From Iceland to Eden

Into one of Iceland's big Sea Trout

I returned from Iceland on Tuesday to find the Eden running high yet again, nothing seemed to have changed since I left last Thursday, and after talking to a few of the guys on the river it seems I hadn't missed out on much either, although I have heard that there have been a few fish caught during the spells when the water was dropping, but still not as many fish showing as we are used to at this time of year. "Yo Yo water yet again".

A good result

Iceland was certainly a whole different ball game, with plenty of fish being caught by our group over the 4 days we were there, with a grand total of over 100 Salmon between six shared rods, and an additional 22 Sea Trout of over 3lb, a few of which would touch the 10lb mark, and slightly above, not including the many smaller Sea Trout we caught during our time on the river. Just when I thought it could not get any better, I was fortunate enough, (along with a few others)  to land one of these leviathans, a Sea Trout of around 10lb (pictured here). A fantastic trip with excellent guides and a group of like minded AAPGAI instructors who are also good friends, how can you top that. I would certainly recommend it to anyone, and I hope to return next year for a second innings.

A nice Salmon at the end of a day

The Eden was still quite high yesterday, although above Lazonby, (where I was busy giving a Salmon fly casting lesson) it was dropping nicely, with the water clearing well as the day progressed. Therefore the water at the lower end of the river should be coming into good form over the weekend, as long as the rain stays away that is. Lets hope it does and a few fish are caught before the closed season is upon us. "Fingers Crossed".

I will be off the Eden tomorrow, as the Borderlines team will be running a family fishing day on the river Esk at Langholm, but I will be back again on Sunday for a tuition & fishing session for two adults on the lower river, so hopefully we may encounter a fish or two.

Latest Happenings

Allan with a fresh Grilse

A few Grilse started to show up on the river around mid to late August, but not in the numbers expected, with many of the fish caught being in the Salmon category, (generally larger fish) but with the water levels continuously fluctuating Salmon fishing has been hard at times with few fish showing.

Yuichi's First Salmon

Water levels rose yet again today and with only five weeks of the Salmon season remaining, (on the Eden) all we want is the water to fall to hold a few fish up for a while "no more rain please". 

That said, we have certainly had several Salmon, and lost a few too. Here are some of the recent catches from Border Game Angling visitors, including Yuichi Takayama's first ever Salmon "Excellent".

Andrew with a fish of around 11lb

The trout fishing has also continued in good form with some good quality late season fish (when the water has permitted) to add to the exceptional early season fishing we have encountered on some of the Eden beats, and Doug Douglass (pictured below) has certainly had his fair share of quality trout on a couple of trips with me this year as well as landing and returning a nice cock Salmon of around 9lb on Monday.

Doug with one of his many trout

Plenty of fly casting tuition going on with a couple of people having refresher sessions before travelling abroad, which is exactly where I will be going on Thursday when I will be flying off to Iceland to do some fishing of my own. I will keep you informed.





Persistant High Waters

Having a go on Monday

With the exception of the odd day here and there, high waters have consistently prevented the fly fisherman venturing out over the last couple of weeks, although there have been a few salmon taken on the spinners, all decent sized fish too, as we see yet another year where the Grilse are later than normal. Every time it looks like the water is going to come good it rises again, with localised heavy rainfall, and today was no exception. On Monday the higher beats on the river were looking very good, and fining down nicely, and I couldn't help give it a try, but to no avail, although now I know why as the river lifted once more, but there is an up side, and once the rain stays off we are in for a treat, with the river having been flushed through ready for the main back end runs. "I can't wait".

Some of the members attending the course

I have been on the river Nith over the last two weekends with a colleague, running a series of fly casting courses arranged by The Dumfries and Galloway Angling Association. The first weekend saw low water, but the second weekend saw a big lift in water, with several large salmon running the edges of the river on their way upstream, especially on the Sunday when fishing for migratory fish is not allowed under Scottish law, but hopefully all those attending the course will now be able to put their new found casting skills to use, in the near future, and target a few of these fish.

