Warm Weather & Daytime Lulls

Returning a late evening trout

Over the past month, since my last post, the weather has become gradually warmer (hot at times) and very humid, making the daytime fishing (as we got further into June) much more difficult, as well as switching off much of the insect life too. This effected the optimum catching times, pushing us further and further towards late evening when fishing conditions became a little more bearable, not only for us, but also for the fish, and often the last hour before dark gave us the best results, but also giving us a good excuse to stay on into dark for a spot of Sea Trout fishing, which although sporadic, has had it's moments, with some good fish being caught around the 3lb mark. Not to mention the odd smaller fish around a pound and a half on the dry fly (late evening) despite the distinct lack of insect life. 

A good result Prospecting with the Dry 

With nothing significant to see on the water surface, in the way of flies and with spiders still under performing, (compared to previous years) prospecting with the dry fly became the name of the game, and it did pay off from time to time too, although through the day when the heat was on, the gold heads often out performed them in the faster more oxygenated areas of the river.

Great to see these young fish back

We have also been encountering some good numbers of Grayling on the river recently, especially on the lower beats, and the good news is that the majority of these fish are young fish, around the half pound mark, with some 3/4lb fish thrown in too, and enough in the 1/4lb class to let us know that stocks are seemingly thriving. These new additions certainly gave us some good sport on the dry fly whilst searching for a trout or two, and this potentially bodes well for for those of us who enjoy some good winter Grayling fishing, giving us something to look forward to.

Returning a larger Grayling

Over the last couple of years Grayling did seem to be on the decline, which was quite disconcerting given a river that regularly produced good catches of these beautiful looking fish, and prior to that they were all big fish, in the 1 & 1/2lb to 2 & 1/2lb class. With a distinct lack of these new prodigy over the past few years, this turn around goes some way to proving that this has simply been part of their natural cycle, as Grayling grow much faster than trout and have a much shorter life expectancy. There now seems to be a far better balance with regard to size, and we are certainly still catching some of those bigger fish too as you can see from the picture above. Things are looking good!

A nice fresh Eden Salmon

Before the water began to recede, due to the recent dry conditions and lack of rainfall, there were several very fresh salmon willing to take the fly, especially on some of the higher beats, where it was apparent that these hard running fish had powered through the lower sections of the river, often undetected. Many experienced anglers, and river keepers, will confirm that this indicator can be identified by the obvious scarring on the lower bodies of these magnificent creatures, telling us that they had no intention of allowing low water sections and rocky rapids to halt their upstream journey. This being the case, with the river carrying an additional foot of fresh water at the end of May, and these fresh run fish showing an interest in our offerings, I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to fish as a guest on one of these upper beats, and yes you've guessed it, managed to land one of these magnificent fish that the Eden has to offer. "A quick picture", and back to the water to continue it's upstream migration.

Richard with a good Eden Brownie

Border Game Angling also donated a full days fly fishing and tuition to the Eden Rivers Trust Auction at the end of May, and I recently spent a very pleasant day with the successful bidder Jonathan Airey and his party on the Lower Lazonby beat of the river. The group consisted of Jonathan, Ellis, Richard and James, a four rod lot and great guys to spend the day with. The day also included a riverside BBQ donated by the Tufton Arms at Appleby and cooked by their very own Chef, Michael, and I must say a great spread it was too. Although the fishing was difficult, as warm humid conditions prevailed yet again, they did manage to catch, which is always a bonus,.and as you can see from the picture, Richard landed a particularly nice brown trout.

David with a small trout

A regular visitor of mine David, also faced less than ideal conditions for a couple of days as June continued to warm up, but he still managed a few small fish on the gold heads when the dries proved difficult throughout the day. The same scenario was the order of the day for Phil Craig and Lewis too, with similar conditions, although Phil did tempt a few fish to the dry fly through sheer determination, but unfortunately lost the best chance he had on the day as a good fish parted company with his Klinkhammer.

John with one of many on a sunny day

Following on from this, whilst covering a variety of techniques on the lower river with John Dunn, often fishing in bright sunshine, against all the odds, John had an exceptional day, as he proceeded to land several trout and grayling in these less than ideal conditions, although the majority of takes did come in the broken water, which was understandable. A good result though and one I know for a fact he has repeated since.

