River Eden

Not a great deal to write about of late, the weather continues to be very unsettled and with the end of the Eden salmon season a bit of a washout. Over the last two weeks, when the river has been low enough there has been some very good grayling fishing. We just need some low and clear water now for some consistent sport, the weather forecast for the next two weeks would not suggest that we are going to get that.

I spent some time on the Tweed last week, initially on the first part of the trip the water was warm and fish (there were plenty showing) hard to come by, there was then a flood along with cooler weather and the fish began to respond, it says it all.

A very good salmon summit held by the Eden Rivers Trust last weekend at Scotby, some very eminent speakers there talking about the genetics of salmon, it has certainly changed my outlook on things.

I am off the Annan tomorrow for the Kirkwood salmon school  http://www.cumbriaflyfishing.co.uk/temp2.htm with Anthony Steel and Mark Bowler, looking very much forward to it, always a great week. There is rain forecast once more though and I just hope that this does not spoil what could be potentially a very good week on the river. The Annan has fished pretty well of late and we are hoping that just maybe with the lower water temperatures, a run of salmon might just happen.

The AAPGAI assessments and open day are going on at Builth Wells and by all accounts it has been a great success, (maybe I should stay away more often), check it out for other info also - http://aapgai.wordpress.com/

Why wait until the season starts next year and struggle with your casting when there are fish around, get it sorted now in the close season so you have a flying start. The Annan and Nith are still open for salmon until the end of November, on the Eden we have some good grayling fishing to look at over the winter; don't hang up the rods yet you will just get jobs around the house to do!

River Eden

I would like to have said for the last two weeks of the salmon season in October, that the river was in fine order, that there were fish everywhere, that many were taken on the fly to compensate for the very wet August and September months. But I cannot unfortunately; the rain continued to fall in October, the river continued to rise, quite substantially on occasions putting an end to any thoughts of fishing. Every weather map we look at, there is always a swathe of cloud across Cumbria, everywhere south of the county seems to be basking in sunshine.

I think we will just have to sweep this peculiar season under the carpet, put it down to abnormal weather patterns and look forward to the next season. I have never known anything like this in over twenty years, there are many unhappy anglers on the river, some who have had to travel a considerable distance for their fishing only to face a big and brown coloured Eden. It is a shame, after a great start for the first half which was nothing less than outstanding, and that is fishing sometimes, we all encounter the wrong conditions on occasions, but this year it seems like it has been the wrong trousers just about every weekend for months!

The water temperature at present is 12oC, unusually warm for the time of year and easy for fish to run.

 A coloured cock fish for Ken on the middle river carefully returned.