Mixed Conditions in July

A good Sea Trout

Well July has certainly been a very varied Month as far as the weather and water conditions are concerned. We have seen hot spells, cold snaps, heavy rain, light rain, high water, low water, calm periods (although not many) and once again very windy days. Not much of a summer up to now I'm afraid, however the fishing has stayed quite constant, despite these unsettled conditions, with salmon continuing to enter the lower beats on low water and pushing through the river when water levels have risen. Sea trout are also still very much in attendance and on the few nights when the wind has dropped and the water has remained low and clear, (with overcast conditions) fish have been taken, and once again there have been nights when good fish were lost, but we have also had some decent daytime sessions too when some nice Sea Trout were landed on black and yellow tube flies whilst targeting Salmon in slightly coloured water conditions.

Nick's first time on the Double Hander

It was good to see some total beginners coming for lessons this month, as well as being able to catch up with a few regulars who have been to me several times now and have really moved on with their casting. After all these years, it still gives me a real buzz to witness these improvements in people and to know that I have been instrumental in this process. Nick on the left did a great job getting to grips with the Double Hander for the first time and Jeff below, who is a regular visitor, is now becoming very proficient with his casting and fishing techniques.

Some nice casts from Jeff

It has to be said though, that although the ultimate goal is to catch fish, it is also nice to be able to finish your day's fishing knowing that your casting and fishing techniques were not only on song, but were also very enjoyable, regardless of the outcome. "That's what fishing is all about".

Killyleagh 2015

I visited N. Ireland again this month for our annual trip to the Irish International Fly Fair (held in Killyleagh) as part of the AAPGAI demonstration team in association with APGAI Ireland. The show is not only attended by avid fly fishers, but also by a variety of excellent fly dressers from all around the world, many of whom (strangely enough) also happen to fly fish. A great show, and one worth visiting if you get the chance, oh, and the odd pint of Guinness may be consumed in the evenings too.

David Playing a trout in the fading light

Back home on the Eden the trout fishing remained steady and continued to produce better results later in the evenings as the light began to fade. If you are prepared to go out during these periods then good sport can be had. That said, we have also had some good results throughout the day when conditions are overcast, although it is generally during the calmer spells when the wind decides to drop from time to time that this occurs, when once again the dry fly has come into it's own.

Returning an Evening Brown

Spiders continue to prove less effective, only producing the odd fish here and there. However, given the opportunity when conditions are right, there is nothing more satisfying than watching a dry fly on the surface, as the light begins to fade, and your concentration is at it's peak, trying to focus on your dry as it disappears into the darkness, often striking at the "shlup" noise as a trout takes a "real" fly in the general area where you think your artificial may be. Eventually you have to accept the fact that it is simply too dark to carry on!

"Nice one Pam"

Gold and silver headed nymphs have also produced in the pocket waters of the faster runs, as Pam found out, (pictured Left) as she proceeded to catch her very first Brown Trout on a Pheasant Tailed Nymph (PTN). Pam also lost a better fish prior to this and had a few chances too, not bad for a first attempt, especially as this was on very low water with intermittent bright conditions. "Nice one Pam". I should add that she did all of this whilst successfully executing the circle cast for the very first time too. 

Steve playing his first Rainbow

A little bit of Stillwater fishing was the order of the day this month, with two great guys who had never fly fished before and wanted to try it whilst fishing for Rainbow trout for the first time. Brothers, Pete and Steve, took to it very well and after a casting session in the morning, (amongst other things) they put their new found skills into practise out on the lake.

The End Result

After experimenting with a variety of flies, we found the fly they were interested in, (an Elk Hair Sedge) fished in a bit of a wave. Pete made contact with a couple of fish first, then Steve landed a nice Rainbow Trout of around 2 1/2lb. Well Done Both!

Borderlines days for youngsters continued in July with another successful day, this time out on the West coast of Cumbria during the School holidays in the form of a have a go session for youngsters of all ages, and they caught a few fish too. 

