Different Rules for Different Regions!

United Kingdom?

Thankfully since my last blog we can now all go fishing again, however, depending upon where you reside in the UK, there are unfortunately differing travel restrictions, e.g. in England and N. Ireland we can travel anywhere to fish, but in Scotland and Wales the guidelines state that a limit of 5 miles is the current recommendation. In addition to this, accommodation is still not available until at least July 4th, which also restricts multi-day trips for those of you who like to stay over and fish a variety of beats on different days. That said, as long as we do not experience a new spike with regard to Covid-19 we are now definitely moving in the right direction and hopefully we can get back to some semblance of normality very soon!

Typical stamp of fish from lower Eden

Those of us in England were very fortunate to have been given the green light to return to the river on May 13th and despite the bright sunshine and very low water conditions, up to, and during this time, there has still been some very successful salmon catches on the river Eden, (mainly on the lower river) and most of the fish I have seen have been very fresh indeed and in the 12lb - 15lb range.

Slightly smaller, but still a good fish

It is not unusual, following long periods of low water (on the lower beats) for fish to stack up in these areas due to limited access to upstream migration, but these beats do seem to be holding an exceptional amount of fish this time around, and the fishing certainly did improve once that persistent East wind decided to leave us a while back.

In the past few days alone, on the tidal beat I look after on the lower river, we have moved into double figures of fish caught (and several lost) and that's only the ones I am currently aware of. This implies that there is a lot of fish down there and on some days this is very apparent as they are often very active. I hope this remains the case for anglers coming from Scotland and Wales when you eventually get the chance to take advantage of this fantastic bounty. Long may it last!

One of many Brown caught

The trout fishing has also been very good and my first day out on the river produced a very enjoyable catch of 18 brown trout, (all on the dry fly) which I thoroughly enjoyed, especially after such a long period of cabin fever, and I have to admit, I have had a few more since then too. 

Before!

I haven't been fishing all of the time though, as I have been taking advantage of the fact we could get out again to do some much needed river improvements on the lower beat ready for some one to one and small group fishing sessions which I am now doing again since June 1st (in line with government guidelines of course). 

Therefore I have at last had time to clear the steps in front of the small shelter down there as well as doing some further repairs to the shelter itself, 

After!

which in all honesty I feared would have been washed away by the early season floods we had, but no, my previous repairs have paid off and kept it in place and it still serves us well. 

Before!

So hopefully from July the 4th, which is when it has been intimated that accommodation options will become available to us again, it will also be there waiting for those of you coming to enjoy your multi-day trips to the Eden. I am sure Scotland and Wales will have better travel guidelines by then and I look forward to rearranging these sessions for those of you who's trips had to be cancelled.

After

Anyway I am sure time will tell and I look forward to catching up with many of you again, giving everyone the opportunity to shake off those cobwebs whilst indulging in a some long overdue fishing. Not long Now!

Over the weekend we received our first significant rainfall which did effect the river (although not in a big way) adding a few inches of fresh water and affording some of the salmon on the lower beats a little more access to beats higher up, but the good news is that fish are still being caught on the lower beats and also still being seen on recent tides. This looks very promising for the rest of the season.

Fishing Lock down Continues

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well and coping with the lock down situation as best you can. A big thank you to those key workers amongst you, especially those of you who work within the NHS, or like myself, have a partner who does, as I certainly know how worrying this can be in these difficult times.

"What fish look like"

Although there isn't any fishing going on at the moment I think it is important to stay connected and therefore I just wanted to touch base with you all. First and foremost to wish you all well, and secondly to at least give you all something to read before cabin fever sets in.

As you probably all noticed, as soon as we went into lock down, the rivers came back into good order again following what had already been a very long period of high (and often coloured) water conditions, "Typical". 

However it's not all doom and gloom though, as the weather conditions we have recently been experiencing, i.e. bright sunshine, although very enjoyable, (given our current situation) is not necessarily ideal for fishing, especially when accompanied by a persistent East wind, (albeit slight) as this almost always contributes to what would generally be a period of difficult fishing in terms of catches. 

This is due to the fact that in these types of conditions the fish usually switch off, or at the very least are reluctant to take our offerings, and where trout are concerned, hatches tend to be very sparse indeed (which would explain a lot). Yes you can sometimes tempt a fish or two to take a weighted nymph during these periods, (as we have done many times before) but this often then becomes a searching game. 

