The River Eden, Cumbria

The Eden is one of the finest game fishing rivers in the UK. The upper Eden flows roughly northwards from its source on Mallerstang Fell, through scenic pastureland and the red sandstone towns of Kirby Stephen and Appleby, before picking up the Eamont outside Penrith. From here the Eden grows in stature and can be considered a large river as it meanders through the fertile north Cumbrian estate lands of Eden Lacy, Lazonby and Armathwaite before the lower reaches are met around the city of Carlisle.

The Yorkshire Fly Fishers’ Club controls many miles of fishing on this most beautiful of rivers, offering the game angler a full spectrum of opportunities ranging from much sought-after spring salmon fishing on the lower river at Wetheral, to stalking of wild brown trout in the upper reaches towards Appleby. Our members benefit from the use of several club huts, and can call upon the combined knowledge of our two full-time Eden keepers who are always on hand to offer advice on water levels, lies, productive methods and so on. There is a lifetime’s worth of exploration on our Eden beats alone, such is the extent and variety of water available.

Salmon Fishing On The River Eden

The Eden is rightly renowned as one of the best salmon rivers in England, despite following the nationwide trend of decreased catches compared with those of the last century. One of the attractions of the Eden salmon fishery is its early run and our beat on the lower river at Wetheral remains one of the few places in England where the fly fisher has a reasonable expectation of sport with big, fresh-run spring salmon. We own a well-appointed bothy here, built from red Eden sandstone, which Wetheral section members may benefit from during their visit.

Not far upstream of Wetheral, the weir at Armathwaite acts as a ‘temperature barrier’ which tends to prevent the early runners from distributing into the upper catchment until later in the season. Our Upper Eden fishing - an extensive selection of waters between Eden Lacy and Appleby – is more regarded as a ‘back end’ fishery. There is huge potential for the salmon fisher here with numerous named pools and historically productive locations, as well as any number of lesser known lies which are waiting to be discovered by the more adventurous angler. The fishing is all private, with no day ticket access, and runs through some of the prettiest estate land in the north of England. The Yorkshire Fly Fishers Club water are generally very lightly fished and it is not unusual to have a whole beat to oneself.

Sea Trout Fishing On The River Eden

The Eden is not renowned as a sea trout river, perhaps overlooked due to the quality of the resident brown trout fishing. Nevertheless, sea trout do enter the system and the fishing for them can be good, particularly on the lower beats. They aren’t heavily fished for and many anglers are convinced that the Eden sea trout run is somewhat stronger than most people believe – the lack of angling effort creating something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Historically, the Eden sea trout were targeted using a now rarely seen method known as the ‘Eden bustard’, where a large winged wet fly pattern – typically tied using light coloured feathers from the bustard or other suitable bird – is fished down and across to create a wake at the surface. It is a method peculiar to the Eden Valley and is still used to this day by some of the older locals.

Trout & Grayling Fishing On The River Eden

The River Eden is a first class brown trout river, one of the best in the country. The varied nature of the Eden means that it lends itself to the full spectrum of river trouting techniques and visitors may find water suitable for every discipline from traditional upstream dry fly, to wet fly fishing and more modern variations such as tenkara and ‘leader-to-hand’ nymphing. There is everything an angler could want here: gravelly riffles and long, tree-lined pools; boulder-strewn runs and exciting white-water chutes. This variety of habitat, coupled with rich feeding from a healthy invertebrate population, means that the resident trout thrive and it is not uncommon to encounter fish in the 2-4lb bracket, sometimes even larger. The average Eden trout is somewhat smaller though and a typical day will yield sport with plenty of bright little fish of 10 to 14 inches long.

Nevertheless, the River Eden offers a worthy challenge to even the most experienced of trout anglers. The entire fishery is now unstocked and sport is with resident, wild fish which do not always give themselves up easily. Catching the larger specimens demands care and attention to detail, coupled with a patient, stealthy approach. For anglers prepared to invest a little time and effort to find such trout, the rewards can be memorable as there are few more handsome beasts residing in UK rivers, than a big Eden trout.

Dry fly sport with upwinged species can be excellent in spring and early summer and the hatches of large dark olives, March browns, olive uprights and iron blue duns often bring large numbers of fish up to feed at the surface. Later in the season, terrestrial insects such as gnats and beetles, ensure continued opportunity to cast at rising fish. Even when the residents are keeping their noses down, entertaining sport can be had by fishing wet flies and nymphs.

Grayling fishing on the Eden can prolong the angler’s interest right into the winter months. The ‘fourth game fish’ is not quite as numerous on the Eden system as it once was, but still presents a worthy target to the hardy band of dedicated souls who venture out to fish for them once the nights draw in. There are some large grayling present and it is not unusual to encounter fish of 2lb plus. Late in the summer and into autumn, they can be caught using regular trout fishing methods, often rising to take stranded aphids and other terrestrials amongst the floating leaf litter; but once winter proper takes a grip, the Eden grayling angler turns to the more specialised short-line nymphing techniques using teams of weighted flies to reach the lower part of the water column quickly.

YFFC Image Gallery - Fishing On The River Eden

 

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