Esk & Liddle Fisheries

March 2011

2011-04-12T16:54:00.001Z

Reports were received of a couple of Spring Salmon being landed on the lower English part of the river ,around Netherby. Of course all salmon are returned until 16^th June.

Only the odd angler ventured out on 1^st April .Some salmon kelts were reported caught and returned.

A selected number of anglers from all Solway rivers, together with Solway netsmen from across Dumfries & Galloway were invited to a presentation night & buffet for Celtic Sea Trout Project at Cairndale hotel , Dumfries.. An overview was given by participants from the four UK countries, the Isle of Man and Eire. This research project to better understand factors affecting Sea Trout populations in the Irish Sea, will now be moving toward the deep marine phase. Work will continue however with freshwater and estuarine sampling and analysis.

Out of all the river catchments involved in the project, Esk sampling coordinator ,Iain Bell was pleased to announce that the Scots Border Esk has achieved the greatest contribution of samples . A total of 256 scale sample sets, plus DNA contributions have been gathered on Esk & Liddle and the inner Solway. Iain would like to thank all those anglers and netsmen for their continued support. The River Nith did well with 166 samples obtained.

Evidence so far suggests that genetic variance between various strains of sea trout from differing areas is quite distinct and therefore more easily identified than most animals in the marine environment. This should make tracking each rivers migration and feeding grounds more achievable as the project moves on. Any anglers wishing to help with sampling, are welcome to contact Iain at the Esk & Liddle fishery office on 013873 81951 for kits and advice.

With the onset of some warmer weather, it shouid not be too long before we see signs of some sea trout running in. Although more numerous shoals do not normally arrive until June, smaller numbers of often larger fish up to 7 or 8 lbs usually enter the river from April on until summer when the school fish take over the run.

October 2010

2010-11-02T18:49:00.003Z

October was a month of mixed waters and mixed blessings. By in large ,fishing was fairly good, but ruined once or twice by smaller tributaries coming down in their own muddy flood and discharging into the main rivers. The other hindrance at times was really bright sunshine when waters fell in low to create a mood where salmon were seen lying in pools, yet refused to take anything cautiously thrown at them.

Iain Bell recalled how he was able to see 23 salmon of a total of about 60 in low water sun shine up at Irvine house Beat. He watched the anglers fly come over the shoal and none batted an eyelid.

Suggesting a deeper sink tip, the angler had another go.- Still no interest. A slow retrieve with a 'square cast' was suggested and suddenly a 12 pounder raised itself and launched at the fly, only to pluck and take short , returning to it's lie. Next cast a grilse did the same thing and let go.- Time for a contemplative cuppa, admit defeat and just enjoy watching the fish !

With the river at a good height most of the time, some good sport was had, although on odd occasions, fish just kept running hard.

At Tower & Hollows beats; up for his first ever salmon trip, Steve Skidmore was delighted to return a hard fighting wee hen fish of 4 3/4lbs on flying C from Crooked pool. Richard Taylor of Yorks, fished all week until ' the eleventh hour ' to finally be rewarded with a 12 lb cock fish landed on no.2 mepps just before going home.

D. Patmore landed a grilse on worm from Dunk. Peter Lawson caught a brace of salmon to 12lbs from Tower pool in difficult sunlight.

Alastair Duncan returned a silver hen fish of 6 1/2lbs to Plane Trees. J. Patmore likewise returned a 10 1/2lb hen to Caul pool , caught on spinner and John Webb of Yorks returned a 6 pounder from the Locking posts also on spinner. John Ellis landed a beautifully fresh small grilse in flying C , also from Locking posts Mrs. Heather Gibson landed a silver cock grilse of 4 lb 9 oz on an
orange F/C from Shortsholm, where Alan Dunn also had a brace to 7 1/2 lbs on spinner.
Irvine House Beats, produced their fair share of salmon, with Joe Haselden landing a brace to 9lbs at the Skelly on Cascade fly, where David Lawson also landed a brace to 5lbs. Martin Coulthard caught a 9 1/2 lb salmon from Watties Stream,
Nick Latham caught a grilse from Peats Hole, but also a beautiful 16 pounder from Boat Pool. John Richardson also had a good fish from Boat Pool ,of 13lbs on fly. Dave Pick landed a brace from Tarras & Boat Pool and Brenda Coates got one for the ladies ,catching a 4 lb grilse at Tarras Stane. Richard Morris used a black /red tube fly to tempt a 9 pounder from Boat pool, where Peter Smith also had a grilse on worm and K.Smith one of 7lbs on fly.

Ken Blaize landed a brace to 9 1/2 lbs there on spinner. Downstream at the Island , Mick Benson caught a 9 lb cock fish and Bill Pitts also had a fish, dropping down to Mid pool to land another of 7lbs, his fishing partner John Grosse also getting a 7 pounder there on spinner.
Willow & Cauldron beats recorded 39 salmon caught for the month, the biggest of which was a 25 lb cock fish landed by John McRae on the fly from Willow . among the many who enjoyed good sport were John Barry with 3 grilse to 6lbs, Peter Robinson with a brace of 14 pounders from Cauldron on spinner . Peter Bomphrey had an 18lb fish also from Cauldron, Chris Makin a fresh run grilse and W. Leonard one also. J. Brockley had 3 for the day to 12lbs, two of which were sea liced. Ron Parker of Yorks landed a brace to 9 lbs and lost another. M. Benson
tempted a 6lb grilse on fly but his guest Eric landed a 10 pounder and lost two.

Young rods Alex and Simon Laidler returned a fish a piece to 12lbs . Charles Packett returned a 7lb fish to Cauldron on worm. Mr. Wilmot returned a 12 lb hen and P. Bellamy a 14 lb cock fish. Ron Hoare landed a brace of good grilse from Bells Weir & Willow , where I. Douglas also took a 7 lb fish. Simon Charrington was delighted with a brace of salmon to 19lbs , one on silver stoat,the other on worm and M.Lazenby caught a 5 lb cock fish. On the last day of the
season, Richard Taylor of Yorks landed two to 15 lbs and lost another brace on spinner.

Catch returns are still coming in for the permit waters of Canonbie, Langholm, Low Liddle and Newcastleton, but some of the fish caught are as follows;- Terry Clift of Yorks landed a 6 lb grilse on fly at Schelly Hole, Chris Burke a similar grilse from Ha Pool on Low Liddle, Peter Morley caught a 6 1/2 lb grilse at Canonbie. Antione Machinal of France returned a fit 19lb hen salmon caught on fly at Langholm, John Mills caught a 4 1/2lb grilse there on a wee double also and James
Gannon , up from Wales landed a brace of grilse on worm. Neil Johnston returned 3 salmon to 14 lbs on fly on Newcastleton Beat . Lower down the Liddle on boat pool at Harlaw, A.J. Sutton from Bungay, caught a 6 3/4 lb salmon on spinner.

Thoughts will now turn to spawning and indeed the brown trout have already started cutting redds in the small burns, some of which are now more easily accessible due to works carried out on hindrances to fish passage during the summer. The sea trout will not be far behind,
but seem to prefer a good frost to set them going.

September 2010

2010-10-04T23:29:00.000Z

It is fair to say that for September, that most of the beats fished well for most of the time, with some good running waters, only interrupted by the occasional dirty flood. For some reason , Tower & Hollows suffered a brief lull in proceedings for a couple of days, with fish seeming to travel on the extra mile up to Irvine House before settling to the take. Tower & Hollows have excellent holding pools, but then nature can be unpredictable.

