Saturday, November 27, 2021

September in Eden - the end to another trout season.

September in Eden saw the end of another trout season on our rivers. The month started dry and sunny. The rivers were low and they stayed that way until the final few days of September, when we finally got some wet weather in Eden and a slight lift in levels. 

Conditions were hardly ideal for those trying our great sport for the first time and challenging for guided days, but we did okay considering...and all coped with the conditions admirably.


Collin with his first grayling on the fly

A few grayling, despite the low water, began to make their customary appearance as we moved into September. Collin managed his first grayling on his first taste of Eden and decent numbers were occasionally found midging the flats.

More grayling in September


A first on her fly fishing debut for Elizabeth

It's great to see newcomers trying our great sport for the first time and there was a quite a few in September. Elizabeth had her first taste and managed to get some action on the nymph on her debut.
Nymph fishing dominated tactics for the remainder of the month. The occasional grayling could be found tempted to the surface by midge or aphids, but the trout were not interested. For them it was sub-surface offerings or nothing.


Trout on the nymph

Some nice fish were still to be found, but they did not come easy, they had to be worked for. Mark and Mike came for guided days and both scored on the French leader and small nymphs. French or European nymphing does not suit all, but there's no doubt that it is a very efficient way of working the water and it can be very effective at times.

Mark is into a fish on the nymph


Action for Mike

After a tough and very busy season, I decided to reserve the final week of the season for myself. The nymph still dominated - I didn't fish anything else, but I was rewarded with some nice finish to see out my season. The best was a beautiful 3lbs 6oz specimen that succumbed to a small nymph on the French leader.


A nice fish at 3lbs 6ozs towards the end of September

Rain during the last few days of the season brought the rivers up slightly and perked the fish up for the final day. With no fly showing at the surface, it was another day on the nymph, but a good number of fish responded positively to my offerings. So, despite 2021 being a very challenging season, it was nice to finish it off on a positive note. Let's hope that the fish winter well and roll on the 2022 trout season! 


A fish from the final day of the 2021 trout season

Sunday, November 21, 2021

Rain returned to Eden in August

Rain returned to Eden in August - to every fisherman's relief! The month began with the rivers low, but rain on the 6th brought a welcome rise. Eden was up approximately 27 cm (11 inch/ish) by the 8th and coloured.

Fresh water perked the fish up!
Fresh water perked the fish up!

The fresh water certainly perked the fish up and, as the river settled, a day on the nymph produced my best fish of the season!
The river was still holding at a good level and carrying a touch of colour when David joined me. David's favoured method involves a traditional across and downstream presentation of a team of our 'North Country Spiders'. And it certainly paid dividends, with a number of fish coming to his well-presented offerings.

A nice fish from a coloured river!
A nice fish from a coloured river!

It wasn't just the nymphs that produced. The drop in water temperature seemed to have fish actively looking for food and I had a couple of enjoyable sessions stalking the bank edges, picking off some nice fish that were actively sipping on aphids.

A nice fish sipping on aphids!
A nice fish sipping on aphids!

An Eden trout comes to the net
An Eden trout comes to the net

The unsettled weather continued for the majority of August. Although the rain wasn't heavy and our rivers were never massive, the levels did fluctuate and water temperatures dropped sufficiently to produce some decent fishing. Alan hit the river at a nice height and his good fishing ensured that his offerings were accepted by a number of nice fish!

Net at the ready!
Net at the ready!

The cooler water temperatures didn't just suit the trout; the end of August saw the grayling starting to come on the feed again. On some days there were decent numbers to be found sipping on midge and aphids. If you were lucky to in the right place when this happened a few could be tempted with suitable offerings. Based on observations, hopefully this bodes well for our late autumn and winter grayling fishing.

Cooler temperatures suited the grayling
Cooler temperatures suited the grayling

Saturday, November 20, 2021

A dry July in Eden

It was a dry July in Eden. The warm and dry spell continued and the rivers were down to their bones. Nymph fishing dominated most days and dry fly enthusiasts had to wait for the failing light of the late evenings.


Tempted by a Blue Winged Olive

The evening sport was good at times. We saw, albeit sparse, hatches of Blue Winged Olives, Sedge and Caenis, plus falls of Blue Winged Olive spinner. Fish turned onto them, with suitable imitations of each species producing action at different times throughout some evenings.


Another to the Blue Winged Olive

The rivers were low and gin clear and surface activity was at a premium during the day. So sub-surface offerings came to the fore, which suited our agenda when Joe came for a day on the river. The remit was nymph fishing techniques and we looked at European nymphing techniques, traditional upstream nymphing and did a bit of work with the 'North Country spiders'. All techniques produced some interest from the fish, so it was a successful introduction for Joe.