The salmon also tend to switch off during these periods, for reasons that are up for debate, but they definitely do! So we can at least take some solace from this for the time being, however this wont last forever, so lets hope we can get back out there soon, even if it is just on our local fisheries whilst adhering to the social distancing rules until further notice.

"Relaxing in the Countryside"

In the meantime I have been missing our fishing sessions so much, that along with the many chores recently undertaken during lock down, including a plethora of painting jobs (which I am sure many of you can relate to) I have also indulged in a couple of jigsaws (something I haven't done for many years) in an attempt to remind myself of (a) what fish look like and (b) relaxing in the countryside. I think you will get my drift from the pictures attached.

Anyway, hang on in there and let's hope we are all back at it as soon as it is safe to do so, and I look forward to catching up with many of you on the river bank when the time is right. "Stay Safe".

Fishing in Lock down

Eden Grayling

Following a poor start to the Eden season (and many other rivers) due to persistent high waters preventing us from indulging in our favourite pastime, and now with the added disruption of the coronavirus outbreak, keeping the majority of us in isolation. Despite trying to remain optimistic, I can't help wondering when our next venture out on the river will actually be!

Eden Brown Trout

Although we all understand the implications of this truly invasive pandemic, and it goes without saying that we will all continue to do our bit if it means saving lives, but it certainly doesn't stop that sinking feeling that we all get when we cannot go fishing. With this in mind, let us keep our fingers crossed that things get back to normal sooner rather than later and that statistics improve soon for everyone's sake.

Cracking Sea Trout

However, in the interim period, "being as we are all in the same boat", (so to speak) I wanted to stay in touch with everyone (by way of my monthly blog) to wish you and your family members all the very best at this difficult time, and I hope you all continue to stay in good health as we move forward. All the signs point to an eventual decline of this situation and given the sterling work being put in by our NHS staff (who are on the front line) we will surely beat this thing and get back to some kind of normality!

Fresh Eden Salmon

That said I think we are currently in this for the long haul, and being as we may not be visiting the river for some time, I thought I would include a few pictures from previous fishing trip here on the Eden in an attempt to hopefully help cheer you all up whilst many of you (except for key workers) are stuck at home. Stay Safe!

The Deluge Continues

An Eden tributary in full flood

More of the same throughout the month of February I'm afraid, with persistent rain and wind battering the Cumbria region (among other areas). We haven't even been able to get near the river let alone do any fishing, and the high winds have definitely scuppered any possibility of casting lessons.

However as we approach March we should be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully normal service can resume.

A bit high for fly fishing

That said, the weather obviously hasn't dampened any enthusiasm though as plenty of you have already booked in for both casting lessons and fishing sessions on the river, if anything I think this bad start to the year has made us even more determined to get out there and get started.

I do like to have some reports for everyone by now, on the salmon front at least, but as you can see from the surrounding pictures there is no way whatsoever that any fishing could have taken place given the recent conditions, so here's hoping we can make up for that as we move closer to the trout season starting on March 15th.

There was a path here somewhere!

Although there is still plenty of water in the system, the river is now beginning to show signs of dropping back to some kind of normality and as long as we don't get anymore persistent rainfall we should be able to enjoy some good sport again soon, and believe me, I am looking forward to catching up with several of you for some casting sessions which are booked in for March.

Welcome to the New Season 2020

Not great conditions for Grayling

I can't believe we are into February already, a poor winter up to now if you have been targeting Grayling, with water levels continuously fluctuating on the river Eden. 

However we are already three weeks into the 2020 Salmon season, (still early yet, I know) but I was made aware only yesterday of a couple of fish being caught on the lower river, this I have yet to confirm, but it would not be the first time early season salmon have been recorded down there.

Despite the usual cold, wet days of January, there have also been a few kinder days in between which have allowed for the odd tuition sessions, yes you heard it correctly, I am more than happy to take out the Die Hards on these early season days, and in the sunshine especially, (with the right clothes on) these sessions can be very enjoyable and can always be re-arranged if the weather turns against us.

Apart from these early tuition sessions the fishing itself can be quite slow at this time of year, until that is, we get into March, (when the trout season begins) and beyond this, when the Salmon numbers begin to increase.

