Improving Conditions

A great day on the river with David.

Since my last post, almost a month ago, conditions have still been quite changeable, however, apart from a few relatively cold and windy days, temperatures in general (although a long time coming) continue to improve, along with the results of our trout fishing sessions, which have certainly had a much warmer feel to them, adding further enjoyment to the experience for all involved. These changes have also been highlighted by the increase in insect life we are now seeing on the river, and along side the remaining few Large Dark Olives there has been enormous hatches of Grannom sedges, which although a little late, are still appearing in these large numbers as I write, probably encouraged by the slower than normal temperature rises for this time of year which has held everything back a little. There has also been an increase in large stoneflies recently, but the scattering of March Browns we have seen on the river this year have now petered out.

A cracking brownie with Jeff on the lower Eden

The Salmon fishing has been much slower than last year over this period with fewer fish being spotted on most beats, but one or two fish are still getting caught all the same, and whilst I have been out with people on the river, we have certainly seen one or two nice double figure fish running through the lower beats. Despite the fresh water we received in mid April, water levels have still been a little on the low side for good Salmon fishing, but this may be set to change as we now have much wetter conditions arriving with more rain forecast over the next few days.

Tony Strikes Again

For now though, although slightly more intermittent at times, spider patterns continue to produce the goods, with some very nice Brown Trout coming to the net, however, it is also worth trying a couple of small nymphs, or gold headed nymphs, during the slower periods when fish tend to hug the bottom a bit more, especially in the colder snaps. This can also prove to be an exceptional method during those large Grannom hatches, as you will often find it is not the adult they are interested in, but the aquatic stage of this insect, e.g. the Pupae, (at all levels in the water) as they make their way to the surface. The trout often become locked on to this pupal stage and this can be deadly. An emerger type pattern can also be the order of the day in this situation, such as a Klinkhammer or shuttlecock pattern. "Try it" !!!!!

Trout are coming to the dry fly too, although the strong winds we have been experiencing have been making this method less appealing and in my opinion a little less effective than other methods at the moment, but this will inevitably change as conditions improve, encouraging more Upwings to appear. 

Geoff with a nice Lake Trout

Amongst the usual Spey casting lessons and recent tuition and fishing days, I had the good fortune to be invited by my good friend and colleague Geoff Johnston, to join him on his boat in the lake district, targeting wild lake trout (brown trout). We fished a team of wet flies in a steady wave throughout the day with fantastic results, mainly down to Geoff's intimate knowledge of the individual areas around the shoreline, and although conditions were a bit cool at times, I couldn't have wished for a more enjoyable day and good company to boot!

Signs of Spring "At Last"

Russell Jnr with a good Specimen

Literally in the last few days we are now seeing signs of things warming up a little. The East winds have just started to swing around to the South East and are forecast to be South Westerly toward the end of the week. We are also enjoying a few sunny spells at the moment, although the rain is on its way into Cumbria tonight. However this will not do any harm at all as the rivers in this area are very low at the moment and a bit of extra water may encourage a few more Salmon to become more active. It's as if they know it is coming too as I watched a couple of nice fish running on the tide yesterday and also lost a nice Sea Trout on a spider pattern followed up with a small Sea Trout (herling) of around 1lb

Russell Snr was a fish Magnet

The transition from March into April continued its very cold trend with all things in nature struggling to identify with spring, especially the youngsters we had out from a local school on their follow up fishing trip with Borderlines, but I must admit we did get the best of the recent weather on the day. 

From there we were off back up to the river Tay, but this time to work, not to fish, as part of the AAPGAI assessment team, (Association of Advanced Professional Game Angling Instructors) assessing potential new instructors for SANA (Scottish Anglers National Association) for their SGAIC qualification (Scottish Game Angling Instructors Certificate) and would you  believe it, considering it was still March, we were greeted by the purest (relatively warm) sunshine I had seen yet. A stolen day by all accounts, but very much appreciated. The outcome was a good one too with three passes from four candidates. (Report).

Beware that tangled Dropper

The first few days into April remained quite cold, but this didn't put the trout off and now that the weather is beginning to warm up a little the trout fishing is also beginning to improve. I have already enjoyed some fantastic fishing both for myself and with people I have had out on the river, with some days producing catches into double figures and fish up to 2lb, not to mention the fish we pricked and lost too. The best method to date though has definitely been the spiders, with nymphs and bugs not doing anywhere near as good at a time when you would expect the cold water conditions to contribute better to those methods.