Good catches were reported from the permit beats, although because many season ticket returns are not made until the end of season, numbers reported are merely an indication. Septembers combined Esk & Liddle Fishery total of salmon caught easily topped the 100 mark and that's only the fish we have heard about so far. Many were grilse, but some big fish were also landed including a 19lb hen (returned ) by annual French visitor Antione Machinal from the Langholm Beat and a 22 lb salmon caught by P. Longstaff on Canonbie Beat.

Fishing the tranquil beauty of Low Liddle Beat, George Potts landed 4 salmon to 10lbs within a couple of days of taking out his permit. Alan Marsden also landed a grilse from Low Liddle at Ha Pool. Simon Lester landed his first ever salmon, a grilse of 4 1/2lbs up at Langholm, where R. Masterton had a grilse from the Trough and Colin Reid also had a 12 pounder from Todd Holes. Cyril Gaskell caught 4 salmon at Tommys pool Canonbie and Paul Thompson of Durham also landed an 8 1/2 lb salmon there on orange and gold tube fly. Mike Phillips of Penrith had a good scrap with a 6lb grilse in the fast waters of ' The Hush' at Canonbie ,returning the fish which was lured on Cascade shrimp fly. Peter Morley of Leeds also landed a nice 6lb grilse at Canonbie.

On Tower & Hollows beats , John Ellis landed a fresh grilse from Locking Posts and Alastair Duncan had a brace of grilse to 7lbs from Plane Trees & Shortsholm.

At Irvine house , John Richardson landed a fit 13lb salmon on fly from Boat Pool, where B. Telford caught a 10 pounder on spinner. Hilary Gostelow-Drury returned a grilse caught on spinner, by which means Bill Elliott also had a fish. Mick Benson landed 3 grilse in a day as did S. Abbot. Stephen Moore also caught a grilse on fly from Boat Pool.

A bumper two days was had by Peter Smith, landing 5 salmon from Mid Irvine followed by another 3 to 13 lbs the following day !
R. Morris, Brenda Coates and Vic Buckton all had silver grilse from Skelly Hole.

Many salmon were landed on Willow & Cauldron beats some of which are as follows,- Joe Lazenby a brace to 11lbs plus another brace subsequently , sea liced.

Husband & wife team Judith and Andrew Fryer a fresh grilse apiece to 6 3/4lbs both on shrimp fly. Glyn Maddock battered by strong winds lifted a 6 pounder on the spinning rod. Steve Gould landed 3 to 15 lbs , Paul Hurst a brace to 9 lbs, Mark Williamson 3 in a day to 12 1/2 lbs and likewise D. Laidler. Annual visitor from the south , Peter Robinson had a bumper week with 5 salmon to 14 lbs and friend John Barr also with 7 ish to 6 1/2lbs.

As October came, Esk & Liddle are still good & steady in height and colour. Fish are coming in a plenty and hopefully, falling waters will drop them in to settle nicely.

Iain Bell (fishery office 013873 81951) has asked for any anglers still holding on to Sea trout research samples to forward them for analysis and He would also like to thank all those fishers who have helped for their valuable assistance.

Catch returns for the permit beats should also be submitted by 15th November please, to address below:

Iain Bell L.M.I.F.M.

Esk and Liddle Fishery Office

Buccleuch Sporting

Ewesbank

Langholm

Dumfriesshire

DG13 0ND

Tel: 013873 81951

August 2010

2010-09-01T18:49:00.000Z

August provided a flood and a welcome influx of grilse and a few late run sea trout. Most resident sea trout however were beginning to colour and and the focus for most anglers were the salmon.

The grilse seemed to run hard and fast as soon as waters cleared, with catches being sporadic but improving nicely as the fish settled.

George Macrae from Kyle and Neil Partlett had an enjoyable week staying in the Cottage,on Tower & Hollows beats and landing a brace of silver grilse each piece to 6lbs on spinner and worm. Geoff Herd from Cheshire returned a 5lb sea trout to Caul Pool. Local rod, Robin Masterton caught 6 sea trout to 2 1/2 lbs and lost a good grilse at Chapel Pool.

Down on Willow & Cauldron , Dougie Hodgson also landed a fresh run brace of 7lbs on orange shrimp fly , fished on a 5ft sink tip. J. Brockley caught a fresh 9 pounder on worm. Fifteen year old Zac Kaye caught his first salmon, a fresh 6 lb grilse on spinner and Barry Leeson had one the same on fly. David Laidler spread a brace over two days with one 8lb and a 12lb salmon. Iain Blackett landed his brace in half the time on fly to 7lbs and sea liced from Willow. Colin Hudson also tempted a 7 pounder on fly, whilst Mr Parkinson landed a salmon of 9 1/2 lbs there.

Irvine House beats saw some sport, not only with the rear guard action of sea trout, but some very fresh run grilse.Alan Smith landed a brace of grilse to 6lbs from Peats hole and Quarry, plus a sea trout on spinner. Peter Smith caught a brand new 4 1/2lb grilse from Tarras flatt also on spinner and Dave Pick got one of 5 lbs on spinner from Stane End. Bill Elliott caught 3 sea trout to 3lbs on mepps along the Lower beat,

P. Langley landed a 6lb grilse from Quarry , where Mick Benson also landed 3 sea trout to 2 3/4lbs on his own fly pattern. John Hatton tempted a fresh run grilse on spinner from Boat Pool, from which M.Patterson also landed a brace of Sea trout. Further down the Mid Beat, Vic Buckton caught a 2lb sea trout from Island stream and David Wright a 6lb grilse from Stane End.

Fishing on the permit beats, proved a little frustrating with fish on the move and not settling. Many of those that did pause took to slipping off the hook after a brief fight, though one rod reported a salmon captured on Mill Pool .

Water began to fall away at the end of the month, and with bright sushine , most rods will wait for the next spate. Good numbers of salmon are on the tide and lower system. when rain comes, prospects should be very good. - Just whilst concluding this report, Dave Brantom fishing at Metal Bridge on the tidal Esk phoned to report landing a sea liced 8lb salmon there on 8lb line with a small 10 g Flying C. He said the there was a good head of fish building up to run.

Sadly retired Head River Watcher for the Buccleuch Estates, James Irving Wylie ( known to most as Irving) passed away toward the month end at the grand age of 89 years. Many older rods on the Esk & Liddle will recall his friendly presence on the river and the flies that he used to tie for fishers together with painted quill minnows. He finally retired from the river at the age of 72. His funeral was held at a packed Canonbie Kirk on Monday 30th August. He is survived by his wife Pauline.

June 2010

2010-07-02T20:11:00.000Z

The Esk system continued to suffer from drought conditions with night fly fishing being the only way to land a sea trout. For much of the month this was fine and reasonably good numbers of fish wriggled in off the tide as far up as Langholm on the Esk and Penton Linns on the Liddle.

Toward the latter ten days or so of the month, with increasingly hot and dry weather, fish became loath to take anything, merely laying tight in rock gullets and under boulder edges. Rods would make a day time recce' of the pools with the Polaroid's on, see fish, with quite a few large specimens among them, only do blank at night, or land one if in luck. The river became difficult to fly fish as June ended due to rocks sticking up through the surface in the tail of pools, which snagged the line on its draw through the tail of the pools.

Remarkably fresh sea trout were still seen coming into the pools . Fishery manager Iain Bell, witnessed a run of fish entering Hollows beat and two of them viciously pursuing a smolt round and round the pool at speed before settling into lie. Next day they had just moved on to be replaced with another contingent. Never huge shoals, but usually up to a dozen or so at a time, with the odd larger group of 40 or so seen around Canonbie.


