Good Trout Fishing Continues

Peter, tentatively playing a trout

The trout fishing continues to improve on the river Eden, despite the re-appearance of a few easterly winds from time to time, but with temperatures now warmer, (most of the time) and insect life more abundant, the trout are most certainly in a better mood, so to speak. Peter (on the left) had a few frustrating offers to his dry before eventually hooking into this one, but he did manage to get a couple before they switched off in this particular area. Nice one Peter!

Briefly in the net (Goldhead Nymph)

As a result of a couple of spells of fresh water entering the system there has also been one or two more salmon caught over the last two weeks, (on the beats we have been fishing) but not by us I hasten to add, as those I have recently had out on the river have been focusing on the excellent trout fishing that the Eden has to offer, with some great results too, improving all the time.

Jeff with an Eden Brown

Over the past two weeks, since my last Blog, the trout activity at the surface continues to affirm the dry fly as the dominant approach, producing by far the best results ahead of alternative methods such as spiders and nymphs etc, however we have had one or two very good quality fish on gold headed nymphs too, (see above) just not as many as usual as our dry fly offerings continue to produce better results with regard to numbers. That said, don't abandon the goldheads though as they are still tempting some nice fish to have a go from time to time.

Rob playing a very nice fish.

It has also been apparent though, that the trout have not always been taking the dry as positively as we know they can, (especially at this time of year) resulting in many missed opportunities, as Jeff, one of my regular visitors, found out first hand, although he did manage to make contact with a few in the interim as you can see in the picture above. Once again the Klinkhammer has been our top dry fly, although a small CDC pattern has proved useful at times, especially when black gnats are in attendance and believe me they are certainly in abundance at the moment. Other patterns are available!

Stuarts first Brownie off the Eden

We had several satisfying days on the middle river as the guys rose a few fish to the dry, several of which were missed yet again, but through perseverance and a few fly changes they did manage to land a few fish, always rewarding when a plan comes together. The lower river produced some good catches too with one exceptional fish of around 3 1/2 - 4lb unfortunately parting company with the fly, but not before producing an epic battle as it threw itself into the air several times, giving us an eyeful of its substantial proportions. Maybe next time!

I was involved in several youth days again over the last week or so as part of the Borderlines team, with a couple of events being held at Drumlanrig castle on the stocked rainbow trout fishery there. Youngsters were introduced to all aspects of fly fishing, culminating in a fishing session with great success as they caught lots of fish on a catch and release basis (see picture below) and lost a few too. A good time was had by all.

Youngsters working as a team.

Off out again tomorrow with my good friend Tony with both the trout and the salmon rods as we had another small rise in water last night and reports of salmon being caught higher up the river have come to my attention, however, it's always a good idea to put the trout rods in the car too, as there is nothing worse than fishing for salmon all day long, with no success, and then suddenly a hatch of insects occur and  a phenomenal trout rise ensues and you suddenly realise that you have left your trout rod at home.