Wednesday, January 21, 2015

A few better fish to see out 2014....

Well so much for the hope of more regular updates during the winter months! I did intend to do more but if I was honest; I struggled to get myself motivated. Maybe a touch of SAD (Season Affective Disorder)? I don't know. I've occasionally been described as SAD, but that's tended to be from non-fishers who don't understand my obsession with this great sport. Whatever it was, it didn't stop me fishing!

It's been a wet winter in Eden, the river's been up and down like a yo-yo and opportunities have been limited. I have managed enough short sessions - grabbed on an often large, falling and clearing river - to keep me happy and stave off the winter blues. 


All my success since October has been to bugs fished relatively deep, but I think that's been as much down to laziness as anything else. Many outings have seen a sparse hatch of LDO's (Large Dark Olives) and a few midge, although it tended to be late in the day and mainly on the flats. These hardy souls have produced the occasional splashy rise and spiders may have produced, but there was never enough activity to motivate me to start changing rigs in the last hour of daylight on a cold winter's afternoon.


As mentioned in my last blog; we seem to have a healthy population of smaller graying in Eden at the moment but very few larger ones, so it was nice to get hold of some better specimens in December.




The guiding life has been pretty quiet since the end of October. That seems to be the pattern for the back end of the year, but bookings have been coming in since the turn of the year, so hopefully all bodes well for The Eden Angler in 2015.

Richard braved the elements. He had a look out with me to work on his Czech nymphing skills and was rewarded with a few fish.  

The last fish of 2014


We've had a wet start to 2015. It rained all day New Year's day, the river rose approximately 3 metres and there's been another three big lifts since. I've only managed one outing, but now it seems settled - although bloody freezing - so I'll be braving it and hitting the river a few more times before the trout season starts. It's only eight weeks away now and I can't wait; a few years ago I convinced myself that if I had a break between January and March I'd look forward to the start of the season more  - but that didn't last long and I was soon back to my 12 month season.
Even though I've been fishing for over 40 years, I still get excited about the big day on March 15th. It starts on a Sunday this year so I'm sure there'll be a few out for opening day, and - weather permitting - I'll be one of them. Let's hope that the 2015 trout season is as good as 2014....