Fishing for ten days holiday at Gilnockie Cottage, Nick Wilcox landed 5 sea trout to 3lbs from Hollows Beat and 7 sea trout to 2 1/2 lbs from Tower Beat , mainly on Silver Stoat. Richard Oliver landed sea trout from each , Tower & hollows to 2 lbs. Phil Pearce tempted a good 3 pounder from Crooked Pool on silver stoat., where Brian Cooper also landed one of 2 lbs 8 oz. Colm Fenton caught a sea trout on black pennel.

Joe Haseldon landed one just under 2lbs from Boat wire at Irvine house. Ross Currie was patient until 02.45 in the morning to land a 2 3/4 lb beauty on Medicine fly from the Moat on Canonbie Beat.

Remarkably, Geoff Harvey of Wigton encountered a fresh run 10lb salmon in Willow Pool which must have crawled in on its belly off the tide. It fell to a single Invicta trout fly on the single handed rod !

Jim Feehan had a brace to 2 3/4 lbs one off Boat Pool on the Liddle and another from Dead Neuk. Jackie Allan also landed on just over 2 1/2 lbs from Dead Neuk.

As June turned to July, good steady rain finally came and if it continues , hopefully Esk & Liddle will soon be restored to a more normal height, bring the rest of the sea trout in and some grilse also.

April 2010

2010-05-07T21:28:00.000Z

April started well, a wee bit cold for early Sea Trout perhaps, but a very nice running water for Salmon . 'So what' I hear you say.- Perhaps the Esk & Liddle are not well known for Springers and very few rods put much effort in. Those that did were pleasantly surprised !

Fishing at the 'Damfoot' on Low Liddle Beat, Barry Irving landed a fresh salmon of 8 1/2 lbs. John Walters was reported to have also landed a 9lb Springer from Schelly Hole on Canonbie beat. A day later David Mckinnel was at Mill Pool, Canonbie on a good water. He hooked and lost a good fish, then subsequently landed another , A Spring salmon of 9lbs on black & red Flying C'. During his time on the pool, David said there were more fish showing forward, bouncing through the neck of the pool like a fresh run going through and he obviously hit it just right . There were reports of a similar pod of Salmon going through Potholm Bridge at Langholm later in the week. All the above fish were of course returned, but the memory of a Spring Salmon is still a very nice prize indeed.

Sea trout, were seen here and there as the water dropped in toward the latter half of the month. A small pod of 4 pounders held up on the tail of Dead Neuk, Canonbie and just toward the the month end some bigger sea trout to 6 lbs appeared up on Tower Beat at the Crooked Pool. These sea trout came in a couple of days too late for Gary Frazer from Northumberland, who was none the less delighted with a brace of Brown trout to 1lb caught and returned to Tower on Invicta / March Brown singles , I think.

As April turned to May, word came in of some more sea trout caught further down stream near Longtown. Just as this report was being submitted , Cumbria's Jackie Allan was put into a state of shock. Fishing Willow & Cauldron as a guest , he was delighted to inform us of having just landed a big 18lb Spring Salmon, which was returned to fight another day.

Anyone needing advice on fishing the area is welcome to contact Iain Bell (His last Springer was off Damfoot on the Liddle also ), at Esk & Liddle fishery Office 013873 81951 or 80202. www.elfisheries.co.uk

As the next good tides come and temperatures improve, we should see one or two more Sea trout sliding into the pools in advance of the main summer runs. There are already reports of sea trout, being in the Solway. One apparently lifted out of the water by a migrant Osprey !

Spring has sprung , albeit a little late , the trees are green again and flies are hatching. Given another rise in water , early season prospects are encouraging.

First Springer of 2010

2010-04-08T05:25:00.002Z

David McKinnell had the good fortune to land a 9lb springer
unfortunately he hooked but failed to land another from the Mill pool
on 6th April, both on a black F/C.

Reports of two other spring fish taken futher downstream on the
English side of the river.

Hopefully these are signs of recovery for spring fishing on the Esk.

October 2009

2009-11-01T18:33:00.000Z

After the prolonged drought of September ,large numbers of salmon built up in lower Esk and Liddle for about 6 miles above the tide. These fish began to colour up a little ,but were continually topped up wish silver fresh incomers on each slight rise in water, Eventually good waters came and salmon travelled hard and fast through the catchment, for a time providing sport right up into and beyond the middle reaches. Fishery manager Iain Bell said that around the middle of the month, a good run of brand new salmon with sandybacks and silver flanks, travelled up river almost as far as Langholm, 12 or so hours before the flood actually occurred. he has seen fish (usually grilse) get a head start like this before, but some were actually double figure salmon which struggled through on their bellies. On one pool near Langholm he counted 16 such fish jostling in the head of the stream, He said it was almost like looking at summer sea trout, in the gin clear low water.

Most reports are still being collated as the season closed, but some snippets so far are;-

Martin Coulthard from Cumbria hooked 3 fresh salmon in quick succession at Irvine House, but only landed one, from the low water in Boat Pool. an 8 1/2 lb cock fish. Following on Rob Donald, landed 3 out of 3 at 15lbs, 12lbs and 8lbs after the impending rain finally lifted the water, one to Cascade shrimp fly and the others on spinner.

Star of the month must be 11 year old Harry Smith,from the Midlands who landed his first ever salmon of 14lbs from low Irvine House, Fossil Beds on spinner. Steve Stranks, had to wait a few years longer for his first, but was delighted with a 16lb fresh salmon from Caul pool, Tower Beat.

Up from Wales, Chris Gannon landed a 7lb 2oz cock fish from Gogee, Langholm, Peter Longstaff a 19lb fish from Canonbie and Richard Taylor of Yorkshire caught an 11 lb cock fish on Tasmanian Devil from Shortsholm .

Gerry McCullagh persevered in a low water full of fish, eventually tempting a 14 1/2 lb salmon from Tower Pool on shrimp fly. Fishing with Gerry, Kieren Laidon landed his first ever salmon, a grilse of 6lbs on black flying C'

Iain Blackett had a good day on Low Liddle with a brace of 6lb and 8lb from Ha Pool and The Inch, one of the numerous reports of catches will follow next month.

As the month drew to a close, large numbers of fish , both fresh and coloured were showing in most pools, yet mysteriously for the most part they simply refused to take anything cast to them. Perhaps they had more important urges on their mind.

Would all those who have fished on an Esk and Liddle Fishery permit please forward their catch return slips to Iain Bell, Fishery Office , Buccleuch Sporting, Langholm DG13 0ND as soon as possible please

6lb grilse caught on Canonbie Beat 17th August

2009-08-25T05:53:00.002Z

6 lb grilse caught by Colin Selstrom at the bottom of "The Wires" on a black flying C'

July 2009

2009-08-01T09:00:00.001Z

The runs of sea trout continued and some good sport provided on the night cast.

Fishing Tower & Hollows Beats, Diane Owen, Paul Stephenson, Joe Hazelden, I Hewartson and T.Jones all managed to catch a number of school sized 1lb to 2 1/2lb sea trout, some in diffcult circumstances when dissolved oxygen levels were low and made fish lethargic and reluctant to take.

On the Mid & low Irvine house beats, Paul Stafford landed a 2 ½ lb. sea trout on silver stoat, M. Savage used like fly to land one slightly smaller, as did T. Jones except he caught a brace to 4 1/2lbs.

Mick Horner caught 4 sea trout to 3 1/2lbs using light tackle and worm. Peter Graham landed a sea trout on mepp , but after hooking& losing another 3 had to settle for the one in the bag. Craig Carson landed a brace of sea trout to 2 lbs at Petes hole whilst Ian Steele settled for an 10lb salmon instead

Not having fished for 20 years, Don Collie of Edinburgh , got the bug and within 3 minutes of getting a start, hooked and landed a nice wee grilse from House Stream. The drag was set tight on the reel and had it have been a larger salmon , the hook hold would have surely parted. He did well to land it.