A good Slab on a Waterhen Bloa

The dry fly has produced intermittently during  times of sparse hatches of Large Dark Olives, but to be honest a Waterhen Bloa in the surface during these periods received a much better response. There has been the odd March Brown spotted too and the odd Stonefly, but they have been few and far between. Spiders remain the order of the day at the moment and this should only get better as conditions improve throughout April and into May. However when using this method in these colder conditions I have found that a lower rod tip than the conventional method of fishing spiders, and a much quicker strike, has produced better results as the takes are by no means convincing at the moment, more investigative.

A good underwater shot

One of the downsides to spider fishing, especially when a light leader is employed, with two droppers, is the possibility of a tangle when the fish decides to leap and cartwheel in the air (often unavoidable). However these set backs are more than worth it when the trout are locked on to this deadly method. The above picture shows an underwater shot of a Brown trout that took a spider on the middle dropper whilst fishing on the Eden the other day (click picture to enlarge).

In the short video clip above I managed to capture a Brown Trout on underwater video whilst trying to play it at the same time, which wasn't easy. It is on the dropper fly which is a Partridge & Orange and if you look close enough you will be able to see it. A very good fight ensued.

Freeing the point fly to free the fish

Out again tomorrow and Sunday with a friend coming over from Norway for some casting tuition and as long as the rain that is forecast does not swell the river too much then more trout fishing on Monday will be the order of the day, although I am very aware that there is still a bit of snow melt yet to come as the warmer temperatures kick in. We will soon find out!

Wrapping up Warm in March

The cold March weather has been relentless here in Cumbria and many other areas too, with biting East winds and driving snow, I keep having to remind myself I am still in the UK. However, although these cold conditions have curtailed the start of the trout season somewhat (15th March on the Eden) we certainly haven't been idle, and despite these very unfriendly conditions we have still managed to stay active, with a selection of casting tuition sessions for both  Salmon and Trout anglers alike, as they anticipate the new season upon us.

Borderlines Day (measuring the flow)

As part of the team at Borderlines we ran a couple of entomology and river walk sessions for a local Cumbrian School, with planned fishing sessions to follow in the near future, and on the weekend of the 9th and 10th March Glyn Freeman and I, once again, delivered a workshop weekend on the Lazonby Estates beat of the river Eden. Like last year, the workshop was aimed at potential AAPGAI instructors i.e. those wishing to see what the Association of Advanced Professional Game Angling Instructors are all about. We had five attendees on the course, a great bunch of guys (shown below) from as far afield as Swansea in Wales and the Gordon Castle estate beat of the river Spey in Scotland, to more locally interested parties from Annan and Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. A great weekend was had by 

A good bunch on the Workshop

all, and the feedback was fantastic, despite the intermittent driving snow on day two. We plan to run another event in November if we get enough interest, so if this is something that you may be interested in later in the year then simply click on the following link for further details: AAPGAI on the Eden

More Wintery weather on the Tay

A little bit of free time after the weekend as Glyn and I headed off up to the Tay to meet friends for a spot of fishing for ourselves, although we nearly didn't make it due to heavy snow and icy conditions and when we did get there we spent most of the time chatting in the warm fishing hut where the Gillie, and personal friend, Iain Kirk, kept the kettle on a low light. Eventually we did go fishing and encountered a few Kelt's and one of the guys did loose a good fish. I too lost something substantial on the first day, but because it got away I'm calling it a kelt!!! There were three spring fish caught on the second day, but not by us and just to rub salt into the wound they were taken on the beat we were on the day before, Hey Ho that's fishing. 

All about Anchors

Following this we headed off to Cockermouth for our first AAPGAI assessment events of 2013 where potential new instructors take their first step on the ladder and we hold an open day for those wishing to come along to watch the demonstrations and enjoy the one to one tuition available afterwards. Unfortunately the weather continued in the same vein, although the open day turned out to be reasonably nice and all 25 attendees enjoyed it immensely with some really good feedback.

Finally no sooner had I returned home than I had to take off again the next day, this time to the Wharfe to take part in a rod test for the Trout & Salmon Magazine. Again I encountered snow, however day two of the test was actually quite a nice day and we even saw a hatch of olives in the early afternoon with a spell of about an hour when we watched some really good trout taking advantage of them. Unfortunately the Wharfe at Bolton Abbey, (where we were) doesn't start fishing for trout until April 1st. However, seeing these good fish topping really reminded me of what we are in for on the Eden if and when things warm up at the beginning of April. "The sooner the better".

On the river in 2013

A big Grayling on a Peeping Caddis

Sorry for the delay since my last post, but it's not because I haven't been out there, so here's a quick catch up. Although water conditions have risen and fallen back again over the last few weeks following rain and snow melt, which has presented us with unsettled conditions, (sound familiar) the Grayling fishing has been quite good, (even though we have  had to go searching for them from time to time) however when we have found them there has been some decent fish amongst them as you can see from the pictures. 