Tuition & Fishing available any time of the year

However, as you can see from the link below to the 2020 Border Game Angling website Calendar, bookings are now beginning to arrive fast and furious and I can't wait to catch up with people again and also meet people for the first time in 2020 as things start to get going again.

So I am looking forward to seeing some of you again throughout the year, to either help improve your casting skills, catch a few fish, or both! Here's to a good season in 2020.

Best Wishes from B.G.A.

I can't believe its that time again, no sooner has the season finished than Christmas is upon us again. That said it does give me the opportunity to wish you all the very best for the festive season, to thank you all for your company on the river this year, and to sincerely hope that 2020 offers you good health and good fishing once again.

Going into the Grayling season has not been as straight forward as I had hoped, and with the exception of a few "almost settled days", we have had to search hard for these elusive creatures. This has been made more difficult by the continuation

They haven't all been elusive!

of high and unsettled waters yet again. Never mind though, we will just have to wait until after Christmas and into the New Year to hopefully see the river falling and clearing again, which I am sure it will at some point. 

The 2019 season did bring some exciting moments to the salmon fishing once again, although there were some slow periods too when I thought we should have caught a few more, oh well that's fishing I suppose, however we did see some very good trout fishing on the river again this year, I always look forward to that, especially when there are a few flies hatching and the trout  can be tempted to the surface.

Anyway I for one am looking forward to what the 2020 season will bring and once the festive season is over, and we all get back to normal again, I am sure you will be too. 

The preliminary salmon catch returns are now in for the river Eden between Carlisle and Penrith, which I am sure the salmon fishers amongst you will be interested to know are looking quite encouraging, so here's hoping we can get our share next year!

"Tight Lines" to all and I look forward to catching up again in 2020.

End of Season Wash Out

A big brown end to the season 

Unfortunately, as with many rivers this year, the end of the season on the Eden finished prematurely, with a deluge of water triggering a succession of cancellations as the persistent rainfall resulted in a series of high and coloured waters as you can see in the picture on the left.

Fortunately some of you were here for tuition purposes only, which was just as well given the uncontrollable conditions we were experiencing, however from a safety aspect, it did eventually get to the stage where I had to call a halt to that too as the river became very swollen and inaccessible in many places.

Returning a small Salmon to the river

However, we did manage a couple of salmon before the river became ridiculously high, and several seriously big browns attached themselves to our salmon flies too, which is not unusual in these larger waters later in the season, but they were all returned to the water unharmed being as the trout season was over. Jeff pictured right managed to hook land and return this small coloured salmon to the river before conditions became difficult again later in the day.

A very nice double figure Pike

Time is too short to waste though, and apart from one rather windy, difficult, but eventually successful day, spent on a Stillwater hunting Rainbow Trout, we did also manage to arrange a couple more days for the youngsters via Borderlines, but given that once again the rivers were out of order and Stillwaters were by far the best option, instead of a session for Salmon or trout our quarry was to be the elusive but formidable Pike. 

With this in mind the youngsters did themselves proud and  managed to catch a few Pike throughout the day, including this very nice specimen (above left) laid out on the unhooking mat. This powerful fish was none the worse for ware for its efforts and swam off very strongly when returned to the water, as seen here (below right).

A large Pike in excellent condition

The latter part of October was dedicated to the usual instructor assessments for AAPGAI which were held down in Wales, and a great weekend it was too with eight instructors passing their qualifications, four of whom were new members. This was followed by our well attended biannual open day event, which included a variety of fantastic demonstrations on a wide range of fishing related subjects from rod building to fly dressing and on to single and double hand fishing techniques, all delivered by several of our current AAPGAI instructor members. 

A Demo on Split Cane

If you have never attended one of these AAPGAI open days you should, as its a great day out. The next one is to be held at the Friars Carse Hotel in Dumfries & Galloway on June 13th 2020. To book your place details can be found here. It would be good to see you there!

In the meantime, as the rivers settle down again, (fingers crossed) we will be out there once again targeting Grayling and hopefully the big waters won't have done too much damage and we will be able to find a few good pockets of fish for some great winter sport. Here's hoping!

Christmas Vouchers

On a final note, don't forget that vouchers are available once again for those special Christmas presents for friends and family who would like to come fishing in 2020, or simply enhance their current casting skills, especially if they have never fly fished before, it's the ideal gift. Just drop me a line if you want to arrange this, or click here for further details.