland, with salmon of 7lb and 12lb as well as a successful trip to the river Dun back in England with a bag of seven nice trout. "Excellent News".

A Quick Photo I'm Afraid

However, not long after their departure from the Eden, things did take a turn for the better in the afternoon, as I decided to return to the river following a mid day tide, and managed to have a fantastic afternoon, with a Salmon of around 14lb on a size 10 double Cascade, and several very healthy and hard fighting brown trout on a dry Klinkhammer as the sun shone through and encouraged a hatch of olives, and in turn a prolific rise of fish, making the latter part of the day much more enjoyable.

We had a group of youngsters out again with Borderlines, this time on a local fishery for rainbow trout and they managed to catch a few too as you can see from the picture below, a really enjoyable evening session.

Another successful youth Day

The river rose again on the evening of May the 9th and continued to do so as the rain persisted, keeping us off the river from a fishing perspective, but it hasn't prevented a few casting tuition sessions with several people over the last few days, covering both trout and salmon techniques, during which time the water has been continually dropping to a fishable level again, mainly on the upper river at the moment as levels do drop off quicker in these areas.

The river is still holding extra water at the moment, but it is still fishing well at times, mainly in the slightly warmer spells, although it is taking some warming up of late, and both salmon and trout are being caught as we speak, unfortunately also as we speak the rain has returned and persisted all day today, so not sure yet what tomorrow will bring . Time will tell.

Good Catches "At Times"

A brief Glance before Freedom

The trout fishing has continued in good form, but only when the air temperatures have been kind to us. Let me explain! Throughout April (apart from a few intermittent days) the cold easterly winds we have experienced have persistently chilled the surface of the water, causing the temperatures to take a dive, which in turn contributes to the insect life switching off, making it difficult to target those fish that have been quite happily, and visually, picking off those Large Dark Olives that have been in attendance, almost looking as if they are trying to hide in amongst some prolific hatches of Grannom Sedge (caddis flies). However, as soon as the clouds part, the wind drops, and you can feel the heat in the air from the sun, the trout have become instantly active again, picking off these Large Dark Olives voraciously, with almost clinical precision, offering up some great sport once again, on both spiders and dries.

 

David with one of many

Apart from the continued cold snaps and awkward east winds we have been quite lucky with water height (most of the time) on the Eden, as the heavy showers skirted around us for long periods, and although on a couple of occasions the river did become swollen, it was nothing that kept us away from the trout fishing for too long as David and Steve encountered when they were out with me on the mid river. David having a red letter day one Saturday with around 15 fish, and whilst enjoying some good sport the following day on the lower river, he lost a fantastic trout which took off like an express train. This was not the only good spell though as many of us have enjoyed some very good double figure days throughout April. "Lets hope this continues into May"!

Although the Eden is no longer a prolific Spring Salmon river, I have to say that this years Spring run has been one of the best I have seen on the river for many years, with good reports coming in from several anglers of good catches, some recording multiple catches to their own rod. Considering that there are only a small amount of anglers now fishing for Salmon in the Spring, in comparison to pre 1999, when new byelaws were introduced preventing the removal of rod caught Salmon until the 16th June, this is therefore very good news.

A fish on the Dry for Stephen

The weather report for the weekend is for another cold snap, (but not rain) so I am off out again tomorrow with my good friend Tony, to see what the river gods have in store for us before conditions change once again. With more people coming for tuition and fishing over the next few days we will certainly not be letting the weather get in our way, and I will be sure to let you know how we got on in my next post. Goodbye for now!