Some bigger salmon appeared at Willow and Cauldron beats with Jonathon Massey landing one of 12 1/2lbs on F/C , Ray Hudson 11 lbs on a Dunkeld single and Veteran fisher Charlie Stephens , also reported to have had a good fish. Some good sea trout were caught too, Paul Hurst landed a brace on spinner to 2 lbs, B. Gilby had a 2 pounder on worm, Dave Laidler enjoyed 3 in the day to 2 lbs on fly and then followed up with 4 sea trout to 2 ½ lbs toward the month end. Gordon Mason landed a fresh school sea trout on spinner.

The number of school sized 1 ½ to 2 lbs sea trout have increased this year, more like the type of fish we used to get, although there are still bigger specimens to be had.

On Tower & hollows Beats, Ian Pugh, T. Whitcher and T. jones all had school sea trout using silver stoat variants,Ian Hewartson likewise. Hugh Berridge landed 4 sea trout to 2lbs in a day on mepp, followed by another 3 the largest of which was 3 1/4lbs . Also making skillfull use of the spinner , Mr. Constant caught 4 to 2 lbs. Michael Craven of Yorkshire also fished mepp to land 3 sea trout and a brownie. Retired head river watcher Irvine Wylie, now well into his eighties caught an 11 1/2lb salmon from Caul Pool on F/c. He also sends his best wishes to all those he used to see on the river.

Sport on the permit beats of Canonbie , low Liddle and Langholm was also encouraging. Jackie Allan had a brace of sea trout to 2 ½ lbs from Moat . Colin Rutherford a 2 pounder from Liddle at Black kist on Black Pennel. Steve White a brace to 1 3/4lbs on needle fly at the Dubh. Michael Currie a 1 1/2lb sea trout on T/B/Silver and Ross currie one a wee bit bigger.

James Feehan of Newcastleton was delighted with his capture of a 15lb Salmon from Low liddle at Harelaw

Further up Liddle, Tommy Newton caught 3 sea trout on rapala and several lost more, in a day session during which he said the pool just came alive with a big run of fish.

Back at Canonbie, St.John Soulsby had a similar frenzy at the wires, hooking 6 in a short space of time and landing 3 of them.

Fishery manager Iain Bell mentioned that he has been thankful for the efforts of fishers with collecting sea trout scale samples , which are passed the 100 mark now, but keep them coming. One or two rods have omitted to fill in details such as where caught etc. He says that this information is vital, to establish which tributaries are or a re not their home of origin.

At a meeting of solway Sea Trout Group, next years steps with Celtic sea trout project will hopefully include the deeper Marine part of the equation as well as the estuary work which has already been started.

A big flood at the end of the month with good tides will hopefully see some more grilse bouncing into the beats.

June 2009

2009-07-06T20:53:00.002Z

Sea Trout were running in good numbers, and with a slight rise in water about the time of the big tides, both Esk, Liddle and Lyne received another good top up of fresh sea trout just before the heat wave set in.

Night fly fishing became the only way to tempt them, although odd fish were caught on small mepps or brandling in the rough streams during daylight hours. As the month drew to an end , heat and drought became extreme and although a good number of fish could be seen when out fish spotting, come night fall , they were reluctant to take.

Some rods reverted to using a smaller fly than normal for darkness and at times this tactic did appear to pay dividends with the odd fish. It was somewhat of a contrast to the first 3 weeks of June when sport was fast, furious and sea trout very willing to take.

On the Elf permit beats, Christian Percival landed a fit 3 lb sea trout from Dead Neuk, where C. Selstrom also landed 3 in two nights. Terry Murphy caught a good 2 1/2 pounder from Burns stream . Robert Parks of Cockermouth also had a brace sea trout to 2lb.

With a slight rise in water mid month, Ian Cass landed a fresh run sea trout on worm from Mill Pool, Jackie Allan and Barry Irving had a fish likewise from Dead Neuk to 2 3/4 lbs.
Iain Blackett took a fresh 2 1/2lb sea trout from Liddle at the Quarry, where Colin Selstrom landed a brace to 2 lbs also. Blackett nipped back to the Canonbie beat at Schelly hole and subsequently landed a 7 1/4lb grilse.

Stuart Johnstone caught a 2 pounder from Little moat, where Robert Ives was also delighted to land a 10lb salmon on fly. Alan Murray fishing further downstream at Schelly hole intercepted a fine brace of 2 1/2lb sea trout . Fishing Lower Mill area J. Todd was reported to have
caught a 2 1/2lb sea trout on fly. Eric Garthwaite fished a Thursday/Friday session to be rewarded with some furious sport ,hooking 20 sea trout and landing 9 of them, mainly in Glebe and Long Pool areas.

Fish reached Langholm beat mid way through the month and Dave Massey from Blackpool caught a beautiful 2 1/4lb sea trout , but lost another on silver stoat at the Caul Pool.

On the reserved beats, Tower and hollows;- Nick Wilcox landed 19 sea trout for his holiday , mainly on silver stoat and Peter Ross dropper. Richard Oliver caught two sea trout to 2 lb 4oz from Crooked and Syke foot respectively using Teal /B/Silver. Nick Marsden had 3 sea
trout to 2lb 12oz. Phil Pearce tried a different tack landing a good sea trout on a small copper vibrax spoon.Philip Marsden landed 3 to 2 3/4lbs on T/B/S and small Greenwells.
D. Winkler caught 2 sea trout to to 2 3/4lbs from Shortsholm and Sykefoots. Brothers Brian and Alan Cooper landed a fish a piece to 3lbs at Caul flats and Colm Fenton worked hard in the heat to land a nice sea trout from Blue Clints on fly.

On Irvine house beats, Bob Smith landed a brace just under 2lb from Peats hole on brandling, Stuart Lockhart had good sport with 6 seatrout to 2 1/2lbs from mid Pool and House Stream on silver stoat. Pearce & Wilcox had another 4 fish between them ot 2 1/4lb on Silver stoat and
droppers of P/ross and Greenwell. Tony Swiers returned a silver fresh school fish (after scale samples were taken) landed at Stane End on brandling and Ian Hewartson landed a lovely brace of fresh sea trout for an evening on House Stream using silver stoat.

At Willow & Cauldron beats, Barry Leeson returned a beautiful 5lb sea trout landed on spinner . He subsequently was rewarded with a fresh 9lb salmon to keep. Tony Swiers returned a fresh 4 1/2lb sea trout landed from Willow on a Silver Dante fly and Mick Horner did the double
with a 10lb salmon and 2lb sea trout on fly . Andy Ward landed a brace of sea trout to 2 3/4lb and richard Stronach had a slightly smaller brace on needle fly and T/B/silver. Geoff Harvey had a good night with 5 sea trout to 3 1/2lb on silver invicta and floating Muddler. Bill Liddle landed 7 sea trout on a night from Willow and lost several more on silver stoat in what he described as a night to remember. Nigel Austin of Carlisle caught 3 seatrout including a 5 pounder (returned) using the Needle Fly.

Iain Bell said he would like to thank all those fishers who have helped with sea trout scale sampling so far. He would hope for some more samples from fish yet to come , but certainly fresher early run fish provide easier samples. Any rods fishing the Scottish Esk & Liddle
are encouraged to carry some scale envelopes and a tape measure to assist in the research.(Fishery office 013873 81951 or 80202 if you need some). 23 Marine samples were were collected by haafnetters on catch & release and some credit is due there for their effort.
As the month closed , reports suggest that most sea trout appear to have left the Solway for the river, but with severe heat and drought, we will need a flood to make the most of the fishing again.