CAA Member's Session

Yet another session for Carlisle Anglers ensued on the river Eden, following on from previous sessions, looking at a variety of techniques with both single and double handed fly rods to help combat differing wind situations. The ultimate goal being to put these techniques into practise in a fishing situation, a very enjoyable session once again with some good banter on the river bank.

Link

Finally this month, along with fellow instructors Derek and Geoff, I had the opportunity to attend a product day held by Guide Fly Fishing at Bank House Fly Fishery near Lancaster, where we got the chance to meet up and chat with good friends and like minded anglers, but even jucier than that, we also got the chance to have a play with some new gear and have a cast with a variety of different rod and line combinations. What's better than that for a day out. Thanks for the invite guys!

Still Windy but at Least it's Warm AT LAST!

This Brown devoured a Waddington

First of all I have to own up to the fact that I left the UK for warmer climes for 10 days in June, so I did miss a bit of the action on the river, however there were still plenty of salmon being caught whilst I was away, at least before the water dropped down to summer level that is. That said, although we are still getting persistent winds (albeit warmer ones) these lower levels are certainly not discouraging some good Sea Trout from entering the system, which is not unusual, as those Sea Trout anglers amongst you will know, as these enigmatic fish are certainly not discouraged by low water and will run the river regardless, especially in the twilight hours.

Youngsters on a Borderlines Day

Since my return from holiday I have only taken people out for Sea Trout  (through the night) a couple of times, but during these sessions we have made contact with some very powerful fish, but unfortunately we haven't landed any yet. That said, it is very comforting and exciting to know that we are most certainly fishing productive water and that any minute now your fly is about to be stopped in it's tracks, "a great feeling". We have however encountered some large Brown Trout in the dark too, and although most have been returned, the one in the picture (above right) took a Waddington that hard and deep that we had to kill it, but it certainly did not go to waste (very appetising).

Small but Beautiful

In the interim, there has been plenty of tuition sessions and a whole range of youth days with the Borderlines team, mainly fly fishing days, but we did incorporate a coarse fishing day into the programme with youngsters from a local school, some of these youngsters catching their first ever fish, "Brilliant".

With my Borderlines cap on it is worth mentioning that we have now introduced around 15,000 youngsters to angling and protecting the environment, these days all require funding, which is becoming more and more difficult to secure, so if anyone wishes to assist with this, all donations are welcome, whether it's financial assistance or simply tackle donations, every little helps. "Pitch over"! 

Returning an Eden Grayling

Whilst fishing for Trout and Grayling, several other tuition and fishing sessions on the river have produced mixed results, providing us with both difficult and productive days, but like the Sea Trout fishing, when the wind lulls, the fishing has improved, especially when dry fly fishing has been the order of the day. It has to be said though, "there has been very few days in Cumbria this year when we haven't encountered wind of some sort". At least now it is warmer though!

A late evening trout on the Dry

Whilst the river has been low, (apart from when the wind lulls) the nymphs have proven more productive, especially when employing a variety of goldheads fished subsurface, with spiders and dries not performing as well, although when we do manage to get a calm spell, the dry fly has come into it's own, especially the last hour before dark. We have had a few nice fish during this period prior to the Sea Trout fishing taking place.

CAA Members

Our annual Guide Fly Fishing day took place again on Saturday the 27th June for Carlisle Angling Association members. This event offers an opportunity for CAA members to come along and try out some of the products available on the market today. These products are kindly brought along by fellow AAPGAI instructor Jim Fearn, (from Guide Fly Fishing) and as usual everyone enjoyed the day and gave the rods and lines a good work out. Free tuition was also available from myself and Jim for those attending. 

Tuesday evening (30th June) also saw the third in a series of five monthly sessions for members of Carlisle Angling Association, the sessions being designed to address the whole range of Spey casts for both single handed and double handed rods. 

Monthly CAA Casting Sessions

The sessions are arranged by the CAA committee free of charge for members wishing to come along and improve their skills. All sessions include demonstrations and free tuition from myself and fellow AAPGAI instructor Geoff Johnston. The remaining two evening sessions will be held on the 30th July and the 27th August.

Plenty going on next month again, I will keep you informed!

Crazy Weather Continues, but Plenty of Fish.

