Low Water Conditions Continue

As previously mentioned, the persistent low water conditions we are all experiencing does not suit everyone, especially the Salmon anglers amongst us. That said, I can never undersatnd why the Salmon anglers do not turn their hand to the excellent trout fishing that is available on our rivers when water is at a premium, especially the river Eden which generally fishes out of it's skin in the early part of the trout season and can continue to do so given the right conditions. The insect life is really building up now and with the wind now predominantly South Westerly (at the moment) as apposed to that persistent North Easterly we have been experiencing things can only get better and I am sure you can all feel the difference in temperature over the last couple of days.

I tested the water for Sea Trout through the night at the weekend with only limited success although I did hear a couple of nice fish in the dark and although we have seen a few good fish throughout the day along with several small Sea Trout and lots of Herling (immature Sea Trout) there were not a lot of fish active in the pool I was fishing, which may have been suited better by a little more cloud cover and not the clear sky that materialised as darkness fell.

I have had some very nice ladies and gents trout fishing with me over the past few days including David, Bill and Fay all pictured here, who between them caught a few good trout and a few smaller ones too. Also a couple of good Spey casting lessons with the double handers with Colin and Bill who turned his hand to both Trout fishing and some of the Salmon Spey casting techniques.

More Good Brown Trout Activity

In between Spey Casting tuition I have actually had the chance to do some Brown Trout fishing of my own and what a time to get the opportunity to do so as these fish have really switched on especially on the lower river. I was fishing with a friend and we lost count of the amount of good quality fish we caught. I did intend to keep a couple for the pot but found myself caught up in the moment. We also had a few plump little herling which we returned to fight again and following this I had two amazing encounters with a couple of big Sea Trout on light tackle around the 3 and 4lb mark, the second of which proceeded to strip the whole fly line and a bit of the backing from my reel before parting company with my 3lb point.

Following a Spey Casting session higher up the river with Tony who has been preparing for his Provisional AAPGAI casting qualification over this last year, we both took turns with the trout rod whilst the other watched the water for movement and although we had a few Brown Trout they were not as good in quality as the fish in the lower river, which is not uncommon at this time of year, but this certainly did not make it any less enjoyable.

Although it has still not fully warmed up yet with snow still clearly visible on the pennines, the fly hatches are still building up and along with those we have already identified, additional species are now beginning to appear and on Saturday I saw the odd Large Brook Dun being devoured by a trout or two as well as witnessing a few hawthorns yesterday with their distinctive dangling legs.

There are also a few Salmon sneaking into the lower beats on this low water and if we can get some fresh water in the near future there may be one or two caught, although the low water will not prevent the Sea Trout negotiating the faster runs through the twilight hours and into dark and if we can get some overcast (moonless) warmer nights then this could be the time to target them as they are most definitely in the system.

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

Positive Signs on the River

At last, things are beginning to step up a gear on the river as temperatures begin to warm up, and those of you who do a bit of trout fishing will know that things have been rather slow of late. Not so now though with the insect life increasing in the form of large stoneflies, some very good hatches of Grannom (Sedges) carpeting the river in places and a few sporadic hatches of Large Dark Olives still in attendance, and the Brown trout fishing has really kicked in. I was on the river with Andrew and Charlie toward the end of the week as they proceeded to catch six fish between them to around 1 1/4lb, (all returned) with an added bonus when Charlie actually managed to hook, but unfortunately loose a substantial Rainbow Trout (on the duo) which almost came to the net, obviously an escapee from higher up the system. Andrew also missed a few good fish on the spiders as they nipped the flies in the surface film.

Yesterday I was out with Doug, who I met in 2005 and he has been coming once or twice a year ever since to successfully fish for both Salmon and trout. On this particular occasion he came to do some trout fishing and keep up to speed with his casting which I was really impressed with as I remember when he first came and he has come a long way since then. The day started with a bang and did not stop. He played and landed five really good quality Brown Trout, the smallest being around 1 1/4lb with a couple of good fish around the 2lb mark. He then continued his run with 2 herling (small Sea Trout) 2 Grayling the biggest definitely being over 2lb and just to top it off he hooked and played a nice silver Salmon of around 5 - 6lb which eventually managed to get the upper hand and shed the hook. All of this action was on a 9ft 3inch 6 weight fly rod. After successfully setting the hook on all takes bar three during the day, Doug sat down and in his own words said "did that really happen".

The most significant piece of information that became apparent throughout the day was the substantial amount of very fresh Grilse between around 4 - 7lb that were creeping through on very low water and we saw between us a couple of dozen on the day of what can only be described as early running Grilse. Long may it last!

Back to Low Water Conditions

Over the past week the river has been steadily falling to present low water conditions on the Eden and the Sand Martins which arrived in late March are now beginning to build up in numbers. Hopefully if the temperatures can find some kind of normality it might even persuade the fly life to increase and induce some good Brown Trout activity. There is still plenty of snow on the hills to keep a steady flow once it begins to melt and even though the water is low at the moment I have personally seen a good number of spring Salmon entering the river on the tide this weekend with a scattering of fresh Sea Trout in amongst them, so things are looking very healthy.

I have been busy with casting tuition on the river over the past few days and newcomers to Salmon fishing, Richard and Patrick (above) were putting out some nice lines over the weekend and were unfortunate that one of the Springers we saw did not take an interest in their offerings (maybe next time).

Yesterday and today I have been out with Ron and Ian (which is always a pleasure). They have been trying out some shooting head systems (amongst other things) in preperation for their pending Norway trip in June where they will be fishing the Gaula and other rivers whilst they are there. "Good luck to them", I hope they have a successful trip.

Springers Running the River

Hi all, I have been off the scene for a few days down in Wales for the AAPGAI biannual assessments, workshops and demonstrations which were once again a roaring success with 9 candidates attaining their qualifications, in all three catagories, which included Trout, Salmon and Fly Dressing disciplines, with 3 successful Provisional members, 5 Advanced members and one Master which is our highest qualification. If anyone is interested in becoming an AAPGAI instructor, then further details can be viewed by clicking here.

Whilst I was away, several Spring Salmon were spotted running the river with a few fish being caught. This is normally the case when I go away and not entirely unexpected as we did have a rise of water just before I left, and just to top it off I received the usual phone call to tell me I should be on the river. "Typical".

The weather remains unpredictable with one day being quite warm and the next turning back to winter again, but one of my regular anglers, Fay, did manage to catch her first Brown Trout of the season all be it a small one.

River Rising again

The river is on the rise yet again, holding back the trout fishing for at least a couple of days which seems to be the norm lately, although we did manage to target a few trout on Saturday and Charley who was over on a trip from America, managed to land a couple of fish at the eleventh hour on the scud, which is a shrimp representation, and on the Water Hen Bloa which is a spider pattern that was fished just in the surface film as a few trout begun to rise for a very short period in the late afternoon, picking off a few Large Dark Olives that were sparsley hatching. He also had a couple of close calls where the trout got the upper hand, (as they do) but as quick as these trout appeared, they also disappeared, leaving the water looking devoid of fish, just as it did before they became active, but we know they are there.

Sunday saw some Spey casting tuition with the Salmon rods on the lower Eden where the water was much bigger due to there being three main tributaries entering the system downstream of where we were fishing on Saturday, but this did not pose a problem as the day was simply based around casting techniques and not fishing, although for all the water was high, it was clear enough to catch fish, but with the extra rain through the night a lot of the water courses were beginning to colour up today and run into the main system yet again.