Dead Neuk in the dead of night

2009-06-11T19:50:00.003Z

After a really poor start to my season I finally got you some scale samples last night from a fish I caught in the Dead Neuk at 12:10am, I started fishing about 2 mins past 12 and got a pull of something almost right away but did not connect so re-cast and either it came again or another fish took which this time stuck (pic attached). It was about 2.5lb or 3 lb and it was returned, I didn't measure it as I thought it had been out of the water for long enough by the time I had taken the scale samples so got it back, it did take a while to recover but I think it got away OK, I should be able to work out a fairly accurate length from the picture as my rod is in shot. I fished on but didn't get any more. I was glad to get it as I had fished down there for two hours on Sat night and just started to get quite a few offers and lost one decent fish in the last 20 mins before 3am and didn't really want to leave when 3am arrived, so tyed up a few of the flies I had been using (flashy Alex) in secret weapon style with the tiny trailing treble and that's what did the business.

Colin Selstrom

May 2009

2009-06-02T19:22:00.001Z

The start of May gave us cold weather with one or two milder wet spells when one or two early season anglers were lucky enough to match effort with success.

J. Walters caught a 2 3/4lb sea trout from the Wires at Canonbie and remarkably, J. Allan of Cumbria added another 8lb salmon to the one he had caught the previous week . This one on fly from the Moat.

Up on the Tower Beat, J. Massey lured a shining 6 lb sea trout from Caul pool on a flying C’, which being over 3lb was returned in line with current conservation policy.

Things went quiet for a bit with a cold snap, but then toward the latter half of the month, sea trout started to move in to the pools in small pods. It was nice to sit just before dusk and see the tell tale bow waves as sea trout moved into the pools fresh off the tide.

Night fishing proper was possible (unlike last year when we were in constant flood) and even the Midgies started to make an appearance. Eric Garthwaite landed 2 sea trout to 3lbs from Grey Stane to match a similar brace from the Moat a night or so earlier on his own pattern of silver fly. He subsequently hooked two more down at the Well, landing one of 1 1/2 lbs and losing the other. Buccleuch staff did restoration work here about 4 years ago to narrow the channel producing a better fly stream and also increase good habitat for parr.

Barry Leeson of Yorkshire caught and released a magnificent 5 lb sea trout from Willow Pool, where Geoff Harvey of Wigton also caught a 2 ½ pounder on fly. Right at the close of thew month, Bill Liddel tempted a fresh 2 pounder there also.

Jamie Stewart landed a 2lb sea trout from Mill Pool on the night fly, Colin Selstrom, fished down the Blue Clints on Tower to take a fresh 1 ½ lb sea trout on fly.

Ross Currie caught one of 1 ¾ lbs in the moat on Teal /B/S

Iain Bell ( Esk & Liddle Fishery Office 013873 81951) asks for anglers to help as much as possible with Sea trout scale sample collection. Any one needing advice or who hasn’t got any scale sample packets, is welcome to contact him.

As May came to a close, small runs of Sea trout were running into most of the pools on the Esk as far up as Langholm and as far up the Liddle as Penton, although some of the bigger early run fish will have travelled further on the tail of the last flood. With night fishing and gin clear water the conditions for early June and small pods of fish already in the pools, prospects look more encouraging.

April 2009

2009-05-17T21:41:00.002Z

April was fairly quiet, with not too many fishers venturing out. there were however one or two fish about with Scott Campbell catching 3 sea trout one Thursday evening all about the 1 1/2 lbs mark down at the Lyne foot tidal stretch near Metal Bridge. He went back the next night to land a 2 lb fresh sea trout. Salmon kelts lingered a wee bit longer down there , with several being caught and returned during the first part of April.

Rods around the Canonbie reported seeing small advance parties of sea trout moving through including a brace of bigger sea trout in the 8 lb range which splashed into the tail of Dead Neuk one morning. Generally little effort was put in and nothing further was caught bar kelts until right at the months end when Jackie Allan of Cumbria landed and returned a brand new 8lb salmon from the Moat on a spinner.

A few early sea trout were running the Liddle also ,with Colin Rutherford of Yorkshire,

having a good 2 pounder follow in and turn away at the last second. He subsequently hooked another fresh fish only to lose it at the net.

Fishery staff Iain Bell and Peter Kinstrey will be issuing scale sample packets to rods with a request for SEA TROUT scales from any sea trout landed. Iain said we need about 200 samples of a minimum of 6 scales up to 10 scales, gently scraped (or plucked with tweezers) from each sea trout. with a length measurement recorded to the nearest half centimetre, from tip of snout to middle fork of tail) . Anglers are asked to carry a suitable stiff tape measure for the purpose together with a pencil to complete the catch /location details on the packet. Any ELF or other Scots side local anglers are welcome to contact Iain at the Esk & liddle fishery Office 013873 81951 for advice on sampling and packets.

The E.A. will also be coordinating some sampling on the English side, together with smolt and Parr research throughout the catchment.

These efforts are part of a prelude to the proposed Celtic Sea Trout Project. Involving both sides of the Irish sea in England, Wales, Eire, Northern Ireland and Scotland to look at life history, environmental effects, marine ecology, stock structures and distribution.

Iain said, that by next month we will know whether the project received its full funding support, but meantime it is essential that we don't miss out on samples from early season fish. Sea Trout are also being gathered for sampling in the salt water environment on a catch and release basis by conservation conscious haaf netsmen.

Hopefully by mid May it will be full steam ahead on what may prove to be the most exciting and holistic look at Sea Trout and what we can do to aid their long term proliferation that these Islands have seen.

With good 30 ft tides at the end of April and a decent amount of rain forecast, given a little heat, prospects for early sea trout are encouraging.

January 2009

2009-04-07T19:49:00.004Z

January varied between a very frosty cold low water spell followed by some very heavy floods.

Up on Irvine house beats , a number of sea trout kelts could be easily seen in the gin clear water laying just behind a brace of salmon kelts. A joy to watch, they frolicked and leaped about at times, before charging into the deep on becoming aware of human intrusion.

It was nice to see fish, given that there was seldom a day last season when waters dropped in low enough to even get a look.

Toward the month end rain dominated and the floods will hopefully help remaining kelts back to the sea.

Catch returns for the permit beats on Buccleuch Esk and Liddle Fishery are now completed and show a total of 237 Salmon and 572 Sea Trout declared caught for the 2008 season, based on the returns submitted of a total of 86 season permits, 6 weekly permits and 30 Day tickets.

Low Liddle beat faired a bit better for Sea Trout with a tally of 123 for the season of which 107 were released for conservation purposes. 13 salmon where reported caught. Not too bad considering the catch is based on a return of only 19 season permits.

Over on Canonbie beat 185 sea trout caught with 52 listed as released and and encouraging 92 salmon for the season.

Langholm Beat did well for salmon landing 75 for the season together with 95 sea trout (28 released)

Those who afforded themselves the roaming remit of an All Waters Permit recorded 53 Salmon caught and 148 Sea Trout landed (69 released)

All the above beats do not open until 1st April in order to let kelts mend and leave the river unmolested.

Iain Bell reports that the Border Esk system has been designated River No. 39 of the 100 or so rivers up and down both sides of the Irish Sea to be included in the plans for Celtic Sea Trout Project and that the Solway is to be considered an area for enhanced study. He is just keeping his fingers crossed that all funding is approved. There was no news at time of going to press.

November 2008 Report

2008-12-22T22:11:00.002Z

Buccleuch fishery staff have been removing some of the willow bushes from parts of low liddle to allow easier access to high water lies when wading is not possible. Winter maintenance is now underway. Todd holes on Langholm beat has been denuded of the large area of scrub bushes which had appeared in recent years, to make it easier for the fly. Trees washed out in winter floods are also being dealt with together with routine pruning back of overhanging branches along the beats.