A male (Eden) Large Brook Spinner

What's going on! we don't seem to be able to shake off this wind at all, it has followed us out of April and right through May. Just when you think it's about to get warmer, the wind kicks in again and really cools things down. It's a trait that's persisted throughout the whole year so far. However, those prolific Grannom hatches also continued into early May and did give us some welcome sport on pupa patterns, and the usual subsurface nymphs continued to do the job too.

John's Jingler Tying

We've also had the customary Brook Duns in attendance, a formidable fly, but not one that is readily taken by the trout on the Eden, although now and then the spinners of these flies are most definitely blown onto the water and when this happens, a good dry fly representation can prove deadly. A client and good friend of mine (John Dunn) tied me his version of the popular Jingler pattern, and although the colour is not an exact match to the adult Brook Spinner, I have found that it is an excellent representation of these Large upwinged spinners when they are on the water, and  they work very well too. I am also looking forward to giving them a cast when we start seeing some good hatches of Blue Winged Olives on the river, which hopefully shouldn't be too far off.

A nice Brown for Phil on the Nymph

There were also a few hawthorn flies in attendance in the first couple of weeks of May, but although they too were being blown onto the water, I didn't notice much interest from the trout. No great hatches of olive uprights yet, at least not in the areas we were fishing. This, in my opinion, may be due to the cold intermittent winds we were and still are experiencing, effecting temperatures, especially into the evenings. However I am sure the best hatches of these very welcome insects are still to come once temperatures begin to rise again.

Craig with another Brown

Needless to say, (as usual) this certainly hasn't prevented us from catching some very nice trout, (as you can see from the pictures) and along with the usual nymph patterns, the dry fly (at times) has also been very effective,  mainly during those periods when the wind did decide to give way to calmer spells, even though these spells were more the exception than the rule. It's still very noticeable however, that during these calmer spells there's more surface activity from the trout, and in turn, more interest in the dry fly, especially over the last week or so. "Bring it on".

Underwater shot of a returned Brown

I did manage to have a go myself for an hour following a teaching session on Wednesday evening, and the trout were certainly interested whilst fishing with one of my favourite go to dries, "The parachute Adams". This fly works exceptionally well on the Eden, and many other places too for that matter. The added bonus here being, that even though my choice of fly size is often small, the parachute (post) itself stands out a mile, even I can see it, especially if I am fishing at distance, which can be a necessity on certain areas of the Eden.

A future Angler

The Brown Trout in the picture above hung around for a short spell on the river bed as it recovered from the fight, just long enough for me to get this great underwater shot.

In addition to this, with good flows and water temperatures averaging around 11 degrees Celsius (approx 52 Fahrenheit) throughout most of May, conditions have continued to favour the salmon anglers on the river, and the very good news is that there has been plenty of Springer's reported being caught from a variety of beats along the river, with some anglers catching several fish in a day.

One of several keen Scouts

The majority of these catches have been coming from higher up the system, as fish have been running straight through the lower beats. This is no surprise given the extra water we have had, and the fact that the lower Eden beats historically produce better catches when the water is low. Nevertheless, this has certainly been the best Spring season the river has seen for some years and a positive start to the 2015 salmon season! Let's hope the back end run continues in this vein and also produces good results this year.

A £100 cheque from the Trust

Borderlines days have kept us very busy again this month, whilst introducing even more youngsters to angling and the Environment, and a big thank you goes to the Nith Catchment Fishery Trust for sponsoring these really worthwhile events, and although these days have keept me and my colleagues off the river whilst there is some excellent salmon fishing to be had, it has certainly been worth it to be part of a team involved with a range of youngsters who will hopefully be our anglers of the future. More Borderlines days planned for next week!

First Ever Grayling

Congratulations must go out to Ellie McConnachie (pictured above) from Cargenbridge Primary School, for winning the fishing for the future poster competition. Her prize was a cheque for £100, which will be used to buy science equipment for her school. The winning cheque was awarded by Debbie Parke from the Nith Catchment Fishery Trust. Well Done Ellie!

