River Eden

Apart from today where the conditions have been overcast and a lot cooler, very little has changed since the last report. The weed growth is getting desperate and water levels severe, they are now talking about a hose pipe ban. I hear on the Ribble there are sea trout going belly up with the low oxygen content in the river, we are not at that stage yet on the Eden thank goodness. I do not like to be negative about the situation that we are in, but until we get some decent rain we are in the doldrums for a while.

The salmon are just nosing into the very lower river and going no further, there are a few fish about and some anglers are picking away at them with various baits, some of the fish are in the teens of pounds. The sea trout fishing at night is not that fantastic due to the slight cloud of algae bloom, but there are fish there.

David and his daughter Elizabeth did okay while there was some cloud early on in the day, when the sun broke through everything shut down once more.

Haydn did not stand a chance with the bright conditions although he fished very well and hard that day.

Today with the good cloud cover and cooler temperatures the fishing was pretty steady, Mark got into quite a few fish and missed plenty.

River Eden

We have been doing a few youth days over the last week, one a pilot scheme for the S&TA, a  day for a school on the Eden and classroom and a couple of schools at Port William. Fished the river a few times since then and I have to say that very little in the way of water conditions has changed of late. The trout fishing is still slow unless you are there in the evening or fishing very small flies during the day. Out with Dave today, north wind, bright sunshine, it was all against him but he did a grand job!

The algae growth is getting pretty serious and the bloom in the water increasing, there are plenty of invertebrates on the river bed but not much coming off at present. I was on the lower river today and did see quite a few salmon showing there, these were fresh fish off the tide but not running. The tides are big enough this week to maybe lift a couple of fish further up the lower beats and away from the estuary nets and predators. The night fishing for sea trout is not spectacular as it should be due to the cloudier water, once we get a decent flood to wash this away and cool things down it should be business as usual. I think most rivers in the UK are struggling with the same problem at the minute, just need some serious rain.
Water temperature 60oF.

River Eden

Rain eventually came on the 6th and 7th June along with stiff east winds, but with the growing season in full swing and the ground so dry, the majority of water disappeared into the ground and just putting a meagre four inches into the Eden. Not quite enough water to make any salmon move but welcome none the less.
Ed and myself were on the river Tweed for three days and that was exactly the same, not a sign of a salmon anywhere to be seen, but there seems to be plenty of good sea trout in the lower beats of the river though.
Borderlines in conjunction with the S&TA did a day on the Eden in Rickerby Park courtesy of CAA with High Hesket school yesterday, the weather was good and the people who attended were very well behaved and enjoyed themselves.
Watching the water on the lower river Eden today there was very little movement of anything although there are a good head of trout and sea trout in, sometimes if you are quiet you can watch some of the bigger trout hitting the minnows in the shallow water of the margins. Today I saw a few fish making bow waves into the thinner water, only this time they were not chasing minnows but trying to get as far away from an otter which was pursuing them. These sights we sometimes see are are priceless, and probably a very good reason why some of us like to go fishing, just an excuse to be by a lovely river.
Tomorrow Clive and myself are back on the Nith for the weekend with Dumfries and Galloway Anglers, I think the weather is set pretty fair for the next few days. 

River Eden

The trout fishing has been rather slow on the Eden during the daytime the first week of June due to the low flows and high temperatures unless you are willing to fish into the darkening. There is good sport to be had, the brown trout fishing this spring has been second to none when the conditions have been right. Salmon fishing is poor at present with the fish just nosing in from the estuary and dropping back again. Today is the first day of the rains to come and the week is forecast to be unsettled, this maybe is the  time for the long overdue flush out of the river which is very much needed just to get rid of the algae and ever increasing blanket weed. The first week or so of June often see the larger salmon enter the Eden and the sea trout alongside, if the conditions permit, a good rise of water and then clearing and fining down, it should be nothing less than outstanding and  re-invigorate the brown trout fishing also.
Just spent the weekend after being invited with Clive on the river Nith with Dumfries and Galloway Angling Association helping some of their members with fly casting techniques, a great bunch of enthusiastic people. We had to cut the day short on the Sunday afternoon with the threat of being struck by lightning as it was all around with some hefty showers on the hills. Off to the Tweed with Ed for three days on Monday, I just hope that they have had rain there also to get some fish moving up otherwise I shall have to enjoy some of the fine trout fishing the Tweed has to offer.