2009 permit beat prices have been set as follows;-

ALL WATERS PERMIT.

Early Week £74, Late Week £148, Season £398.

CANONBIE PERMIT.

Early Day £35, Late Day £48, Early Week £66, Late Week £130, Season £278.

LANGHOLM PERMIT.

Day £26, Early Week £40, Late Week £65, Season £135.

LOW LIDDLE PERMIT

Day £26, Early Week £40, Late Week £75, Season £160.

NEWCASTLETON PERMIT

Day £10, Early Week £20, Late Week £35, Season £55.

In 2009 permits will not be sold by Iain Bell from the fishery office itself, but by administrative staff in the Buccleuch Estates main office counter at Ewesbank, Langholm (As well as the usual satellite vendors within the catchment). It is hoped to have Day Permits also available on line for easy last minute booking via www.fishborderesk.co.uk

Those people still needing advice on fishing are still welcome to contact Iain or leave an information request message at the fishery office 013873 81951 in the usual way.

The vast majority of sea trout kelts appear to have got away quite nicely after spawning without too much mortality. Around Christmas, Salmon have their turn. Given the run of fish during and after the rod season, with the constant high running water it should provide good egg deposition for future stocks.

Anglers in the tidal Metal Bridge area will be pleased to know that work on the new motorway bridge has now been completed , hopefully restoring the tranquility to their fishing for 2009.

Best wishes for Christmas and 2009.

October 2008 Report

2008-12-22T22:04:00.003Z

In the main October proved to be a frustrating month, let down mainly by yet even more constant rain and just too good a running conditions for salmon. Yes ,fish were caught on the run ,but this is always a right place right time lottery and with all lotteries there are more losers than winners. Only really during the last couple of days of the season did salmon start to hold up in the pools and those with a little local knowledge were able to nail a few where they might expect fish to lie.

In short there were plenty of fish on the move, it was just catching them that proved more difficult. That having been said , it is surprising how many fishers did land a salmon or two. More surprising was that several rods reported returning bright silver herling and smaller sea trout to the water in what must have been a very late run.

Iain Bell said looking at some of the catch returns coming into the fishery office, several rods are recording catches of 25- 30 sea trout for the summer months, although there had been very little low water for night fishing. He will let us know season totals when the final calculations have been made.This is not a vast amount compared to 15 years ago, but is encouraging no the less. Meantime could all anglers on ELF please ensure that they submit their permit catch returns as soon as possible to The Fishery Office, Buccleuch Sporting, Ewesbank, LANGHOLM DG13 0ND.

High waters must have allowed some to do well ,as one Langholm beat rod reported catching a total of 36 salmon to 20lbs for his season.

Some of those who enjoyed a little success in October are as follows ;-

Irvine House Beats.-

Len Metcalfe (Tyneside anglers) landed a brace of 7lb salmon from Peats hole and Flatts.Gordon Smith a 9lb salmon on spinner from Coopers. Ken Blaize likewise landed a fresh 9 pounder from Watties Stream. Alan Smith caught a brace to 9lbs between Carrot Beds and Auchenrivock. Vic Buckton caught a brace to 8lbs from Mid beat and David Burton landed a 5lb grilse at the Boat Wire. Mick Benson reported a very good morning when the water settled momentarily with 5 salmon landed and 3 lost all on spinner near the Stane End. Fish often pull in here for a breather having run a third of a mile of rapids below.

Tower & Hollows Beats:-

Peter Lawson landed a 10lb salmon on worm from Tower Pool. Alastair Duncan caught a 5lb grilse from The Dunk on flying C' followed by one of 16lb 9oz from Caul pool.

Wm. Plumptre used an Ally's tube fly to take a 6lb grilse. Richard Taylor landed a 4lb grilse from Caul on flying C', where A.Sleight caught his first ever salmon of 12lbs on yellow F.C.

A.G. Potts returned a 10 pounder to Caul, caught on worm. Ian Smith got one of 13 1/2lbs on spinner from the Locking Posts. Alan Dunn landed a 10lb salmon on worm and Ian Gregory came from Inverness to land 2 very fresh salmon to 18lbs in a day. John Rawlinson took a 9lb 9oz fish from Chapel, where Jonnie Pilkington landed one of 7lbs on spinner. Peter Thompson of Leeds fished hard to finally lure a 6lb grilse on spinner from Shortsholm.

Willow and Cauldron Beats:-

Peter Robinson landed a 7 3/4lb salmon, losing a double figure fish shortly after. He made up for this with a fresh 13 1/2 pounder the next day on spinner. D. 'Basher' Barnes had 2 grilse at 4 1/2lbs and 6lbs. Simon Cherrington landed 3 salmon to 10lbs over 2 days. Chris Makin caught a sea liced 5 pounder and Andrew Dawson caught a 6lb fish on worm.

Hugh Taylor returned a 6lb hen to Bar Stream from where Dave wilkinson also had a fish

Using a cascade shrimp fly, Graham Pickering landed a beautiful 16lb clean hen salmon which he returned to Willow pool. Robert cohen had a couple of fish including a fresh 18 1/2 lb salmon on spinner.Mick O'Hara was delighted with his first ever salmon of 8lbs. John McRae landed 7 salmon to 14lbs for his week. mike Lans returned a 6 pounder and David Laidler returned two to 7lbs, Interestingly on 25th October, Frank Holt caught and returned a brace of silver fresh sea trout to 2 1/2lbs.

Willow and Cauldron are renowned for large numbers of salmon during October, but even here we suffered from fish running on in the high but clear waters and fishing was more difficult than usual.

Details of catches for the ELF permit beats of Langholm, Canonbie, Low Liddle and Newcastleton are still coming in and will be reported next month.

There is also an unconfirmed report of an angler having drowned when he became flooded off below Longtown and details are still emerging.

September 2008 Report

2008-12-22T21:58:00.001Z

Rain and more rain kept water levels up to a good height for running salmon. Most fish caught would appear to have been hooked during the brief pauses whilst moving on from pool to pool.

Just before the week beginning 22nd September, waters finally settled and fish relaxed enough to take up residence in the pools. They were good takers for a few days before bright sunshine coupled with a fall in water height began to put them off.

Timing their weeks expedition just right, Paul Oakleys team of three fished Tower and Hollows on the 22nd, catching 6 salmon to 15lbs between them for the day including a first ever salmon for S. Oakley of 7lbs. Next day, Richard Turner of Welshpool landed his first ever salmon from Tower pool of 18lbs and quickly followed it with another to make the brace. Both caught on flying C'. Salmon are strange and enigmatic creatures, as although fish were showing well when running the previous week, they were very reluctant to take, resulting in an infuriating blank for some rods!

On the Irvine House beats, Dr.C.D.Baker landed a brand new 14lb salmon caught on Allys Shrimp fly, Peter Smith caught 2 to 8lbs on flying C & worm from Peats hole and Coopers. Kevin Hay returned a nice 9lb fish caught on Jamie's Shrimp fly and J,Hatton returned a 12 pounder also on fly. Martin Coulthard caught a 13lb salmon from Island Stream on flying C', where C.Sadler also landed his first ever salmon of 10lbs on spinner. Arthur Bell had a grilse on fly from boat pool as did Andrew Hyde.

On Willow and Cauldron beats, showing fish were also numerous and perhaps seemed to take a little better. Lee Jukes from the Midlands, landed a 12 pounder after contacting and losing others. Andrew Napier of Glasgow caught a 13lb salmon. Kevin Hay had 3 fish to 12lbs all returned and Ron Clark was delighted to catch his first salmon of 8lbs which he also returned, as were 2 salmon of 12 and 8lbs caught by Steven Harris.

