As the river levels began to drop over the last two weeks after the persistent high waters, salmon have been entering the Eden with some good fish among them.
3rd – river at two foot and fairly clear, water temperature 5.5 oC.
9th – Dave Bamford at Warwick Hall, 9 pounds. River at one foot and clear, odd fish showing off the tide.
11th-Martin Foster fished Crosby Pool on the Crosby beat of the Moorhouse Hall water and landed a 14 pounder. Further upstream on the same day Yorkshire Fly Fishers member Howard Dickson got his season off to a tremendous start with a fresh run 17 pounder at Spout Beck. Also on the YFF’s water on the 12th Simon Kay landed another 17 pounder at the Otter Stone.
On 14th Tom Herd fished the Otter Stone and landed a fish of a similar size, further upstream on the same day Roderick Maver landed an 18 pounder at Spout Beck. On Tuesday this week Nigel Madden and Geoff Cowburn both enjoyed sport at Island Foot; Nigel landing a 14 pounder and Geoff Cowburn a 12 pounder. All of the salmon caught this week on the YFF’s water near Wetheral were either carrying sea lice or the tell tale blood spots where lice had recently dropped from their hosts indicating that all of the fish caught were fresh run.
18th, level at eight inches and clear, tides dropping off.
The trout fishing season has begun, but off to a slow start, the high pressure system and easterly winds over the U.K are suppressing hatches at present. As soon as that changes and the weather warms a little, the large dark olives will be on the go to get the trout feeding up in the water column followed by the grannom hatch in April.