Post code directions for SAT/NAV is DG3 4AQ

I'm at the Galloway Country Fair this Saturday. It takes place at Drumlanrig Castle & Country Estate over the weekend of the 20th - 21st August, it should be a great event. Click here for details  I will be there to help promote Borderlines and to assist with the casting clinic. "Well worth a visit".

The C.L.A. Game Fair and back to the Eden

Something for all the family

Following a couple of tuition sessions, and a very well attended family fishing day on the river Nith, (near Dumfries) I was off to the C.L.A. Game Fair (as planned) over the weekend of the 22nd - 24th July. This year the event was held at Blenheim Palace near Oxford, and apart from the odd shower or two, the weather was fantastic and a good show was had by all. I was working with a great bunch of lads as part of the Guide Fly Fishing team, which I do from time to time, simply because I think their products are very good and I am more than happy to use many of them in my everyday fishing activities.

If you have never been to a C.L.A. Game Fair (Country Landowners Association) it is well worth a visit in the future as there is something there for everyone. Next years show is to be held at Belvoir Castle, Grantham, Leicestershire over the weekend of the 20th - 22nd July 2012. For further information visit the C.L.A. Website

Fay with a cracking Grayling

On my return I had a couple of tuition and fishing sessions booked in on the Eden for trout and grayling, which as it turned out were well timed, because when I left for the Game Fair on Thursday evening (21st July) the river rose again due to localised heavy rain, and it was now in good condition, with, I might add, several good sized salmon running the river, and a few being caught.

One of Sam's fish from the lower river

These sessions produced some very good fish, a couple of which are pictured here, and it was nice to see several good grayling coming to the net again, as they have been few and far between on the mid and lower river, both over the winter period, and of late, but they are now turning up again. Grayling are a very nomadic fish and can migrate long distances within a river system, fish that migrate within fresh water only, are classified as Potamodromous fish.



One of the events for C.A.A.

Flying the Borderlines flag again we organised and ran the annual youth day event, in partnership with Carlisle Angling Association. The day was a great success once again  with around 80 youngsters taking part. Activities included: Fly Casting, Fly Tying, Fishing and Entomology, culminating in a raffle and prize giving session. "A good day was had by all".



The Best of the Weather in Ireland and Wales



Killyleagh Castle

I flew over to N. Ireland on the 1st July for the Irish International Fly Fair, held in Killyleagh. This is an annual event, now in it's 4th Year, which is going from strength to Strength, attracting interested parties from all over the world. The show has a fantastic setting with the beautiful Strangford Lough at the bottom of the hill and the casting demonstrations and teaching sessions delivered within the fairytale style castle walls, where we were staying for the three nights, and to top it off the weather for the show was fantastic, which always helps.

On my return I took some time out in the Scottish highlands, where the weather was a bit changeable, but the scenery was awesome, although this was just a stop gap before travelling to Wales in the heart of sea trout country, where I stayed with my good friend Illtyd Griffiths in preparation to spend two nights on the river Dovey. Illtyd's knowledge of sea trout fishing is vast, although he will not put any emphasis on that, but believe me if there are fish about he will put you on to them, and this trip was no exception.

The first night I hooked and lost what felt like a very big fish, and believe me there are some big fish in the Dovey, and just when I thought I had blown my big opportunity, Illtyd took me further down stream and put me straight onto another one, but this time I landed it, a cracking cock fish of 7lb 2oz. "What a night". Anyone thinking of doing some guided sea trout fishing in Wales I recommend you contact Illtyd. His website details are as follows: http://www.sewincaster.co.uk/

Following some exceptionally warm and sunny day time weather, the second night just got better, and when I eventually entered the water, (on dusk) the fun began, and between three of us, we managed to hook around a dozen fish, not all of which were landed, but I did manage to land three of them. Two around the 4lb mark and one about 5lb and that's not to mention the quick grabs and nips that we encountered down the pool. The final outcome was eight fish and the sport was phenomenal.