Around the ELF permit beats some good catches were made, particularly on low Liddle , Langholm and Canonbie. Ian Payne of Cumbria landed a silver 10lb fish from Potholm Corner on flying C' . Jason Brockley had a good month including a 15 and an 18lb fish from Castleholm and Skippers respectively. John Byers caught a 12lb salmon from Ha' Pool, where Carl Skivington also landed a 6 pounder on his first visit. Gordon Scott landed a 6lb grilse from Troot Dubh and Neil Bird a 15 pounder from horse Pool on spinner. Peter Longstaff caught an 18 pounder from the Moat, along with several other double figure fish for the month and Barry Irving landed a 7lb grilse from long Pool on worm. Ian Bell had an 18lb salmon followed by an 8 pounder from the Mill Pool, where David McKinnel also landed an 8lb fish. Ernie Carr caught a 10lb salmon on fly from moat , where Paul Hirst caught a 6lb grilse . He subsequently landed and returned a 14lb salmon from Burns Steam. Rex Dale had a brace of 6 pounders from Tommy's Pool. Alan Murray from Yorkshire also had a 6lb grilse from Tommy's, but bettered it with a 14lb salmon from Mill Pool.

As September drew to a close , another run of grilse came into the main river on top of the run of bigger fish already in situ. On the last day of the month heavy rain persisted ,so October should provide favourable sport.

Iain Bell of Esk&Liddle fishery office has asked that all E.L.F. permit holders submit their catch returns as soon as possible after the season closes.

August 2008 Report

2008-09-29T19:40:00.004Z

Perhaps we could complain about having simply too much water! Rain and more rain kept Esk and Liddle levels,high for almost the whole month. clear floods, allowed grilse and salmon to run and keep running. Only on odd days did the waters settle enough to get fish to hold up in the pools.

Sea trout although near the end of their run were still coming in off the tide and also some herling. In the main, those sea trout caught were returned to enhance future stocks.

Tower and Hollows beats provided some sport with Alastair Forster-Smith having a tremendous scrap on a light single handed trout fly rod in the strong waters of Caul Run . His 6lb grilse fell to a silver stoat double. Jeff Harris of Notts landed an 11lb fresh salmon on worm. Michael Craven of Yorks, landed a fresh 5 1/2lb grilse on flying C from Tower Pool

Up on holiday , 15 year old Haydyn Massey caught his first sea trout of 2 1/2lbs on red flying C. Alan Potts landed a 14 pounder from tower and a 9 1/2lb fish from Caul pool.

On Canonbie permit Beat, Alan Murray caught a 13lb salmon from Schelly hole on fly, followed by a 6lb fish the day after. Dave Smith landed an 11 1/2lb fish there too. Jackie Allan landed a 13lb salmon on fly from New Bit, and followed it up a day or two later with an 11lb fish on cascade shrimp fly. John Walters managed a brace to 6lbs on fly, also from New Bit.

Charlie Stephens of Canonbie caught an 8lb salmon at the Wires . Jim Herbertson of Claygate had somewhat of a struggle with a fit 16lb salmon from Dead Neuk on spinner and Ian Cass landed a fresh 6lb fish on worm from Long Pool. Nick Walker from Penrith caught two 6 pounders from Burns Stream and Schelly hole. Ray Ridley fooled one of 6 pounds on the fly from Tommy's Pool. Dick Carruthers had a grilse and Peter Longstaff had two plus a salmon.

Christian Percival of Carlisle reported catching 2 sea trout in 3 casts from Jocks Pool to 2 1/2lbs on black pennel. Cyril Gaskell tempted a 6lb grilse from mill Pool on worm.

On Low Liddle beat Colin Selstrom landed a 13lb salmom from Damfoot, where Geoff Herd also caught 7 sea trout (mostly returned), but hung on to and eventually lost a salmon in excess of 20lbs in what he described as a hectic afternoon. Scot Campbell caught an 8lb salmon at the Inch Pool on rapala and also in a separate visit landed 3 out of 7 sea trout from Black kist. Neil Bird of Gretna also had 3 sea trout in two days to lbs (all returned)

At Irvine House, Dave Pick caught a fresh run 6lb grilse.

Willow and Cauldron beats produced a fair few fish and some good sport. Peter Graham landed 5 sea trout in an afternoon (fish were returned) and fishing light tackle, also lost 2 salmon in an afternoon. Paul Hurst landed a 7lb grilse and John Siddall 6 pounder. Clint Bradley from the Bridge Inn Penton, took time out to land a belting 19lb salmon. John Parkinson caught a 6lb grilse from Bar stream and later a 14lb fish on fly from willow where Paul Bradbury had a brace of grilse to 6lbs also on fly.

Doug Hodgson got a fresh 12lb salmon on fly out of Willow, where David Laidler and sons got 3 between them to 11lbs on spinner. Mick Horner landed a brace to 10lbs on willow.

Bob Tulloch caught a grilse of 4lbs from Cauldron and friend Frank Welsch a 13 1/2 pounder from Willow. Brian Hollingsworth caught a good 13 pounder on fly there also. Iain blackett had a similar 13lb fish from Bar stream, below.

Further reports of fish caught were numerous and no doubt if waters had settled catches would have been more.

The first meeting of Solway Sea Trout Group with Celtic Sea Trout Project coordinator Dr. Nigel Milner took place at Buccleuch's Langholm Offices to plan ahead for marine research into sea trout and their habitat throughout the Irish Sea and the catchments draining to it. There are still one or two gaps to fill in regarding funding but it looks likely that the 3 year project will go ahead.

As September approached, both Esk and Liddle are in good ply and salmon are running. Although weather is uncertain nowadays, prospect look to be very good.

July 2008 Report

2008-08-17T10:45:00.004Z

Sometimes, nature seems to offer either feast or famine when it comes to water heights nowadays. In truth , we had what would be considered ideal daytime fly waters for just too long .When the Esk and Liddle have about 12" of fresh water in , they are just about right for fishing wee doubles on a floating line during day light hours. In a steady or falling water , it's also bang on for fish to keep running up-stream and for most of July, that is exactly what happened. Some good catches of sea trout were made, but as fish just sailed through , pausing here and there, they very quickly spread far and wide right through the catchment,this leads to mixed fortunes for anglers.

Some rods reported fishing hard in ideal conditions yet being rewarded with a total blank, whist several said they had enjoyed a frenzied hour of activity with pulls, fish lost and a few nice sea trout landed, before everything went quiet and fish had obviously moved quickly onward. The same occurred with grilse.

Tom Rhodes, of Eastriggs tempted a brand new 2lb 9oz sea trout from Canonbie Bridge on an Esk Greenwell wee double. Scott Campbell landed two to 3 1/2 lbs between Black Kist and horse Pool on Low Liddle. Brian Hollingworth caught a 2 1/2lb fresh sea trout at Bells weir on snake fly and David Allan landed four on black Pennel from willow and cauldron. Also on Willow pool beat, Dougie Hodgson landed a 7lb grilse on fly and Dave Allan a sea trout. Iain Blackett of Canonbie caught a 2lb sea trout at Schelly Hole on Thompson Terror. Returning to Liddle Water again on his season permit, Scott Campbell caught two sea trout to 5lbs and lost another on silver stoat from Inch Pool.

Scott Bryson landed an 11lb salmon on Willow pool and Mick Horner is believed to have had a 14 pounder off The Moat on the English side. Les Graham of Kirby Stephen caught two sea trout at 2lbs from Canonbie Beat, where Alan Murray also landed one at 2lb 8oz.

