Low Water Prevailed

Low water conditions prevailed

Unfortunately the last few days of the salmon season (which finished on the Eden on the 14th Oct) didn't benefit from any fresh water whatsoever, (as was the case on many other rivers too) and although there were salmon in most of the pools, the low flows that dominated the latter part of the season made fishing for salmon very difficult. It is interesting though that there now seems to be a trend towards improving catches of spring fish over the past few years and this year was no exception, with good catches of salmon (for those who were out fishing for them) throughout the earlier months of the season and right into August when water flows were much better.

Given these apparent changes, a salmon fishing foray during these earlier months is well worth considering, with April / May historically seeing some very good trout fishing, therefore this always offers something to fall back on if water flows are low and the salmon fishing is suffering as a result of this.

Christian about to let go!

One that didn't escape (until returned)

However, we did have some good casting sessions too and an extraordinary spell when Brown Trout were taking a large Cascade during Christian Woolfenden and John Schofield return trip in October for some further salmon fishing. They had a dozen trout between them to around 3lb and lost a few too as you can see in the video above. That said, the Browns do often become very aggressive at this time of year as they prepare for spawning and the bigger they are the more likely they will get first crack at anything that enters their territory. Oh well at least something was pulling.

John putting out a nice line

Since the Salmon season ended on the Eden I have been involved with the AAPGAI assessments again, this time at a new venue on the river Test at Broadlands down in Hampshire. Those of you who know the river down there will also know that this is one of the widest areas of the Test, offering plenty of space and distance for both single handed and double handed assessments, and the uniformed wading is ideal for this too. A great event with a 50% success rate for candidates taking their assessments and an excellent turn out from the membership for the new members day event held on Saturday 17th Oct. To top this off I even got the chance to fish both the Test and The Avon whilst I was down there, and managed to catch a couple of Grayling too, very different fishing to our usual northern pursuits I can assure you.

AAPGAI Open day on the Test

Anyway not much more to report I'm afraid, but I will be out again at the weekend following the recent freshet of water, (typical now the salmon season is over). However the water is now falling away again and the advantage of this low water is that the Grayling fishing should be very good, especially after the influx of young fish we were seeing earlier in the year. Don't worry though, if they are on I haven't forgotten my promise to several of you to give you the heads up for a Grayling session, which can be great fun. "I will be in touch!