In the main, the Borderlines days have consisted of a variety of school sessions on both river and Stillwater, however we also delivered a session to a very keen group of Scouts, with some good Rainbow Trout being caught by several of the youngsters attending. The river sessions also produced fish, with one attendee landing a good Grayling, before promptly returning it to the water to fight another day.

Future Lady Anglers

It must be said that there are some very good potential female anglers coming through the ranks during the Borderlines sessions too, both good casters and also very good when it comes to playing a fish. Here are just a few of them.

As the weekend arrived again it was back out on the river with people to do some casting and fishing sessions. Rain arrived again as we did so, but not in excess, and although the river rose a little, which may make the trout fishing slightly more difficult in places, (mainly on the lower river) until levels fall and clear again, it will certainly help to maintain good flows, which in turn should hopefully assist the continuation of the excellent salmon fishing experienced by many since the start of the season, and with warmer weather imminent, it will not be long before we are seeing more insects appearing on the river, water levels falling again, and the trout and Grayling fishing back on track.

Male (Eden) Iron Blue Spinner

In fact, although we have seen showers again today, we did have a relatively pleasant day yesterday, and whilst giving a casting lesson on the upper river, (with the salmon rod) there had been some prolific hatches of iron blue's and the spinners of these lively little upwings were absolutely everywhere, with the trout paying them plenty of attention too. We also saw the odd Mayfly in attendance, (Ephemera Danica) sometimes referred to as the Green Drake, a beautiful insect that we don't often see in abundance on the Eden, but they do hatch in large numbers on Lake Ullswater, which is not far off us on the outskirts of the Lake District. The odd yellow May Dunn passed us in the air too, whilst at the same time two very fresh salmon ran through the beat in front of us, so all the indicators are definitely positive on the river at the moment.

Bitter Winds in April

John into a Trout on the Dry Fly

Apart from a few days around the 21st to the 23rd of April, when we were almost lulled into a false sense of security, as we experienced a rather pleasant warm period, most of April has actually been extremely cold, despite the numerous sunny spells we have had. This has been down to the biting wind that has plagued us continuously throughout this month, regardless of wind direction, which didn't seem to make any difference whatsoever to the overall temperature. Definitely thermal clothing weather. However, that didn't stop John (pictured above) from taking advantage of a few interested trout on a particularly windy day, mostly on the nymph, but he also managed a couple on the dry fly too, whilst exploring ways of eliminating drag, which was the main reason for his session in the first place, so good job John!

SGAIC Assessments

The annual (SGAIC) assessments, for those candidates taking the Scottish Game Angling Instructor Certificate, took place again in mid April (11th &12th to be precise) up on the river Tay near Perth, for which I am one of the representatives for AAPGAI as part of a joint assessment team, along with the current SGAIC assessors. Despite the strong winds in attendance over the weekend, we managed to deliver several workshops, and it was great to be able to welcome on board the successful candidates for 2015, as well as taking the opportunity to catch up with some old and new faces over the duration of the weekend. Well done to all involved! Whilst up there, with good friends Glyn Freeman and Paul Little, we also managed to escape a bought of sleet and snow back home in Cumbria, therefore I don't think we missed any action on the river at all that weekend.

Borderlines Day (Greystoke School)

More Borderlines days ensued, in the form of both family days and school days, the latter of which was held at Greystoke Castle (near Penrith, in Cumbria) where we introduced youngsters to the second stage of their sessions, a casting and fishing day. The weather was actually good to us, as it was held on the 21st of the month, which, as mentioned above, was one of the few nice days we had in April, and a good time was had by all. The initial safety talk was delivered by one of the youngsters, who proceeded to address the class with some excellent information he had gleaned from previous sessions with Borderlines. "Very Enjoyable".

Rob with a good bend in the rod

As mentioned previously, the persistent cold weather certainly didn't stop us going out on the river, as plenty of people still seemed keen to improve their casting techniques, whilst also indulging in a bit of trout fishing, and despite the bitter winds, that persisted throughout April, we still managed to dupe a few fish (as you can see from just a few of the the pictures we took).

