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| David into a fish on the lower river |
Once again the weather decided to mix it up a bit in July, which in all fairness we now seem to be becoming very accustomed to, especially in recent times. We have had low water, high water, perfect water, muggy conditions, comfortable fishing conditions, Thunder and Lightening, rain, bright sunshine, strong winds, you name it, July has produced it, and although we have still been catching trout, this unsettled weather has not always produced the good trout fishing we have come to expect, but the salmon fishing has continued in good stead.
We were beginning to see a good build up of salmon on the lower reaches for a while, with several fish being caught, however the higher water conditions gave these fish a window to travel upstream giving a better spread throughout the whole system, Unfortunately just when there was a good head of Sea Trout holding firm at the bottom end they too shifted upstream thinning catches out a little, making good catches more difficult, and given the higher water conditions we had in the third week of July this also hindered any good night fishing we may have had. However its good to see both salmon and sea trout making an appearance once again on many tides since then.
Unfortunately I managed to miss what turned out to be the better part of the sea trout night fishing in early July, as I made my usual pilgrimage to Killyleagh in Northern Ireland to attend the Irish International Fly Fair on behalf of AAPGAI. However, a journey well worth taking, with friends, to meet more friends. We visited the event a day earlier this year so that we could attend The Role and Formation of the Rivers Trusts in Ireland seminars, which was very interesting and worthwhile, we even got the surprise opportunity to speak under the banner of Borderlines whilst we were there.
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| Another enjoyable tuition session |
Upon our return home, in an attempt to gain some ground back on the sea trout fishing, I had arranged (once again) to make a raid on those large welsh sea trout down on the Dovey, with yet more good friends. Ironically these very sea trout have been regularly recorded feeding around the area I had just returned from in Northern Ireland before they ultimately head off to Wales themselves!!!
Anyway another minor set back prevented us from making any inroads into these magnificent fish, as the Dovey river had also received heavy rain and was far too high over the period we were there to do any fly fishing of note whatsoever. So as you can see, it does happen to us all at times!
The majority of the remainder of the month was based around fly fishing instruction and it was great to see some old faces returning again for a few refresher sessions as well as giving us the opportunity to address some of the more advanced techniques, it was also nice to see some new faces indulging in some great sessions too, very enjoyable!
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| Jeff with a nice Grilse |
When water conditions dictate, the salmon fishing continues in good form on the Eden and those venturing out for this quarry are doing very well, as the river is fishing as well this year for salmon (up to know at least) as you could wish for, and better than many other rivers too. Long may it last!
