March Update

A series of youth days took us into March, which included some Grayling fishing events that did produce a few fish, although continuing with the recent trend, not in the numbers we usually encounter. A few spring salmon have also been taken on the fly, mainly on the lower river, and tuition sessions have begun to increase as the weather begins to improve and people are brushing up their skills preparing for their salmon and trout fishing trips this year.

 

Mid March saw high water on the Eden, which soon gave way to some good trout fishing that provided some excellent sport with fish to around 2lb coming to a selection of dry flies. This usually followed some reasonable hatches of Large Dark Olives during the warmer parts of the day. The successful flies we used included greenwell's glory and Adams in size 14's.

I also got together again with the editor of the Trout & Salmon magazine, Andrew Flitcroft, to do a follow up test of the new 9ft #5 weight rods on the market today. If you read the T&S magazine you may remember the test we did last year on the #5 weight models at that time, well this time we tested the new rods against the winners of the previous test to see how they compared. The results will be in the May issue of the T&S magazine. "Take a look".

The AAPGAI open day and spring assessments event for potential new instructors, was held at the Trout Hotel in Cockermouth, which was a fantastic success once again, with no less than 25 people attending the open day and watching the many demonstrations presented by some of the current AAPGAI instructors. This is a biannual event with the next dates being set for 27th - 29th October which will be held in Builth Wells in Wales. "Well worth a visit". See the AAPGAI website for details on the following link http://www.aapgai.co.uk/home.html

Season Getting Underway

Despite the cold weather there are early signs of Spring in the air, with Snowdrops appearing, and Daffodils beginning to push through in places, but despite some really good catches of quality fish in recent years, the Grayling fishing has continued in its trend to prove difficult this winter, most certainly on the mid to lower river anyway.

There have been many reports of Salmon still spawning into February this year, which is probably due to the extremely low temperatures we have experienced through the winter months, as low as minus 17 degrees at times. I think that would slow me down a bit too if I were a Salmon. There has also been a few baggots reported, caught and returned, but the good news is that there has already been a handful of spring fish caught too, which is always a good sign.

Still relatively quiet though at the moment, apart from Salmon Kelts, which at least tells us that many fish have already spawned, despite those noticably late spawners. If you do catch a really "well mended" Kelt on your travels, and you are not sure how to distinguish it from a clean fish, (which can be difficult at times, especially if you are new to the game) look out for some of those tell tale giveaways displayed by many Kelts, such as Gill Maggots, (a small parasite living in the fishes gills) or an extended vent, denoting spawning activity, (see pictures) they are also generally narrow in feature with a distinct level belly, and although clean looking, they will not display the lustrous sheen that you will see in a Spring fish.

One or two people are now beginning to venture out though, even if it is only to get in some casting practice, ready for the new season, which I might add, did start (for Salmon) on January 15th on the Eden. Let's hope it's a good one!

High Waters Contribute to Difficult Conditions

As if we have not had enough to contend with when taking into account the poor Grayling fishing we have encountered on the middle and lower beats of the Eden over the winter period, we are now having to contend with high and coloured water conditions at what is the start of our Salmon season which opened on 15th January. With early spring fish being few and far between these days and with a shortage of anglers out on the river at this time of year, (which does not always help with true catch figures) which is down to a multitude of reasons, such as the catch and release laws that are now in place until June 16th as some anglers used to like to take a Spring fish for the pot, whether right or wrong, as they were once a great prize, and with some anglers not wanting to stress these magnificent fish if they are to be returned anyway. There are also the anglers who do not like to hook Kelt's that are making their way back to sea after spawning. You will find there are many differing opinions on all of these aspects of Salmon fishing which makes for interesting debate at times.

Personally I do not think it is rocket science and I have been in the frame of mind for the last 15 years now that a good gill tagging system (administered correctly) would solve many of the problems we are faced with in both fishing and conserving stocks. If every Salmon angler was given "say" 6 tags (just as a ball park figure) 5 red and 1 blue for instance, then the angler has a choice. He/she can use their 5 red tags for keeping fish throughout the main season and their blue tag can be reserved for a spring fish if desired. This would do away with the need for silly by-laws regarding hen fish etc. and at the same time definitely help to prevent the illegal sale of Salmon and also go some way towards the prevention of poaching as any fish caught by rod and line "if killed" would have to display one of the anglers tags (similar to the tags shown on this Irish Salmon in the picture above). The angler may even choose not to use his/her tags at all if they so wish. If we are all really honest with ourselves, three Salmon is more than enough in a season for any angler to consume and I personally make a point of only keeping up to 3 Salmon in a season anyway and the rest go carefully back.