I returned to the Eden on Saturday to do some casting tuition on the middle river where I saw a couple of nice Salmon showing, and a good sea trout, and my intention was to fish the lower river yesterday, but the water began to rise and colour badly which unfortunately scuppered my plans for a while.

A few casting tuition and fishing sessions lined up for the rest of the week with people coming to learn both trout and Salmon techniques and then I am off to the C.L.A. Game Fair at the weekend. http://www.gamefair.co.uk/ Speak again when I get back.

More Unsettled Weather

June has continued with some localised heavy rain , although the temperature has risen, which at least gives the impression of a summer month, and the trout fishing, although intermittant at times, has benefitted from these changes, influenced by the general direction of the wind, with some warmer southerlies and westerlies in attendance at times, and a mix of both, which has assissted in producing some nice fish when water conditions allowed.

There has also been an increase in the amount of double figure Salmon spotted on the river, with several being caught on the usual beats, and the lower river will almost certainly benefit from the present conditions over the next few days as the water continues to fall away and clear, with further catches imminent.

I was away from the Eden over the weekend of the 18th & 19th, representing AAPGAI as part of the demonstration team at the British Fly Fair International, which was moved from it's usual November slot at Tretham Gardens, to it's new venue in June at Bingley Hall (The Staffordshire Show Ground). I was also away this weekend, attending an AAPGAI Continued Professional Development weekend, (CPD) which gives members the chance to look at new products on the market and try them out, as well as taking in some of the excellent fly dressing demonstrations given by the members (as seen above). "It was a great weekend".

Off to the Irish International Fly Fair in Killyleagh this weekend to do a bit of demonstrating and teaching, so will probably miss some good Salmon fishing as the water at the moment is looking very promising, but I have managed to do plenty of teaching and a bit of trout fishing in the interim, with some good results once again. "Let's see what July throws up".

Unusual weather for June

Here we are in June, and the weather up to now gives you the impression that it is still March, "what's going on". Never mind, once the river decided to drop in again we did manage to get amongst the fish at times, although during the periods when we encountered very cold East winds it also proved very difficult.

Sasha with a nice Brown Trout

For me, June began with some Salmon casting tuition with a couple of people on the mid river, but I found once again this month that most people were interested in learning how to cast a trout rod and then put it into practice with some positive results. One particular youngster who came along with her family did very well, whilst using a small six foot split cane fly rod which she proceeded to catch a few small trout with and a very nice fish (pictured here) "Well Done".

I also managed to get out and do a bit of trout fishing with some successful catches on the dry fly and a nice Sea Trout of 3lb just to top it off, (pictured below) which I must admit, went home for the pot on this occasion, as I am partial to a tasty Sea Trout.

Lots of youth days with Borderlines again in the first half of June which saw us taking youngsters out on both rivers and Stillwaters, covering, Entomology, Fishing and Environmental issues, and last weekend I got together with a good friend of mine, Jim Fearn, from Guide Fly Fishing to put on an informal (free) day for the Carlisle Angling Association members (held in Rickerby Park Carlisle) on the river Eden. The day was designed as an opportunity for anglers to come along and try out different products that are on the market and also to receive tuition covering the latest casting techniques etc. The feedback was very good and we will be arranging another day in 2012.

This weekend saw Andrew and Ian Wiper coming along again for some Salmon tuition and fishing, but the fish were not obliging, nor were the trout I might add, as we were plagued once again by an East wind all day, although the last two times they have been here, they have caught some nice Salmon. As from the 16th June (yesterday) anglers on the river are allowed to take two Salmon per day (beat rules allowing) and although many anglers these days do return many of their fish, it is nice to be able to take one home for the pot, and I think we will now see many more Salmon anglers out on the river (water conditions permitting).