April in Eden

We had a wet start to April and our rivers were out for most of the first week. They were dropping back and fishable by the 7th. The water temperature was still pretty low; it was down at 6°C but that didn't stop the Large Dark Olives from hatching in force. A few fish were drawn to the surface and I managed to catch my best fish of the season so far. It was picking off the emerging Olives and was tempted with a suitable imitation.

An LDO emerger fooled this 3lb 1oz beauty

Water temperatures were beginning to rise by the 10th - they were up to 9°C. Large Dark Olives continued to hatch in decent numbers and a few March Browns were starting to make an appearance. We still weren't see large numbers of rising fish - despite good hatches - but some very good fish were on the feed at times.

Another nice fish taken during a Large Dark Olive hatch

March Browns were hatching with more regularity

We were seeing trickles of March Browns on most days from the 10th of the month and a few fish were on them when Chris joined me for his first taste of fly fishing. The fish weren't feeding hard, but there was enough activity for Chris to tempt his first trout on the fly.

Chris is into his first fly-caught fish

The middle of the month brought strong Easterly winds and challenging fishing for Mike. The wind seemed to deter the fly from hatching in force, but ringing the changes between spiders and dries - when we did spot the occasional riser - produced some action.

Mike nets his first Eden trout of 2018

Tim tempted a fish to his spiders

The easterlies had abated by the 18th, the sun came out and we saw our first trickle of Grannom. It lifts my spirits when the Grannom appear - I always think that the massive hatches of our daytime sedge are the first big feed of the year for our trout and it often kick-starts our season. The Grannom made an appearance on most days following the 18th, but not in the numbers expected - we had to wait until the 28th for the first proper hatch.

Mike is into another fish

David plays a fish on a challenging day

Colin joined me on the 28th and fish were rising as soon as we hit the river - the Grannom were hatching in massive numbers and fish were on them! Targeting rising fish with dries and emergers produced an exciting few hours with fish risen, caught and missed....

An excellent hatch of Grannom

Colin with a fish during a Grannom hatch

Colin is into a fish on his day in the lakes

We hit the lakes at the end of the month and Colin joined me for a day on Ullswater. The lake - like our rivers - is still very cold for the time of year. But we persevered, hit many of my favourite drifts, and got some action! Colin moved, missed and caught a few fish and even managed a double, when two fish came to his top and middle dropper.

Two fish at once for Colin

So, the cold and slow start to the season continued into April. But I don't want to sound too negative as we had fish on all outings - they just weren't feeding as hard as we'd expect for April. The hatches of Large Dark Olive and March Brown have been excellent at times. The Grannom have started and a few Olive Uprights and Iron Blue Duns have began to appear. 
The optimist in me says all is looking positive for May and I'll finish April's blog in a similar fashion to the way I finished March's. The Grannom have been slightly late and there should be more to come in May. A few Large Dark Olives should continue to trickle off into the early part of the new month. We can expect hatches of Olive Uprights, Iron Blue Duns and Large Brook Duns. Depending on the weather, we should see our first Medium Olive and Yellow May Dun of the year and, if we're lucky, we may see a fall of Black Gnats. Oh, and the Mayfly should be making an appearance. So there's plenty to look forward to! 

The Beast from the East

The 'Beast from the East' has certainly taken it's toll in the first two weeks of the new trout season. Apparently this weather system with it's ominous nickname was driven in by winds from Siberia, bringing bitterly cold weather and snow to much of the country.

Most of the snow at lower levels had disappeared for the new season, but it remained at higher levels and the subsequent bouts of snow-melt have kept our water temperatures down. Water temperatures recorded so far on my local rivers and lakes have ranged between 4°C and 6.5°C.

But it's not all bad news; we've had some very good hatches of Large Dark Olives with the occasional showing from the March Browns and some very good fish have been caught - they just haven't been feeding very hard in the low water temperatures.

We've had good hatches of Large Dark Olives on occasions

The first time I read anything about the effect of water temperatures on the fish and their diet was in a book borrowed from a friend many years ago (probably about 35 years ago). That book was 'A Trout and Salmon fisherman for Seventy-five years' (1948) by Edward Ringwood Hewitt.
From what I remember; Hewitt was talking about fishing Yellowstone Park and the effect of extreme high and low temperatures on the fish. Temperature levels that we rarely - if ever - experience over here, and how the fishes digestive system would shut down at these temperatures and they would cease to feed.

Even after reading Hewitt's book, I still don't really remember thinking much about water temperatures and their effect on the fish and fishing. In those days - when we had proper winters - the fishing was always tough in the opening weeks of the season, the fish were usually thin and in poor condition. I guess that I just accepted that that was the way it was - we just went fishing, and you had good days and you had bad days. That changed when I acquired little paperback called  'The Trout' by Frost and Brown.

There is a section in the book that talks about the Maintenance requirements of the fish. Their explanation of these requirements fits with what we are experiencing at the moment. There's too much information to cover here, but basically: the lower the temperature, the less energy the fish extends, therefore the less food it requires to maintain it's existence; the higher the temperature - within reason - the more active it is, so it uses more energy and requires more food. Based on their the research, the greatest increase in maintenance requirement - and the one that will be of greatest interest to us fisherman - is between 8°C and 15°C.
So with our rivers and lakes ranging in temperature from 4°C to 6.5°C during the first two weeks of the season: I guess it's understandable that the fish may have been be a bit lethargic, as their maintenance requirement is going to be relatively low. And it may explain why most of the fish that have been encountered by the few stalwarts that have braved the elements have been good fish. As Frost and Brown say 'the larger the animal, the larger will be its total maintenance requirement'.

An early lake trout

The early days of the season are when I like to get out to recce different areas, to see if there's any changes after the winter. After a couple of river outings I decided to brave the elements and risk a day in the lakes. Conditions were perfect for lake fishing, but with the water temperature down at 4°C there was a good chance that it was going to be a bit of a dour affair - and so it proved. There was a time when I would never have ventured onto the lake in March and this year's cold start reminded me of those days. But it wasn't fruitless and - despite many unproductive drifts - my efforts were rewarded....

Thorsten's first fish fell to a 'March Brown Emerger'

Conditions improved slightly for 1°C Thorsten's visit. It showed that it doesn't take much; on two of his days we had a  lift in water temperatures (to 6.5°C) and fish responded to the surface fly. They didn't feed hard, but it was great to see fish at the surface and a few responded to Thorsten's offerings. On day one a hatch of Large Dark Olives brought them up and although they couldn't be tempted with the dries, they did respond to a well presented Spider. On day two we had a mixed hatch of Large Dark Olives and March Browns, and fish were tempted with dry/emerger imitations of each species.

Tempted by a 'Large Dark Olive Emerger'

On the penultimate day of the month the water temperature dropped by 1°C and fishing slowed again. I only saw two rising fish - despite an excellent hatch of Large Dark Olive - and only one rose regularly enough to tempt with an Olive emerger.

April is here now though, so the weather should start to improve, water temperatures should increase and we have some excellent hatches to look forward to. With the best of the March Browns still to come and Grannom, Iron Blue Dun and Olive Uprights to look forward to, April can be a great month for dry fly sport. So there is a lot to be optimistic about.....