  

Plenty of Grannom on the water

We have had the Grannom hatch in attendance on the Eden for the last two weeks, and just recently hatches are seemingly peeking, with rafts of both adults and shucks floating on the water surface, but I have to say, with very little interest from the fish at any stage in the Grannom's life cycle, which I personally think is down to the cold conditions we are currently experiencing.

David with a nice brown to the Nymph

However, we are seeing the odd spells of rising fish from time to time too, with very sparse hatches of olives, (and I mean sparse) but during these periods we have taken fish on the dry, although the nymph has taken the majority of fish we have caught, but it has to be said, for this time of year the activity to the nymph is also slower than usual. Even when fishing weighted caddis patterns, and emergers there has not been the number of chances we have become accustomed to in April, despite the large natural hatches of Grannom (caddis) however we did examine the stomach contents of one of the Brown trout caught and it had plenty of caddis larvae / pupae in there, so searching with these subsurface tactics is still the order of the day, and as you can see, although slow at times, it is paying off.

Daniel, another to the Nymph

It was good to see our old friends the Martins back on the river this month too, they can be a great indicator of any kind of insect activity above the surface, but at the moment they are totally fixated on the adult Grannom as these little sedges fill the air en masse.

Finally this month, along with fellow AAPGAI instructor Geoff Johnston, I was involved in a demonstration and have a go session on the CAA waters (Carlisle Angling Association) of the river Eden (yesterday evening) where we delivered the first of a series of casting sessions scheduled over the next 5 months for members of the association. We managed to avoid the bad weather as we addressed the first stage of the programme and hopefully the weather will only improve as the sessions progress. 

These sessions are free of charge to members of the association, so if you are a member please do come along, it would be great to see you there at the next session on May 22nd. Details are on the CAA website on the following link: CAA Casting sessions.

In Like a Lion & out Like a Lion too

Derek working a Salmon pool

A soon as I posted my last blog, (in Feb) acknowledging the appearance of some sunshine and slightly warmer air, we almost immediately had a total turnaround in conditions, and although March has had it's spells of decent weather, these spells have been very few and far between. In general it has been extremely cold and certainly a good advert for thermal undergarments. However there is always something to do on the river and March was no exception. In the first instance I have been kept busy with casting tuition, for both trout and salmon anglers, and whilst the trout fishing, (which started on March 15th) has been relatively slow in comparison to other years, there were still a few fish willing to take our offerings. However, the trout fishing will no doubt pick up again once the weather improves as April is historically good for trout on the Eden (and many other rivers too).

Youngsters dipping for invertebrates

There has also been a reasonable number of spring salmon entering the estuary and running the border rivers. This influx of spring fish has remained consistent over the past few years, with several fish already being caught on the Eden, and whilst out with my good friend and fellow instructor Derek Kelley, I managed to hook one of these magnificent fish myself, but unfortunately, not long after, I also managed to part company with it. At least it's good to know they are there and willing to take our flies.

Identifying their catch

As you can see from the pictures above and to the right, apart from casting tuition, we've had several other things going on too, such as more Borderlines sessions with schools, once again introducing youngsters to the abundance of invertebrate life in our local rivers and streams, and making them aware of the indicators that tell us about water quality, flow, what the fish feed on, and how to recognise and imitate these tiny creatures when choosing an artificial fly to tempt a fish, which is exactly what we will be doing on our next session when we go fishing with this particular school.

T&S Facebook Page

I also conducted a further test for the Trout & Salmon magazine in mid March, with another good friend and colleague of mine, Glyn Freeman, this time on 5 weight fly lines. This was a really interesting test, which gave us a good insight into some of the lines now available on the market, the results of which you will be able to read in the May edition of the Trout & Salmon magazine.

An AAPGAI Demonstration

The cold weather didn't stop the AAPGAI biannual assessments from going ahead again, in fact a couple of the days we had were two of the better days in March I mentioned earlier, one of which just happened to be our open day. The assessments and open were held near Cockermouth on the river Derwent and I am happy to report, following some excellent demonstrations and one to one tuition throughout the day, that the feedback from those attending was fantastic. Two new instructors passed their assessments and three more current instructors attained the next step on the ladder, the AAPGAI advanced level. Well done to them!