However, we could now do with some fresh water (rain) just to inject a little life back into the river, especially for those salmon anglers out there, and certainly for those higher beats on the river, where water levels are now very low in places. That said, the fact that the air has cooled down a bit at the moment and conditions are a little more comfortable, (for us and for the fish) we are still getting some good catches of trout and grayling in places on the lower river, but a little rain wouldn't go a miss. I will keep you all informed!

Good Trout Fishing Continues

Peter, tentatively playing a trout

The trout fishing continues to improve on the river Eden, despite the re-appearance of a few easterly winds from time to time, but with temperatures now warmer, (most of the time) and insect life more abundant, the trout are most certainly in a better mood, so to speak. Peter (on the left) had a few frustrating offers to his dry before eventually hooking into this one, but he did manage to get a couple before they switched off in this particular area. Nice one Peter!

Briefly in the net (Goldhead Nymph)

As a result of a couple of spells of fresh water entering the system there has also been one or two more salmon caught over the last two weeks, (on the beats we have been fishing) but not by us I hasten to add, as those I have recently had out on the river have been focusing on the excellent trout fishing that the Eden has to offer, with some great results too, improving all the time.

Jeff with an Eden Brown

Over the past two weeks, since my last Blog, the trout activity at the surface continues to affirm the dry fly as the dominant approach, producing by far the best results ahead of alternative methods such as spiders and nymphs etc, however we have had one or two very good quality fish on gold headed nymphs too, (see above) just not as many as usual as our dry fly offerings continue to produce better results with regard to numbers. That said, don't abandon the goldheads though as they are still tempting some nice fish to have a go from time to time.

Rob playing a very nice fish.

It has also been apparent though, that the trout have not always been taking the dry as positively as we know they can, (especially at this time of year) resulting in many missed opportunities, as Jeff, one of my regular visitors, found out first hand, although he did manage to make contact with a few in the interim as you can see in the picture above. Once again the Klinkhammer has been our top dry fly, although a small CDC pattern has proved useful at times, especially when black gnats are in attendance and believe me they are certainly in abundance at the moment. Other patterns are available!

Stuarts first Brownie off the Eden

We had several satisfying days on the middle river as the guys rose a few fish to the dry, several of which were missed yet again, but through perseverance and a few fly changes they did manage to land a few fish, always rewarding when a plan comes together. The lower river produced some good catches too with one exceptional fish of around 3 1/2 - 4lb unfortunately parting company with the fly, but not before producing an epic battle as it threw itself into the air several times, giving us an eyeful of its substantial proportions. Maybe next time!

I was involved in several youth days again over the last week or so as part of the Borderlines team, with a couple of events being held at Drumlanrig castle on the stocked rainbow trout fishery there. Youngsters were introduced to all aspects of fly fishing, culminating in a fishing session with great success as they caught lots of fish on a catch and release basis (see picture below) and lost a few too. A good time was had by all.

Youngsters working as a team.

Off out again tomorrow with my good friend Tony with both the trout and the salmon rods as we had another small rise in water last night and reports of salmon being caught higher up the river have come to my attention, however, it's always a good idea to put the trout rods in the car too, as there is nothing worse than fishing for salmon all day long, with no success, and then suddenly a hatch of insects occur and  a phenomenal trout rise ensues and you suddenly realise that you have left your trout rod at home.

Westerlies Improve the Trout Fishing As Expected

Caught on the Klink

Although it has taken some time, the Easterly element to the wind has eventually relinquished it's dominant hold and given way to the various Westerlies we are now experiencing, which without doubt has made a big difference to the available insect life, in turn, encouraging more activity from the trout. This has been very apparent during recent trips out with people on the river. Even the casting sessions are noticeably more comfortable in these slightly warmer conditions and we are now beginning to believe that we might get a summer after all, although that's still a bit off yet!

Doug in Action

Prior to this, especially on an evening, just when it looked as though it was going to be quite good, with a few fish topping on the surface, that thin Easterly wind would sneak in from time to time, chilling the surface, and putting the fish down again, much to the dismay of Doug Douglass who was out with me on the river during one of these periods. However, Doug did get one or two small fish which kept him occupied, and with conditions now improving and the trout fishing beginning to take shape, it won't be long before he is getting into some of those better fish that are now starting to accept our offerings with a bit more confidence.

A Male Iron Blue Spinner

As temperatures slowly begin to rise, following the recent large hatches of Grannom, we have also been seeing some good hatches of Iron Blues, a few Olive Uprights, a steady flow of Large Brook Duns (although not in great numbers) and (in places) some substantial falls of Black Gnats and Hawthorn Flies, two terrestrials well worth finding a good imitation for. All great temptations to bring up some good trout, and we have certainly been using this to our advantage.

