River Eden

Not so hot today on the salmon front, just the odd fish showing itself. Big tides this last couple of days have been raising the levels several feet for an hour or two which kills the fishing. Good hatches of grannom this morning which petered out by the afternoon, the wind was a south westerly.

We saw the first of the swifts arrive on the Eden today, always a welcome sight.

Adam joined me today and did manage to get hold of a couple of small sea trout and a grayling, he also had a few takes in the morning that were missed and things did slow down during the afternoon.

We gave the salmon a go for a while without success, so Adam stuck with the single handed rod most of the day, although there were one or two salmon showing in the morning we did not see them in the afternoon, whether they had moved through or not during the day we do not know. The levels are at just below summer height but still good.

River Eden

My good friend Ed who was with us in Patagonia this year was on the lower Eden today, a little cooler south westerly breeze seemed to supress the hatches somewhat slowed the fishing down. Still the odd grannom coming off along with brook duns and a lot of large stonefly still around.
Ed fished the dry fly and did okay with a Klinkhammer.

The brown trout and in fine condition.

Water temperature today is 54oF, there are some sea trout moving into the Eden at present and with the summer level the salmon are not moving far, great for the lower reaches but not for the middle Eden. An unsettled week is forecast, should be interesting.

There are still two places left for the salmon fly fishing course on May 11th with Paul Little and myself due to a cancellation. Hopefully by then we will have had rain and the fish will have moved up there, this is a beautiful beat to fish.

These courses are geared for all abilities and if you do not have any equipment it can be supplied free of charge along with lunch.

http://www.cumbriaflyfishing.co.uk/courses.htm

We have the whole beat to ourselves.

River Eden

This morning although the wind was from the east it was not a cold as it was previously, the day was also a little more sunnier than of late.The hatches of grannom are getting more intense, the fish must be gorged on them by now, the little sedges are crawling onto your waders and laying eggs. There was a good rise from the fish in the morning which petered out a little by the afternoon, but there are fish a plenty! During late afternoon the wind at last had swung round to a more south westerly.

Raymond on the far bank into a two pounder.

My old friend David (who got a twelve pound fish on his last visit) came up to fish with me on the Eden today and brought his brother in law Gavin along, Gavin who is a relative beginner at fly fishing began with some trout fishing and did an exceptional job with the casting. First starting with fishing wets using a double Spey followed by a Circle cast as the wind directon changed, even managed to connect with some fish.

David stuck to the salmon fishing all day, we did see a lot of fish moving in small pods through the beat for most of the day, but they just were not interested. Then at three o'clock the mood of the fish seemed to change with the wind and David missed the first of the day.

He did not miss the second one which took a Boyo fly fished on a sink tip, a nice cock fish near the seven pound mark and fresh off the tide.

Gavin did a splendid job of carefully landing the fish.

David returning the salmon which swam off strongly, good weather, good day, good company and good fishing, it does not get much better!

River Eden

Steven and Diana are a lovely couple, and it was a great pleasure to have them visit the Eden on a morning when the temperature was warmer than of late and thigs were happening at last. The hatches of grannom and large darks were good and the fish responded well, Steve got hold of a sea trout followed by a brownie, Diana also managed to hook one but it soon parted company.

As the hatch decreased during the afternoon Steve got a take from something quite substantial which promptly broke him. Later on in the afternoon the temperature dropped suddenly and all activity ceased.

Did a kick sample and was looking at a very healthy river!

River Eden

A little warmer to day and the hatches of olives were a big improvement, the fishing is still on the slow side but going the right way.

 Had Brian up today, got to grips with things very well, had a couple of sprats and lost a good fish on the spiders.Seems like the smolt run is building up now, that should please the goosanders!

As Brian said, there could be worse places to spend a day and he did like my office!

River Eden

Had Nigel up from Essex for three days, a real nice fella, the weather was good, the river in perfect ply with the water temperature at 45oF and air 54oF. There were salmon in residence in the lower reaches but were very reluctant to make our aquantance. The wind did swing around to a more westerly on Friday but the air was still cool. Plenty of large stonefly are around, no grannom as yet.

