mikeclough

Forwarded to Simon Johnson at Eden Rivers Trust: "I have fished the Eden and its tributaries since the age of 10 - that was 1963. My earliest years were mostly spent fishing one of the Eden's major tributaries, the river Irthing, as it was walking distance from our house. This is a small spate river flowing south and south-west from the peaty upland bogs of north Cumbria, joining the Eden near Warwick-on-Eden. Later, when I had my own transport, I fished the Eden more and now I rarely fish any other river. My comments here relate mostly to the river Irthing and are not really about how good it was but rather how different it was. I've also made some non-fishing comments because I think they are indicative of the changes to the ecosystem as a whole. The most noticeable differences between the Irthing now and then are: * There is significantly less water flow now. I estimate about 50% of the flow during periods of 'normal' rainfall compared to the sixties. * The river now runs off after a spate in less than 24 hours whereas back then a spate would take 3 days or more to run off. * Trout stocks now are not significantly less than in the sixties, nor is there much difference in the average size of the fish caught. A trout of 1lb is still a pretty good fish from the Irthing, as it was back then. In the Eden the trout stocks also seem to be very very good though I can't make such a close comparison. * Sea-trout do not enter the Irthing in any noticeable quantity during the open season whereas it was possible to make fair catches of seatrout in the sixties. * Grayling have made a massive comeback to the river after virtually disappearing in the mid- to late-eighties. The same has happened in the Eden. The grayling stocks are extensive and very healthy. * Coarse fish have disappeared from the river. There used to be massive shoals of big dace (I caught many over 1lb) and plentiful chub (I had one of 4 1/4 lb). There were even some perch which is amazing for a spate river. The disappearance of the coarse fish coincided with a huge influx of cormorants and fish-eating ducks in the early eighties. I haven't caught a dace in the Irthing since 1985 and in the Eden since 2000. There are still some big chub to be caught in the Eden but I haven't had a juvenile chub since 2005. * Shoals of minnows are now rare in the Irthing. There are still some stone loach and bullheads to be found under the stones though, which is encouraging. Sticklebacks are common but were never seen back in the sixties. The Eden fortunately still has massive shoals of minnows. * Freshwater mussels have disappeared from both Eden and Irthing. They were very common in the Eden, less so in the Irthing (too acidic probably). * Flounders no longer run into the Eden and Irthing. When I started fishing my uncle Jim used to go fishing specifically for flounders in the lower Irthing near Newby East. I haven't caught a flounder in the Eden since some time in the 90's. * In common with other rivers in England there are no longer any water voles to be seen. They were wiped out by mink in (I think) the 70's. They were a common and delightful sight in my youth. * Otters have made a wonderful comeback to the river Irthing. I have recently had the pleasure of watching an otter work its way up a pool that I was fishing for grayling. It was one of the most memorable fishing events of my life. * Kingfishers have also returned, both to the Irthing and the Eden, though I don't yet know if they have been adversely affected by the harsh winter of 2009/2010. I hope these comments are of some use."

Any crayfish of the size you indicated (4" - 6") are most likely non-native signal crayfish and should not be returned to the water. They are VERY good to eat - just drop them into boiling salted water for a few minutes. Yum! The native white-clawed crayfish are generally much smaller and have distinctive white patches on the underside of their claws. They are VERY rare in UK and are not only protected but are officially an endangered species. You are very unlikely to encounter them unless you fish one of the few waterways where they are still surviving. I have them in the stream that flows through my garden! Unfortunately, because it is possible to confuse the two different species it is quite important to find out if your local river/lake supports a population of the protected species before you go making plans for a crayfish boil. You can find info here: www.jncc.gov.uk/ProtectedSites/SACselection/species.asp?FeatureIntCode=S1092 [ 28. July 2004, 04:02 AM: Message edited by: mikeclough ]

I agree with Newt. The statement found at that link is total rubbish. I've been a member of the BFSS since it was created and a member of WAGBI (its precursor) for many years prior to that, and I can assure all that I've never seen any evidence that the BFSS promotes 'killing for kicks'. I will say however that I've now given up shooting because I could no longer justify the cruelty involved. No matter how good a shot you are some of the quarry will be wounded at some time, and will suffer. You either accept it or not. I can no longer personally accept it. Similarly, in fishing, any sort of fishing, at some time you will inflict cruelty on the fish, no matter how careful you are. We do our best to minimise the cruelty, and we hope that those authorities who tell us that the fish don't feel much pain are correct. But we'll really never know. However, I accept the (hopefully) small amount of cruelty I inflict on fish, and can live with it. I fully agree with those above who say we should distance ourselves from the CA. Fox hunting with hounds is doomed in England and they know it. They are just making last desperate efforts to garner support for a blatantly cruel activity.

