Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Joyous June

The cooler weather and low water temperatures delayed the appearance of our true Mayfly (Ephemera danica) this year but when they did decide to show they came in good numbers.


Ullswater got it's yearly quota and the fish turned onto them providing good sport for those that hit the lake in favourable conditions. We've seen an increase in numbers on our rivers over the last few years and that continued this year. Guiding and teaching on the river most days provides the ideal opportunity to see what's happening on a regular basis, and contrary to what I've heard elsewhere, I witnessed decent numbers on the Eden and it's main tributary, the River Eamont this year. Some good fish were on them on occasions too, with a few falling to my offerings.... 



Early June saw our rivers at a good level, daytime sport was good. Fish responded well to the surface fly when a hatch brought them up in the water and , if not, nymphs and spiders received plenty of interest. So all boded well for Ian and Tim's visit to Eden. Both got into fish on their respective days....

Ian is about to net a trout that took his nymph

Tim had his fly fishing debut and netted his first Grayling

As the weather improved, so did our evening sport. Warmer evenings saw some excellent hatches of sedge for those willing to wait until the sun went down. Surface activity can often be quite short - but very sweet - in the failing light, with some quality fish on the feed.... 


A long spell of dry weather in the second half of the month brought our rivers to their bones, which made for challenging conditions. Fish were quick to move into their 'summer lies' and sport was still good on occasions. When I wasn't out guiding I managed some good sessions to my own rod and most visitors (clients) to Eden managed to get their strings pulled....

Some nice fish to my rod on occasions

David draws a fish to the net

Sharlene with a fish on her first visit to Eden

It was great to see a good turnout for the Eden Valley young anglers event held at Holme farm on the Appleby Angling Association waters.
Sponsored by John Norris of Penrith and three Eden valley angling clubs - Kirkby Stephen, Penrith and Appleby - REDFA along with Borderlines hosted the event. Twenty six participants turned up on the day with some from last years event. They got a good day for it, the weather was beautiful and all attending were split into four groups; I introduced them to roll casting, Derek Kelly did the overhead cast, there was an entomology session with Chris Bowman, and each group did a fishing session with Glyn Freeman. All those taking part received a certificate at the end of the day....