A well hammered Klink

We have had a few fish on spiders too, but they haven't been fishing anything like as good as they can fish at this time of year, although I am confident that they will come into their own at some point. 

During the lulls in the the easterlies (before it warmed up a little) the best results were on dries, and this continues to be the case, and once again the old faithfuls are coming out of the fly box, including the Klinkhammer and the Adams. Goldheads have taken a few fish as you would expect, but again, in the areas we have been targeting, not nearly as many as the dries have produced.

Piaras with a fight on his hands

I had Piaras and Chris over from Northern Ireland for a couple of days, to experience some Eden trout fishing, and they certainly managed to tempt several fish to their flies. It was Chris's first visit, although Piaras has been a regular visitor over the years, but only for the Salmon fishing, and would you believe it, whilst having a cast with the double handed salmon fly rod, on very low water, he managed to hook a nice salmon, against the odds, but unfortunately it parted company with his fly after a significant fight.

Chris about to land a fish

Whilst the trout were beginning to show some real interest, plans were afoot to take a couple of regular Border Game Angling visitors out onto the river again this weekend, but unfortunately (for the trout angler) the river has since swollen in the aftermath of the recent rain we have had, so we will have to put this on hold for now. However, whilst the water was on the rise we did spot a couple of salmon making their way through the beat we were fishing, and when the water begins to drop and clear, I am in no doubt that there will be a few salmon caught on several beats along the river, so let's get the Salmon rods out!

One anglers loss is another anglers gain!

Temperatures Improve over the Easter Bank Holiday

A rod well bent on a Klinkhammer

Several more spring salmon have been caught and returned to the Eden since my last post, which bodes well for the river, but as water levels have now dropped considerably, so too have spring salmon catches, as you would expect. However, the trout fishing is now beginning to improve and the signs look good for the Eden trout angler.

Improving temperatures over the Easter bank holiday period have certainly helped our cause, and with the odd Large Dark Olive still in attendance we managed to tempt a few more trout to our ever faithful dries, the Klinkhammer and the Adams, but only for short spells from around mid day to 1:30pm. 

A net full of Grannom

The wind still has an easterly element to it though, and if you happened to be out of the sun (especially Easter Friday) it was quite cool, but when the sun decided to make an appearance, the higher temperatures certainly contributed toward some very substantial Grannom hatches along the river, and as these temperatures improved further, (making for a much more pleasant fishing experience I might add) by Easter Monday, they were in their millions.

coming to the net on a Nymph

Unfortunately (in my experience) the trout can be very difficult to tempt at this stage of the Grannom's life cycle, and because there is so much aerial activity it is very tempting to put something on the surface to attract the fish, but during this time the trout are often feeding below the surface on the pupal stage of the Grannom hatch, and the only thing that may give you any consistency with catches is a nymph presentation (often weighted). However, the fish may have already gorged themselves on this pupal stage prior to this snow storm of sedges occurring, and therefore the opportunity may have already gone, but nevertheless, you can still pick up the odd fish on this method during this period.

On the CDC Caddis

That said, there is nothing wrong with trying a few things that may be contrary to popular belief, remember, these are wild creatures, and they don't read the same books as we do, therefore I am (and always will be) an advocate of self discovery. Finding things out for yourself (in my opinion) will always give you a better insight into what is actually going on over a given day, when temperatures, pressure changes, weather conditions and river height can all be factors of how the fish will react. Whilst adopting this approach, on one particular run, we did manage to raise a few fish to a small CDC sedge, but only for a short spell of around 15 minutes before they switched off again, but well worht ringing the changes as it got us a couple of additional fish.

With a few sessions now in the pipeline and more activity from the trout as temperatures improve, I am now looking forward to some more positive results over the next few weeks, especially now that we are managing to tempt a few more fish to our flies, which I have to say is very satisfying.

Better Water Conditions (but still a bit cold)

Measuring in at 32 inches

At last! the water has now been fishable (in places) for the last couple of weeks, and we have actually been able to get out onto the river to wet a line. Good news too! there has been a small number of spring salmon caught up and down the river already, and although I had to go further afield, I too managed to start the season with a bang, by hooking and landing a fresh sea liced salmon of around 12 to13lb.