If the tagging system was adopted by all, there would be no need for restrictions on numbers of fish caught in any one day on any one beat as once your quota for the season has been taken then that's the end of it. The choice would then be in your hands and rather than be forced to put a fish back that has a slim chance of recovering e.g. a bleeding hen fish, you could add it to your quota by using one of your tags (no waste). There are a few other benefits too, but I won't prattle on as I think you get my drift.

So anyway back to the river! I was out fishing over the winter albeit not much due to some severe weather conditions, but the few times we were out the Grayling fishing was unfortunately still very dour even in places that have fished well in the past. I had Jim and Silas out on the river last week and although the water was up a little it was in relatively good condition but the Grayling were being their recent stubborn selves once again and not giving much away, although Jim did get into what was most definitely a very good fish but it unfortunately parted company after giving a good initial account of itself. I am just waiting for the water levels to drop again now before venturing forth once again to do some early season tuition and fishing sessions. The forecast seems to be improving. Finger crossed!

Fishing Still Slow with Mixed Weather Conditions

The Grayling are still proving hard to catch in certain middle beats of the Eden despite some good waters and good conditions from time to time, especially taking into account the really bad conditions we have witnessed of late. After saying this, if you are prepared to search the water thoroughly then there are some very good quality fish to be found, but if I am to be totally honest at this moment in time, they are still few and far between. To find these illusive fish we are having to fish deep and slow with bites being very tentative and hardly noticeable at times.

The likelihood that these very enigmatic fish have migrated to new areas of the river is a distinct possibility as they most certainly do this from time to time, possibly to seek food or maybe even better potential spawning areas, I remember reading an article once on Norwegian Grayling, where it was found that they had migrated up to 75 miles within the river system, so anything is possible, but with Christmas almost upon us, and visits to the river becoming fewer, almost certainly due to the much lower than normal temperatures and poor conditions, apart from the die-hards, people are not so keen to venture out, so to find out if the Grayling have migrated elsewhere will be difficult to prove, except by anecdotal evidence. It has to be said though, that if you wrap up warmly, layer your clothing and don your neoprene waders it can be very bearable as well as being good fun.

I have had reports of good catches in places higher up the Eden, but I was not sure what the lower beats were producing, so yesterday I intended to find out for myself, but upon arrival, most of the water was frozen over and the rest of it was made up of rafts of ice (known to some anglers as grue) that you just couldn't get your line to navigate through, even the ducks were finding it difficult. Even though I was itching to have a go, common sense prevailed and I returned home. Maybe after Christmas!

Grayling Fishing Proving Difficult!

With fluctuating water levels on the Eden and still relatively pleasant days (when well wrapped up) the Grayling are proving hard to catch on the fly of late, even when hugging the bottom with weighted bugs, apart from the odd one as Tony discovered here in the picture, but they are definitely not responding in any numbers.

Whilst trying a different approach with youngsters from a Cumbrian youth club in the form of swim feeders and floats, we did manage a few fish but still nothing like the numbers you would expect on these methods at this time of year, and as far as the fly is concerned, which is my favourite method of catching these enigmatic fish, I am convinced that all we need for good results is the water levels to fall and stay steady for a while coupled with some early morning frosts (which we are getting now) to help lower the level a bit and hopefully induce these fish to take, which usually does the trick over the winter. Let's wait and see!

Too Much Water Again

Although the water was high in late October, it was not too coloured to fish for Grayling, and even though these beautiful fish are often unpredictable to say the least when the water is consistently unsettled, you can usually catch a few on maggots as opposed to the fly which comes into its own more readily on a water that has stayed reasonably steady for a sustained period of time, especially when temperatures drop and the water remains low for a while (winter). Given these conditions, which generally occur after a good frost or two, the Grayling fishing can be excellent on the fly (I can't wait). Anyway getting back to my earlier thread, in late October in my capacity as an instructor for Borderlines, we took some youngsters out fishing with the maggot, and introduced them to the swim feeder and the float, and although the fishing was difficult they did manage several Grayling to around 1 1/2lb.