Joe took fish on the nymph

When fish were tempted to the surface during the day it was, in the main, by some of the tinier morsels that occasionally present themselves to the fish on our rivers. So when Jon had his first taste of fly fishing in Eden, most of our day was spent targeting fish that were rising to Midge and/or Aphids. 


Jon scored with the Midge and Aphids

Nymphs scored best!

The rivers were getting very low by the third week of the month. Presenting nymphs in various ways, depending on depth and current velocity, proved the most productive in the bright conditions. And size did matter! Invertebrates at this time of year tend to be very small and our nymphs have to reflect this.


A fish on the nymph for David

Wet weather returned towards the end of the month and it rained all day for David and Sam's day in Eden. The trout didn't really appreciate the change in conditions. It was quieter than I'd have like, but both stuck at it and managed to get some action. A mix of North country spiders and nymphs were enough to tempt the occasional fish and save the blanks.


Sam Shows off his catch

Friday, October 29, 2021

June 2021...hot weather and Blue Wing Olives

June 2021 began with a spell of very sunny and very hot weather, but it also brought the season's first hatches of Blue winged Olives!


First fish of the season to a Blue winged Olive

It's great to see young people taking an interest in our sport. Hector joined me for his first taste of fly fishing, and he managed to get his first trout on the fly! So I hope that the day has given him the enthusiasm to try it again and/or take up fly fishing at some point in the future.


Hector had his first go at Fly Fishing

The warm weather continued into June. Blue winged Olives were seen most days/evenings and sport was good. The month was mainly filled with newcomers to our sport, with the majority trying my 'Taster days' . Although a few of the more seasoned anglers came too. With some, like Tony, trying Eden for the first time.


A first taste of Eden for Tony

The Blue Winged Olives, like many other species this season, weren't as prolific as hoped for, but we saw them most days. Some evenings we were seeing sport to a mix of Blue Winged Olive Duns and spinners, Caddis, Midge and Caenis. Daytime sport was a mix of nymphing, spider fishing and, occasionally, dries. With imitations covering BWO, Midge, Aphids and Beetles.


Tempted by a Blue Winged Olive Dun

The good weather continued and by the middle of the month the rivers were starting to run gin clear and low. We had a few challenging days in the conditions. Fish were reluctant to come to the surface in the sunshine, but enough responded positively to sub-surface offerings to get most, that braved the sunshine, some sport.


David with a nice fish to the nymph


Ed is into a fish on his fly fishing debut

A weather front blew through the area towards the end of the month. It brought a brief return to cooler and wetter weather.It didn't last long and the river only came up 2cm, but it was a very welcome lift. David joined me on the day that the rain swept through and he did well on a challenging day. The fish seemed reluctant to feed. All he got was a few tentative tweaks to his offerings, before the day was saved when his best fish of the season so far walloped one of his spiders!


David with his best fish of the season

Maytime in Eden

Maytime in Eden started with bitterly cold weather and a relatively low river. 

Paul joined me on the first day of the month and, despite the cold conditions, we had fly trickling off the river and fish rising. It was an opportunity for Paul to fish the dry fly and fish responded positively to his offerings. As per usual this season, the rise and hatch were brief affairs, but a change to our 'North Country Spiders' brought a bit more action as the surface activity slowed.


Paul had action to the dry fly!

The first weekend of May brought another spell of heavy rain, which fell as snow on the fell tops. The rivers were high and the remainder of the week remained bitterly cold. 
Water temperatures have been all over the place during the early weeks of our season. They were 10°C on opening day, then dropped to 7°C before rising to 9°C and dropping again to 5°C. It's hardly surprising that our hatches, along with associated rises, have been sparse and unpredictable! 

The rivers were settling down towards the end of the first week and, although it was still bitterly cold, Large dark Olives and Olive Uprights braved the elements and made a show.


Tempted by an Olive Upright

More rain over the second weekend of May brought the rivers up again, but they settled enough for Colin's day on the Tuesday. We got some sunshine, a hatch of Olives and Colin managed some action to his offerings.

Colin got some action! 

After high waters forced a cancellation earlier in the month, Jimmy joined me for his taste of Eden and to work on our river techniques. We looked at a few different things and most worked on the day, but the dry fly produced the best spell of action. 


Jimmy into a nice fish on the dry fly

We had a bit of a warm spell during the third week of the month, the hatches picked up and so did the fishing. Although most of that week was spent doing casting lessons rather than fishing! 
David joined me towards the end of week three. The plan was to look at some of the techniques that we employ on our rivers, put them into action and to do some fishing. We had hatches of Olive Uprights, Iron Blue Duns and Brook Duns...David got some action on the dries.


