A small rise of levels with some colour on the 1st of the month made fly fishing a little difficult for grayling. By the next day the water level had dropped and cleared somewhat to make conditions a little easier for the fly. Bait fishers did very well with trotting and feeders close into the sides, there seems to be plenty of grayling of all classes showing of late which is very good news.
In between the constant rises of water when levels have been low enough, the fishing has been pretty constant. With the weather remaining on the mild side, the grayling are still happy to come to light nymphs and dries. Although Czech nymphing is a very effective way of taking fish at any time of the year, it is not as enjoyable as fishing a team of spiders, nymphs and even more satisfying a dry or damp fly. A Klinkhamer on the larger side around a size 12 will attract fish from the bottom even in the cooler times when nothing is hatching or fish rising.
The biggest grayling reported so far this month is three pounds; there have been quite a few in the two to two and a half pounds showing up. As the water cools later, the slower deeper glides with gravel will come into play more. The brown trout have spawned and anglers are going to have to be careful with handling and releasing these fish.
A spell of very wet weather and big waters have curtailed grayling fishing for a good period, a drier spell is expected during the middle of the last week of the month.
Very quiet on the lower and middle river with salmon sightings at the moment. A question often asked of late is the Eden now swinging back to an early run river? Only time and a few more seasons will tell, it would certainly seem that way looking at the pattern of fish runs over the last four years and the coinciding wet weather. Always open for heated debate this topic; there has been a generation of anglers that have not experienced how good the spring fishing once was. It has been a period of good autumn runs and low spring and summer numbers, the spring salmon conservation by-law has been in force now for ten years. The last two years especially, we have seen a dramatic rise in numbers of large spring fish entering the Eden and also good numbers during the summer months. The September and October period has been notably quiet the last couple of years; what fantastic autumn fishing we have all enjoyed in times past, but is there a cause for concern?
It would seem that there has been the usual annual quota of salmon entering the Eden this year; only the fish have come early once more. The very valuable spring and summer run has definitely outweighed the autumn run again, especially this season. It is a great pity that there are not more anglers putting the fishing effort in early enough in the season over the last few years to see that potential.