Success at worm 'charming' depends on quite a lot of factors one of the most important being the moisture content of the soil. If the upper soil layers are dry the worms go deep. Its not sufficient for the grass to be wet, the top couple of feet of soil must be damp. At my previous house I accidentally found a brilliant way of getting huge numbers of worms. First I set up a sprinkler to soak the lawn over a large area. After a few hours of this I placed my petrol lawnmower in the middle of the soaked area, engine running at about half speed. Worms just came pouring out of the ground. Doesn't work at all at my new house. The most reliable method I've found is to locate a meadow with plenty of old cowpats on it. The grass must be closely cropped and it must be a true meadow i.e. not been used for anything but grazing for many years. Stick your garden fork in the middle of the cowpat (down to the full length of the tines) and wiggle back and forth. Keep wiggling and be patient. Usually works very well. [ 26. June 2004, 08:35 PM: Message edited by: mikeclough ]

Bradford angler - which river are you referring to? The Ribble?

The beck which flows into Rickerby park, Brunstock Beck, did indeed have fantastic dace fishing despite its size, especially when Eden was in spate. This beck was considered by many to be a major dace spawning tributary of the Eden. Whether or not that was actually true I don't know. Sadly the dace are now pretty much gone from Brunstock Beck and the entire Eden system. I caught my last dace in Rickerby Park in 1997. The chub are in serious demise as well. You can catch plenty of big ones but the chublets are few and far between. The Environment Agency has been doing quite a bit of investigation into the decreasing coarse fish numbers in the Eden system but I haven't seen any data published yet. My theory: its the fish-eating ducks (goosanders etc) and cormorants that have wiped them out. Strangely, Bassenthwaite Lake in the Lake District, has unbelievable dace fishing (roach too) as a result of pike angler's released livebaits.

Many years ago I enjoyed fantastic shore fishing from the rocky headlands around the Mull of Galloway. However, the last time I visited, in 2001 during the height of foot and mouth, the normal access points were fenced off with 'keep out' signs. Has access been re-established? I'm particularly thinking about the track going down to West Tarbert and the coastal footpath running north from there, where we used to have brilliant pollack fishing from all the little headlands.

Thanks to everyone for the info. Monkeyboy and Cartman, yes I think I'll try the Ribble as its only a 1 hour blast down the M6 for me. Is it tidal at Preston? Wearyone, I fish the Eden 'all the time' - a couple of times a week right through the year for salmon, trout, grayling and chub (no dace anymore). There have been rumours of barbel for years but I don't know of anyone who has caught one. There was a massive fish kill downstream of Appleby a few years ago when some chemicals got in the river. Every fish was killed over 10 - 15 miles of the river but there were no barbel (no pike or perch either - also widely rumoured).

Is there any barbel fishing in north Lancashire, County Durham or north Yorkshire? I live in Cumbria where we have no barbel and I would really like to catch one. I need somewhere not much more than 1½-2 hours drive so that I can fish it as a day trip.

This is all GOOD STUFF! I think maybe I've been trying when the weather has been too calm, and maybe casting blindly out too far. I'll try to use a bit more intelligence about where I put my baits. The beaches are pretty featureless, just thousands of acres of flat sand and mud interspersed with rocky patches, but there are some very 'low profile' gullies here and there. Lug (very small) and rag are available to dig locally, but I think I'll try to get peeler crab from the rocky bits. When lug digging you also find huge clams with big leathery 'tubes' sticking out of them - are these any good for bait? Would you start fishing at low water and fish all the way up the tide? Would there be a preference for small or big tides? Big tides in the Solway often bring massive amounts of weed which makes fishing difficult. Is it worth fishing any part of the ebb? Better at night? The questions keep coming.....

Hello All, my first post here. I'm really hoping you folks can help me to achieve my ambition this year: to catch a bass from the north Cumbria coast. Yes, I live in Cumbria. Is there a coastal county in the UK with worse sea fishing? Probably not. First, anyone here fished the north Cumbria coast for bass? They get caught, you occasionally read about them in the local press. I've tried without success. The coastline is fairly daunting in that when the tide goes out it goes out for literally miles. When it comes in you are fishing in just a few feet of water at maximum casting range. How do you choose where to fish? Does the water depth matter? What state of tide is best? Lots more questions to follow.....