AAPGAI Workshop Weekend

Glyn and I have also just finished a workshop weekend course on the Eden for those wishing to know more about the AAPGAI instructor process, i.e. what its all about, and whether or not they wish to pursue it. Being an instructor is not for everyone, but these weekends are designed to give people an insight into what would be required. They are also designed to improve the individuals casting skills and discuss how to pass on information to others. The recent spring course was attended by three great guys, Nick, Malcolm and Calum, and although it was pretty cold, a good time was had by all, the bonus being that the weather was actually better than the forecast. Thanks for your company guys!

April is now upon us, and hopefully this time, temperatures will soon begin to rise, setting the scene for the usual excellent trout fishing that the Eden has to offer, so amongst other things, we will soon be out on the river targeting these beautiful fish in earnest. I already have several people booked in to do just that, so let's see if we can make them happy, I am sure we can.

Weather Improving

Winter on the Eden

Following the usual wintery days here in Cumbria, the weather is now beginning to pick up at last, and although it is still cold at times, we are now beginning to see some welcome sunshine, giving the days a slightly warmer feel, encouraging us to venture out of our favourite holding pool, "the lounge". However, Spring is most certainly in the air again and you can almost anticipate it's arrival, giving us all a great excuse to get our tackle ready for the season ahead. "As if we need one".

Snow melt water in early Feb

With the Grayling fishing being sporadic again throughout the winter, exacerbated once again by fluctuating water levels, we didn't manage to get out as much as we would have liked to, however there were a few nice days, especially in January, which did encourage a few people out onto the river to indulge in a series of casting lessons, and the way things are progressing at the moment it looks as though the better weather is encouraging a few more to do the same.

Visit the BFFI next Year!

Aside from the usual casting lessons though, I also attended the BFFI again this year, (British Fly Fair International) on the 7th and 8th of Feb, as part of the AAPGAI demonstration team, which I might add, we all enjoyed immensely, because as you all know it's great to see good friends again and have a catch up just before the season gets underway. Over the two days the turnout was very good, with Saturday being the better of the two, as it generated good crowds watching the demonstrations, which I think was certainly down to the weather, as Sunday was much colder in the cool breeze, encouraging people indoors to browse around the stalls and the excellent fly dressing section of the show. All in all though a very good show and well worth visiting in the future!

A Nice Eden Grayling

On Thursday 19th Feb we had our first youth day out on the river, (so it must be warming up) with a group of 10 youngsters all putting their new found skills to the test, following up on what they have learnt over a series of sessions we have made available to them through Borderlines. The objective of this particular day was to target some of the river Eden's excellent Grayling, and I must say, they certainly made a very good job of it too, as they proceeded to land some good quality fish, one of which you can see in the picture above. 

Returning an early Brownie

All of the fish caught were returned safely to the water, with the main emphasis being the conservation of the River Eden Grayling population, although one of the boys did catch an early (out of season) brown trout in very good condition, which was also safely returned to the water to fight another day.  At the end of the session the group managed to catch and return over 20 Grayling, probably nearer 30, but there was so much going on that we lost count. Well done guys!

One of the boys returning a Grayling

A few casting lessons lined up now, mainly for the avid trout angler, as the new trout season will be upon us again in less than a month, "can't wait", and those of you who have been out with me (for trout) on the river in the past, will know that there are some nice fish to be had, especially as we get into April / May time, although March can be very good given the right conditions. "Not long now"!!!

Rain Stops Play

Tony on one of our visits

Not a great deal to report i'm afraid, although we have had a couple of small windows when the river was in good order for Grayling and we did have a modicum of success whilst we were out. However, just as the river was approaching much better levels the rain came and put an end to that, and with the river now quite swollen, we will have to hold on a little longer before targeting these fish yet again. The up side though is the fact that because of the recent high waters the river is running relatively clean, so it may not be too long before we get another shot at them. 

In the interim though, I would like to say "Tight Lines" to all and I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and Seasons Greetings for 2015.