 
It was a bit of a struggle to get the fish to have a go on Friday and Saturday although there was a sea trout taken by Nigel on a small wet. Around tide time the odd salmon showed but were not stopping for long, still no hatches of any consequence occured. On the Sunday at lazonby it was a little more cloudier and with a warmer breeze, there were decent hatches of Large Darks and the fishing was a little easier with trout topping freely until the air cooled once more in the late afternoon. Meanwhile on the lower river with the threat of rain on the horizon, quite a few salmon and sea trout entered the Eden and were showing themselves.

River Eden

Very cool air temperatures again today around 6 oC with the east wind, the fly activity was almost non-existent. Around 3pm there was a two degree rise and this brought a couple of fish on the take, we stayed with light nymphs, I am not keen on deep bugging at this time of year after a winter of it.

Rob was into a trout the minute the temperature rose on a Hares Ear.

This was swiftly followed by a grayling which was quickly released.

Around tide time there was a good bit of salmon and sea trout activity, the river level at present is around six inches above summer level and very clear. The things you see when you aint got your gun!

River Eden

Still the easterly breeze persist and is suduing the hatches of L.D.O's, the fishing remains slow in these cool and bright conditions along with clear water.
Keith did very well today on Upper lazonby, he hooked and lost a coupe of trout on PTN nymphs. It is not always about catching fish as they say and the worse case scenario is that the scenery was stunning.
Canoest are really getting more intrusive as time goes on, I can see some serious trouble brewing in the near future, today we had eight of them stop in the middle of the pool we were fishing doing Eskimo rolls, with eighty miles of river to go at why pick that particular spot; unbelievable!

River Eden

Just back from the AAPGAI weekend at Builth Wells, great weather and good company.

Had Ken out last week at Warwick Hall as the river was dropping in nicely, his casting was fine and on the second day he fortunately hooked and unfortunately lost a springer in the Battery pool.

Came back to the Eden on sunny Monday and was out with Hugh who is great fun and company, the river is looking perfect, the water temperature is now at 50oF. There are now salmon above Armathwaite weir, not many yet, but at least they are now moving upstream with the warmer water. The sandpipers are there in numbers, ravens are nesting and the toads are in an amorous mood.

The trout fishing is picking up steady now, the Large Dark hatches are still a little sporadic but should settle down. Spiders are not really doing the business as they should just yet although the heavier nymphs are proving more successful.
Today the air temperature has dropped by a good 8 degrees, the water is pristine at just over a foot above summer level and we are looking good!

River Eden

Lot of heavy rain last night and high winds have put the river up big and coloured.

River Eden

The river levels are now beginning to drop and were at two feet today and clearing. The south westerly had swung round at mid-day to and easterly which cooled things down and stopped the hatch of Large Dark Olives continuing.
Out today with Mike who was a good laugh and did a cracking job of the casting!

The water temperature has dropped down to 42oF with the rain and snowmelt, we could do with a few more degrees higher to settle things.  

River Eden

With all this rain over the last couple of days the Eden is pretty full again and at the moment unfishable. Just when you thought spring was about to arrive.......
We will have to keep an eye on the weather, if it stays dry enough we could be back out for the weekend with a little luck. This is a great time for a springer and the trout should be on the go from now as soon as the river drops in again, fingers crossed.

Tweed

The three day spring Tweed salmon fishing course with Illtyd and Neil got off to a greart start on the first day with everyone getting to grips with some good fly casting techniques to deal with the strong easterly upstream wind. Our good friend Sandy who has been with us before got hold of two nice sea trout with a foot of water on the gauge both caught on a yellow tube fly. David also a very good friend of ours who came last year when it was very low water and warm conditions, saw quite a different picture this time of the opposite. Ken who I met for the first time was also great company and extremely enthusiastic, did exceptionally well getting a good line out despite the high winds.

Overnight the weather came in bringing copious amounts of rain and put the level up by two feet, later during the day it began to snow quite heavy. On the last day the wind turned westerly upstream and the snow was relentless until the afternoon, although the fishing was out of the question there were some good useful fly casting sessions. It is always a pity when the weather comes in like it did on these sort of events, but unfortunately it is out of our control.

Kevin as always was a great help on the beat with his knowledge and friendly manner, the fishing hut is fantastic where you can go for a hot brew and warm by the fire, many thanks to him for that. The Buccleuch Arms hotel was a very nice and comfortable place to stay, Billy and Steven looked after us all very well indeed, everyone enjoyed the good food and hospitality.