David got some action on the dries

The warm spell didn't last long. We were back to strong winds and heavy rain on the 20th and the rivers were up again for the third weekend of the month. 
David had been hoping for a day on Ullswater and the river levels made it an easy choice. It proved a good move, conditions were perfect, fish fed well and David got action throughout the day!


David got perfect conditions for his day on Ullswater!

More high waters meant that a couple of guided days had to be cancelled in the second half of the month. But all settled down for 25th and the Yellow May Dun made their first appearance of the year. 
Mike joined me for his first visit of 2021, we got the hoped for hatch, managed to find some rising fish and he enjoyed some sport to the dry fly.


Mike tempted fish with his dries


First Mayfly on the 28th

Our biggest upwing, the Mayfly (Ephemerella Danica), were about a week late this year, I didn't see my first until the 28th. But it was nice to see them join the party and hopefully a sign that the river was coming to life. We had a number of species hatching on some days and some great sport to the dry fly.


A Brown to an Olive Upright

We saw the month out with the river settled and some decent hatches. David joined me in the latter days and his favoured method 'North Country Spiders' were put to good use. His well-presented team produced action throughout the day and he made contact with a decent number of fish.


David scored on the spiders

Thursday, October 28, 2021

April in Eden...2021

 April in Eden started off with the rivers high and dirty. It wasn't all bad news though - Covid restrictions were relaxed on the 29th March and we were allowed to move around a bit more.

The rivers had settled by the 4th and normal service resumed, albeit with bitterly cold northerlies and long spells of sunshine! Luckily the rivers were still carrying a touch of colour, which compensated slightly for the sunshine and we saw trickles of our spring upwings. My first fish of the month fell to a March Brown imitation.


First of April to the March Brown

The northerly blasts continued until mid-April, giving us a spell of very cold wintry weather, with snow at times!
Our spring flies weren't detered by the weather. They still came, just not in the numbers that we normally see and hatches were very short-lived affairs. But if you were prepared to wander and watch, you'd normally come across the occasional fish that was being tempted to the surface.

The occasional fish was tempted to the surface

A large dark Olive feeder

The cold weather kept our Grannom hatches at bay in the early part of the month. It was the 17th before I saw my first meaningful hatch of our seasonal daytime sedge. And with water temperatures driven down by the cold snap, the fish were reluctant to come to the surface with their usual vigour, on what I normally class as their first big feed of the season!

Luckily the fish fed well to a good hatch of Grannom when David joined me for a day's guiding. He managed to score on both dry and wet imitations.


David hit a hatch of Grannom


A Grannom feeder for Trevor!

Trevor joined me for his first taste of Eden. After a morning spent working on techniques, we were fortunate to hit a mid-afternoon Grannom hatch and Trevor got a nice fish on his debut!

The final week of April saw the rivers very low, following a long spell of very cold, dry, sunny weather. The fishing, despite a reasonable show from the Grannom, had been tough. But The Grannom are normally followed by hatches of Iron Blue Duns and Olive Uprights and this year was no different. Mike arrived just in time to hit this latest batch of upwings and our river performed okay for him.


Mike hit hatches of Iron Blue Dun and Olive Upright


Olive Upright


Iron Blue Dun

Our seasonal flies still refused to show in their usual numbers, but we saw trickles of Large Dark Olive, Olive Upright and Iron Blue dun during the final days of the month and if you were fortunate to be in the right place....


If you were fortunate to be in the right place....

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

March 2021...Another season begins in Eden!

Our 2021 brown trout season kicked off on Monday 15th March with us still in the grips of our latest Covid lockdown and, following weekend rain, our rivers in flood!
The one positive about this recent lockdown was that fishing was seen as being beneficial to our mental state, so it was allowed as part of our daily exercise routine, but with limits on travel. We were only allowed to fish rivers and stillwaters that were classed as local, in relation to where we lived. Luckily, that was not an issue for me.

Our rivers were big and dirty for the first three days of the new season, but all was good by the 18th. Although still carrying a touch of colour, they were fine and our seasonal flies - Large Dark Olive and March Brown - made a brief show to get a few fish on the feed. And I made a good start to the season when I found a nice fish sipping on Large dark Olive emergers!


First fish of the season on an Olive Emerger

Our rivers settled down and remained fishable until we had more rain on the 28th. Cold winds swept through the system most days and hatches of our spring flies were sparse and short-lived affairs. But wandering with the dry fly or speculating with our North Country spiders produced some action on most outings.

A bonnie fish tempted by a March Brown spider


The spiders produced!

Another spell of heavy rain on the 28th blew the rivers out on the 29th and 30th, but they were okay for the final day of the month. The river was coloured, but fishable. And, although the Large Dark Olives and fish were not too keen to make a show, the day was saved when a sparse hatch of March Browns was enough to tempt the occasional fish to the surface....


Tempted by a March Brown dun!