Had a day on the Eden, water was low and gin clear so I struggled. Everyone else had the same idea so it was a bit busy. Had one trout on for a few seconds but that was my lot for the day.
Can’t grumble spending a day on such a beautiful river.
Tag: Trout
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Big Trout
Forgot to take the scenic pictures on this trip out to the Ribble. A little Mepps Droppen spinner accounted for this fish. Not really sure if its a Trout or a Sea Trout but it was decent, 22inch 3lb something.
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Struck Gold
Finally got into the first proper trout from the Ribble today, oh such buttery golden goodness! Saw more evidence of Salmon or maybe Sea Trout as well, big bastards jumping under the trees.
The river level was pretty low (0.50m) but it was still falling from recent spate with a bit of colour in the water. I fished that long glide and found Trout and Grayling at head of the run in the more oxygenated water.
Fished the usual New Zealand style with small pheasant tail UV bugs and fish were caught in surprisingly skinny water.
Note to self: These are the kind of days for bunking off work. If the river is level on point then cash in that flexi and get on it.
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The Prime Water?
Nothing caught today, the river rose 0.50m while I was driving down so I was under gunned with the sea trout gear. I also didn’t fancy wading into that unknown chocolate water. Unsurprisingly, my punk ass sea trout fly attracted zero interest.
Word on the street is this is fly water below 0.80m and spinning above that level when its clearing down after a spate. This has triggered me into buying a new rod (n+1) a bunch of Toby Spoons and a monumental net.
Some noted lies have been noted on this beat and I’ll be back.
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Back to reality
I purposelessly went fishing today in the miserable weather to try and bring myself back to reality after catching that Salmon. It rained for a solid 5 hours which was a bit cold and grim but… I caught another incredible, out of season, clandestine trout, I was buzzed by kingfishers, I saw a salmon leap clear out of the water and I was hissed at by an otter.
And then I caught a couple of stonking grayling on tungsten bugs. Grayling are such a revelation for me. I never used to dream of catching grayling but now I do, they are majestic and fight like demons. Wriggly, slippery bastards in the net and they look stunning in photographs. I must catch more.
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Week of dreams
Picture the scene… it’s the final week of my first wild trout season and I’ve been struggling to catch anything. The river has been low for months and the trout have been incredibly spooky. And then the rains come on strong in mid September and the Eden has lifted for the first time in months.
The conditions are absolutely primed for lift off but my car is knackered, it’s misfiring and spluttering and there’s coolant leaking into the spark plug wells. F*ck it, get the tampons and the tungsten, we’re going fishin’
What follows is the red letter week we all dream about. Fish in every pool, a river you thought was bereft of fish suddenly comes to life.
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Popping my Eden cherry
When my mate at work had a stroke, it got me all panic’d about the meaning of life and worried I’m not spending enough time doing shit I love. And with a tiny trout I just caught on the Ribble in mind I decided to decide join a fishing club and try and do it properly.
I always thought fishing for wild brown trout was a rich man’s game, all top dollar chalkstream’s and Range Rovers. Turns out that’s bollacks, the North West has some prime trout fishing on proper northern freestone rivers. Just the ticket for a fella like me.
And so it begins on the Eden. I arrived on the beat early and was immediately blown away.
There was zero fish caught today but I’m writing this a couple of years later and let’s just say the Eden has provided some incredible moments ever since.
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The Spark
This humble trout was the first one I got on a fly on a river. I’d had a few trout and a sea trout on the spinners previously but decided to give it a crack on the fly. Used my stillwater dry fly rod a (9ft 5w) with some crappy Amazon fly line and a box of ghetto buzzers and dry flies. Had the trout on a bright orange suspender buzzer (blasphemy!)