Another very good condition fish

I have also been kept busy with casting tuition recently and despite those cold biting winds we have been experiencing, we have also had some relatively pleasant days too, and we have taken advantage of these whilst doing this, although I will say, that the weather has certainly not been putting people off coming, nor has it stopped the die hard Salmon fishers from venturing out since the season opened on January 15th, as I have had reports of at least three spring fish being caught up to now, so there will most likely be others too. If the spring fishing turns out to be as good as it was last year, then that will be a further bonus for the river Eden. "Fingers Crossed". I will keep you updated.

Swimming off to fight another day

Not long now until the Eden trout season begins again on March 15th, and anyone who knows the river, or has been following my blog, will also know that there will be some serious fishing to be had in the not so distant future, as these good quality, hard fighting, wild brown trout, show us what they are made of. A very worthwhile experience, as many of you who have been out with me over the years will have found out first hand. Anyway, I look forward to seeing some of you on the river again soon and also meeting new people for the first time, but for now, as the water is looking better than I have seen it for some time. I'm off Grayling fishing again. "See you soon".

Rain Still Persistant

Not much changed I'm afraid as the rain has continued to relentlessly batter us and lift the rivers to unfishable levels for the avid fly fisher, the main problems being unsettled and coloured water conditions, "better known as 2012".

High water & wet weather

I did manage one session with Borderlines with a group of youngsters on the 8th December, albeit with swim feeders, to enable them to catch some fish, as water conditions were high yet again, (as you can see in the picture) and fishing the fly would have made it almost impossible for them to have had any chance of success whatsoever. I also managed to fit in a tuition session on tactics and techniques for Grayling, but apart from that the rest of the days had to be cancelled due to hopeless conditions.

Never mind, it's Christmas day tomorrow, and hopefully many of you will have some new gear to try out in 2013, which will hopefully provide us with a much better season. So whilst we are waiting, please allow me take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, with many successful fishing trips still to come.

"Tight Lines" for 2013. Clive.

Rain, Rain & More Rain

A familiar sight on the river this year

I obviously tempted providence at the end of my last blog, when I said, "things were looking good as long as the rain stayed away", because ever since then, apart from a short spell of very good fishing, the rain has returned with a vengeance and the river is in the trees yet again, (as you can see from the above picture) something we are encountering more and more here in the UK, especially this year.

Chris from Borderlines on the Pike day

However all was not lost as I was busy again with Borderlines introducing another keen group of youngsters, from one of the schools we are currently working with, to Pike fishing, with some success too, although we did find ourselves having to abandon the day half way through due to more persistent torrential rain (now there's a surprise). Nevertheless the youngsters involved had a great time and managed to catch three Pike in the morning, one of which can be seen here in the picture as Chris helps one youngster hold her quarry up to the camera before returning it to the water.

So not much else to report I'm afraid, but as soon as the water recedes (if it ever does) I will be back out on the river chasing some quality Grayling with the guys who have had to cancel and re-arrange their days due to the present conditions. I will keep you all informed!

More Grayling About

A successful Smile

I was out on the Eden with a group of youngsters last weekend in my role as one of the Borderlines instructor team along with Glyn and Chris, and although we did have a bit of extra water to contend with, it didn't seem to effect us too much at all, as we experienced our fair share of success with the Grayling throughout the day.

Following the weekend I had a session higher up the river with John Dunn who wanted some casting tuition with his new salmon rod and skagit line in preparation for next season, but he also wanted to try his hand at the Grayling fishing too, and why not, as there definitely seems to be an upturn in fish repopulating the areas that fished very well a couple of years ago, and they certainly seem to have found there way back to these areas, "this is excellent news", as we often have to do a bit of searching further afield to find them.

John into yet another fish

John certainly found them ok, and after we wasted a little time trying to tempt them to the spiders, (which have been working recently) we eventually found them in the time served areas you might expect to find Grayling, hugging the bottom, and John then managed to catch a few, not to mention the several near misses he encountered too as some of the Grayling were being very touchy feely, as they often are, lightly investigating the flies as apposed to hitting them with any meaning, however, we had a good day regardless.

Unfortunately, the session I had booked in today had to be cancelled, as the river rose again yesterday, making conditions very difficult, especially as the guys were total beginners to Grayling fishing. Never mind, hopefully we can re-arrange, as it would be a shame to miss out on the good fishing we are presently enjoying.

One of several for John

I am looking forward to getting out on the river again as soon as possible, all the signs for this winters Grayling fishing on the Eden are looking very positive, which is great news. All we need now is the rain to stay away as much as possible and the river to behave itself for a while. "Here's hoping"!