A quick snap whilst in the water

We have also managed to get one or two early season brown trout since the trout fishing kicked off on March 15th, however they are still a little tentative in their approach to the fly, with low water temperatures and persistent east winds, which seem to have become the norm at this time of year.

There are some good quality browns out there though, just waiting for conditions to improve, and whilst fishing for salmon a nice example of one decided to take a large snelder fished deep on a full sunk line, a fish of around 2lb, (with an all too common piscivorous bird attack mark near it's tail) a little unfair on the fish though, being as it was landed with the salmon rod, so needless to say it was returned to the water to fight another day, and believe me it will make a formidable opponent on the trout rod!

As big as the top handle

During this cold period we have also had the odd warmer spell too, (albeit short) and in turn, the odd sparse hatch of Large Dark Olives, couple this with the sand martins showing face again last week and all the signs look good as we approach April, and with the long range forecast not looking too bad, we should soon be tapping into some good trout fishing again here on the Eden, and with several fishing trips already arranged for people, it won't be too long before we are putting this into practice. Can't Wait!

Will It Ever End!!!

Here we go again!

Despite our best laid plans for the 2013 / 2014 Grayling season, we have not been able to get out onto the river to put them into practice. This has been down to the persistent torrential rain, and therefore seriously high waters we have experienced over the past 3 months, so since catching those few Grayling in November (see blog post 18th Nov 2013) i'm afraid it has been a total washout.

I must apologise for the lack of recent posts, but there has simply been nothing to report, except bad news, and everyone has had their fill of that recently. 

As you can see from the digital camera image, from the Warwick Hall beat of the river Eden, (above right) we are left with little hope yet again for the coming week, and with more rain pending I have once again cancelled the rest of the week.

"Don't worry guys we will get out eventually".

Time Out (River Unsettled Again)

Picture 1

High waters scupper the Grayling fishing yet again, and although we have recently had a short period of more settled water, at which time I did venture out and catch the odd fish or two, unfortunately it has not lasted long enough to warrant arranging a trip or two for those wanting to get out there and fish for Grayling, however we have now earmarked a couple of sessions in the near future, water conditions permitting. 

Meanwhile, whilst conditions are unfavourable, I thought we could take advantage of this time off the river and look at something

Picture 2

constructive that some of you may find useful during your future fishing trips when the river levels settle down again. So to that end I thought we might take a look at a way of using some of that spare backing line that may be sitting in a drawer somewhere gathering dust, and putting it to good use in the form of "sighters" for Grayling fishing.

Picture 3

A sighter is simply a name that has been given to a type of bite indicator that you can incorporate into your leader set up to help you identify what can often be the slightest indication of interest from your quarry, and although trout anglers will also adopt this approach, you will find that it is more commonly used by Grayling anglers whilst using a variety of nymphing techniques. One of the main reasons for this is that Grayling can often be very subtle takers, and therefore any additional help to identify these takes can give us a great advantage when it comes down to actually hooking up with these fish.

Picture 4

I personally like to use a sighter from time to time for my winter Grayling fishing simply because of the variations in light we often encounter as anglers throughout the day, making the business end of your fly line very difficult to see at times, therefore something that stands out against the back drop can be a welcome addition to your armoury, especially if your eyesight is not great, "like mine, for all I hate to admit it I think it may be an age thing". 

Picture 5

So by attaching this simple to make sighter to the end of your fly line, let's say for example, for Czech/Polish Nymphing, (one of it's many uses) we can then use this indicator almost like a swing tip works for coarse anglers whilst following our team of flies as they travel through the water columns at the depths and speeds we wish to fish. You can either keep the end of your sighter just off the surface of the water, watching for the slightest indication of a take, (this is the more common approach) or, (remember there are no hard and fast rules here) you can lay the sighter on the water surface (this is often dictated by the speed of flow and depth etc) and use it as an indicator in this way too. The choice is yours!

Picture 6

So what do we need to make our sighters?

Not much you will be pleased to hear, you will probably have most of it at home already. Here is a list of items required to make your bespoke sighters:

• Scissors, Tapestry Needle, (size 22) Super Glue (picture 1)
• Indelible Marker, AA Battery (picture 2)
• Backing Line, Tape Measure (picture 3)

Picture 7

Once you have all these things in place you can now set about making your bespoke sighters. To help with this task I have included a series of pictures (starting from picture 1 above) and a step by step explanation of the process below:

Picture 8

1. Thread the end of your backing line (whilst still on the spool) through the eye of the tapestry needle (picture 4). Why use a tapestry needle I hear you say! Well you can use an ordinary needle, but as a tapestry needle is purposely blunt (has a rounded business end) it is easier to slide through the centre of your backing line, without it constantly popping out of the side wall during the next process. (I find that a size 22 tapestry needle works well with backing line).