Following this I travelled down to the BFFI (British Fly Fair International) at Trentham Gardens near Stoke where I was representing AAPGAI (Association of Advanced Professional Game Angling Instructors) as part of the fly casting demonstration team, which I really enjoy. Oh and by the way, for those of you who are regular visitors to the show, the venue and dates for the BFFI will change next year to the 18th & 19th June and will take place at Bingley Hall in Stafford which is the Staffordshire Show Ground, and in addition to the casting demonstrations, AAPGAI will be running a casting clinic there for those who would like to either learn how to cast for the first time, or improve their existing skills. I look forward to seeing some of you there. 

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Since returning home to Cumbria, the river Eden has been persistently high and today was no exception with the water rising once again. We need the rain to stop, and the water to drop back down for some good Grayling fishing on the fly, which I am looking forward to. Let's hope it is soon! Keep an eye on the weather using the Met Office link on the right.

The End is Nigh

The end of the Salmon season on the Eden is now upon us once again, where does it go it seems to get shorter every year. We have still been catching a few fish though regardless of the fact that this year has probably seen fewer fish running the river than we saw last year although when Sam and Larissa (originally from New Zealand) came along for a session higher up the river we did see quite a few fish even though they did not connect with any of them. This was there first time fishing for Salmon so much of the time was based around the casting techniques required to present the fly to the fish which they certainly got to grips with later in the day.

David Humble came along later in the week for an annual brush up of his (much improved) Spey casting techniques and almost immediately hooked up with a fish whilst we were going through the mechanics at the start of the day, a really fresh hen fish of around 7lb which was not hanging about as you can see in the picture above and whilst we were having a chat toward the end of the day a coloured cock fish of about 5lb grabbed the fly and also made haste across the pool. Both fish took the cascade a fly which has fished tremendously well for us all season.

Kevin Earl arrived the next day but unfortunately had to cut the session short  as he had to get back home to attend to some personal business in the afternoon, but whilst he was there he fished the beat well and was unlucky not to make better contact with a fish that actually grabbed his fly twice as it came across the tail of the pool.

As I now had a spare afternoon I was determined to take full advantage of it and fished for myself a little lower down from where Kevin missed the fish and managed to hook and land a cracking hen fish of approximately 15lb (also on a cascade)which I quickly returned to the water whilst trying to make a few rapid clicks of the camera as I held the fish in the water to give it time to recover, not easy to get a good shot I can assure you as you can see by the picture on the right.

A little bit of mentoring the next day with John who was working towards his advanced trout assessment for his AAPGAI full membership and we both did a little bit of fishing at the end of the day as we had spotted a few Salmon moving through the beat as we were going over one or two things with the trout rod throughout the day but although conditions looked really good in the last hour of daylight we did not conect with any fish at all.

Unfortunately I had to miss the last day of the season as I was off to Wales for one of the AAPGAI biannual assessment events, which I din't mind really as they are very worthwhile events and a great get together with some good assessments and fantastic demonstrations on the open day. These events are most certainly going from strength to strength and this one was the best by far. If anyone is thinking of attending one of these open days I would certainly reccommend it, the next one will be held at Cockermouth on 26th March 2011 and well worth a visit whether you are simply looking for a good informative day out or you wish to learn more about the instructor route and what is involved.   Here is the link: http://www.aapgai.co.uk/body/events.html#openday

On returning home things are relatively quiet at the moment with the end of the Salmon season on our river and the inclement weather we have been getting with more to come, although I have been out giving a couple of tuition sessions which were very enjoyable and with the water once again running high and coloured I am now bracing myself for some good Grayling fishing once the water drops and clears again "soon I hope".

Remember Spey casting tuition with both single and double handed rods is available throughout the close season and the Grayling fishing can be phenominal when the temperature drops and the river stays at a constant level for a prolonged period of time and when I am not out with people on the river I will be out myself taking full advantage of this extension to the fly fishing season whilst fishing for these magnificent fish.