Picture 9

2. Now push the business end of the tapestry needle through the side wall of the backing line (picture 5). This is a bit fiddly, but it will go through.

3. Once your needle has penetrated the side wall of the backing line, push the needle gently through the centre of your backing line for about 20mm (picture 6). You can push it through a little further if you wish, but the further you push it through the more difficult the next stage becomes!

Picture 10

4. At this point make the needle exit the side wall again (picture 7) and continue pulling the needle all the way through. This will also pull the threaded backing line into the centre of itself (picture 8) and back out of the side wall again (picture 9). Continue pulling the backing line through itself until the tag end pops out, (picture 10) taking care at this stage not to pull the backing line completely into itself at the top end (opposite end to the needle in picture 10) as the objective is to leave a small neat loop peeping out (picture 10). Keep hold of this loop as you pull the needle clear so that this cannot happen. You can then neatly form your loop by gently pulling the loose tag end to accommodate the size of loop you require. I like a small loop of about 5mm - 7mm, but this is simply a personal preference.

Picture 11

5. Now completely remove the needle from the backing line. Once the needle is removed and you have successfully formed the loop to the size you require, use your scissors to cut off the excess tag before tidying up the section the needle went through (picture 11).

Picture 12

6. After you have cut off the excess tag, you can now tidy up the section the needle went through. By waiting until now to do this, enables you to draw this slightly out of shape stretched section of the outer layer of your backing line, neatly over the cut off tag end as you smooth it out, (picture 12) affording you a neat seamless finish (picture 13). You have now successfully completed one end of your sighter.

Picture 13

7. Now measure this length of backing line to the length you prefer for your personal fishing requirements, this will often be unique to the individual. If you have never used a sighter before then I suggest you make a couple of different sizes to try out first, allowing you to see which you prefer whilst fishing. One at 40cm and one at 50cm. Always measure an additional 5cm over and above the size you require before cutting, as this will allow for the inevitable shortening of the sighter as you create the final loop (picture 14).

Picture 14

8. After cutting your backing line to your desired length, follow the same guidelines as before to create your second and final loop at the opposite end of your backing line. Your sighter is now almost complete, all we need to do now is mark it up (or not, once again the choice is yours).

Picture 15

9. As mentioned above, at this stage you can either leave the sighter as it is, (all one colour) or mark it intermittently. In this case, as I am explaining the complete process we will mark this one up.

10. This is where your AA battery and indelible marker come in handy (picture 2). The AA battery is just a personal preference as I find it offers me just the right diameter for what I require, but in all honesty what you use is entirely up to you, I am sure you will have your own preference after making a few up. 

Picture 16

11. So, take your almost completed sighter and wrap it around your AA battery in relatively neat turns (picture 15). Once you have wrapped it around the battery, tidy up the turns, (i.e. shuffle them together) and then take your indelible marker (picture 16) and colour in approximately one third of the wrapped turns of your sighter (picture 17). Make sure you have coloured them in well and the marker has permeated the turns of your sighter, this will save you having to touch it up with the marker after it has been removed from the battery. 

Picture 17

Now simply remove your sighter (backing line) from the battery and you should be presented with neat and uniformed intermittent marks throughout it's length (Picture 18). All that remains to do now is put a small dab of super glue on the loop joints (picture 19) and you're good to go. Don't use too much super glue as it will make the ends of your sighter hard and brittle (just a dab).

Picture 18

When fishing with these sighters using the Czech/Polish nymphing techniques mentioned above, they are commonly attached to the business end of your fly line with a loop to loop connection and in turn, your leader is attached to the opposite end of your sighter, also with a loop to loop connection, allowing for a quick and simple way to change your leader, or your sighter, or both when required, whilst at the same time affording you the ability to quickly introduce a simple visual aid to help improve your success rate.

Picture 19

These sighters can be made from other materials too, such as braid, using the same technique, and it is also worth making them up using a variety of colours to combat the ever changing light variations (as mentioned above) and differing back drops we encounter whilst fishing for these magnificent fish that offer us an extension to our fly fishing season on the river.

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Good luck with your new sighters!!!