Alastair Milligan returned a 14lb salmon to the Caul pool caught on spinner. Ian Pugh landed a brace of fresh sea trout from Blue Clints, Tower and John Finlay a brace to 4lbs also from Tower beat. Chris Belbin caught 4 x 1 1/2lb school sea trout over a couple of nights there too.

76 year old Leslie Thompson of Leeds landed and returned a 3 1/4lb sea trout from Chapel on Hollows beat on a copper head blue fly.His son Peter Thompson caught a fresh 2 1/2 pounder from Blue Clints . Joe Haselden got a 2 pounder on spinner from Shortsholm where also a sea trout fell to the ladies, being caught by Diane Owen,

Eric Garthwaite of Annan timed the right time with the right place, landing six fresh sea trout in a week on fly at Canonbie, followed by hooking six but only landing two to 3lbs on a visit the following week.

On Langholm permit beat, Lorraine Burke landed two sea trout out of six and the next night caught three on worm, whilst brother Chris Burke caught a fit 3 pounder on fly from the Ford.

I was delighted to hear that 87 year auld Irving Wylie (retired head river watcher and Iain Bells predecessors predecessor) managed to land a fresh 11lb salmon from Tower on flying C. Wattie Grieve also caught a salmon there too. Craig Carson tempted a fresh one of each, salmon 11 1/2lb and sea trout 2lbs also at tower and Hollows.

David Laidler fished on 25th July landing three sea trout to 3lbs weight at Willow and Cauldron. the larger fish of course being returned in line with fishery conservation measures.

Neil Bird of Gretna fished Inch Pool on low Liddle to be rewarded with a brand new 2lb 15oz sea trout using a buck tail spinner. Mike Skipsey of Yorks hooked three fresh grilse one after the other in Willow Pool, but only landed one of them at 5lb 9oz using light line for sea trout. Tony Swiers reported a wonderful time with a 9 1/2lb salmon and six sea trout in an evening at Low Irvine house's Coopers stream. local rod Chris Barker, is reported to have landed a 9lb salmon from Potholm on Langholm beat and Iain Blackett added a 5 1/2lb grilse to his tally from Cauldron.

Rex Dale caught a 2lb sea trout in heavy flood at Canonbie on worm as did Archie Nichol and Bill Badham.

As the month drew to a close a number of fresh fish arrived in Dead Neuk, Canonbie. The water dropped in and Jackie Allan fished the night cast landing two sea liced sea trout to 2 1/2lbs plus a couple of herling and some fish lost. Iain Bell told me that although sport had been sporadic, some fish were still running in as August approached and being seen more than with the higher water levels previous. On the last Monday of July just as he was thinking that all had gone swiftly upstream, he counted 26 fresh looking sea trout to about 3 1/2lbs land into Hollows beat . Next day they had gone.

As the the month ended, John Bosemworth of Yorkshire caught his first Esk sea trout up at Irvine house on a spinner and rain began to fall again. This time we will be thinking of grilse.

June 2008 Report

2008-07-01T22:27:00.003Z

The drought which started in mid April really began to bite and in early June, Esk and Liddle had never been seen so low. Sea Trout are determined creatures however and with excellent tides over the first week of June, some fresh run fish wriggled their way into the system.

On Willow and Cauldron Mike Skipsey landed a fish around 3lbs and lost another two. Opposite on the English bank,Mick Horner was reported to have landed a brace of sea trout. Brian hollingworth landed a brace of very fresh fish to 2 1/2 lbs ,the larger one being returned.

On Canonbie beat ,Colin Selstrom had a hectic 1/2 hour with a 1lb and a 3/12lb sea trout ,plus a good Brown trout on Teal blue and silver from Dead Neuk. David Wylie landed a fresh 2lb 3oz sea trout from Burns Stream.

Over on Liddle Water, Rodney Potts landed one and lost one both in the 1 1/2 lb school fish range, on a mepp, from Horse Pool. Andrew Fryer battled against the odds on Mill stream but caught 3 nice wee brownies, only to set off back to Derbyshire, just as the weather finally broke into proper rain, bringing a much needed spate. Bob Smith landed a 11/4lb sea trout from Irvine house, again having to head for home before the flood..

For the last 12 days of June, Both rivers were in spinning ply ,dropping in for the day time fly and then getting topped up again with the occasional dirty flush. Some exciting fishing was then had, but with continued high waters, fish became spread out, and were caught as they paused in migration. This made brilliant sport with very fresh fish , but you had to be in the right place at the right time to intercept them.

Low Liddle season rod Paul Thompson lost two sea trout and finally landed a fresh 5lb sea trout on Border Belle from the Black kist. In keeping with the present conservation rules the big fish was returned. Tommy Newton had a mad 15 minutes on Black Kist, losing a good salmon but landing a fresh 2lb sea trout on his own pattern fly. Neil Bird of Gretna, fished the low Liddle beat for the first time and was rewarded with a beautiful 18 1/2 lb salmon from Ha' Pool. A big fish for June.

Fishing Tower and Hollows, Alan and Brian Cooper had a fresh sea trout a piece to 2 1/2 lbs. Phil pearce landed a school sea trout from Chapel on spinner. Nick Wilcox caught a beautiful 13 1/2lb Salmon on spinner in Shortsholm and also had 3 sea trout to 2lb 13 oz . Nick Marsden caught a brace to 2lb 15oz on toby, near Shortsholm, Richard Oliver a 2 1/2 lb sea trout from Chapel pool on flying C and Patrick Gibson a 3lb sea trout from Sykefoot. Patrick also caught an 8lb salmon on Toby in Caul pool.

Chris Elliot had an excellent days sport with 2 very fresh sea trout to 1 1/2 lbs on fly. the wind got up so he switched to spinning rod and was rewarded with a whopping 20 lb cock salmon from Willow pool, apparently loosing another salmon.

William Ewart landed a brace of sea trout on Willow and reported a lot of activity with a run coming through, Back at Irvine house, Tim Atkinson caught a 1 1/2lb sea trout and team mate Ross Davies showed that the Welsh know a bit about sea trout by landing 3 all in the 1 3/4 lb range on spinner. Irving Hewit fought back for the Scots with a nice school sea trout followed by a fresh run salmon of 10lbs from fossil Beds on flying C.

As the the month closed David wilkinson caught a 14lb salmon from Willow and Cauldron Cauldron on spinner. Bill Liddel landed a fresh 2 1/2 lb sea trout on fly. Brian Horseman a 6lb grilse from Canonbie .

Sad news was received about Canonbie season rod Colin Cameron, who passed away recently. Fishing down on the tidal stretch at Metal Bridge has all but stopped, due to roadworks on the new motorway bridge making access difficult.

Fishing opposite Buccleuch on the English lower Liddle at Riddings , Brian Gaskell reported a good day with a 7 1/2 lb salmon, and two good sea trout of 3lbs and 4 1/2 lbs, all returned . ELF fishery manager Iain Bell was pleased to say that although sport was a times sporadic, all the sea trout he saw caught in june were in very good fat condition and appeared to have fed well at sea.

It is also good to see fishers taking odd smaller fish for the pan, and returning the larger sea trout to breed.

Several more ELF permit holders had some good sport with sea trout during the month. Many sea trout will have run far and fast on the higher flows, being widely spread throughout the catchment and harder to pin down, but with good tides for 4th July and a bit of fresh water left, prospects are encouraging.

May 2008 Report

2008-07-01T22:07:00.002Z

John Walters kicked off for the month with a beautiful 16lb spWith a small run of sea trout and a few good salmon in April, May looked promising . David Laidler was among the sport in the early part of the month, with a brace of fresh sea trout to 2 1/2lbs from cauldron beat ,both caught on Invicta. Jackie Allan landed a similar sea trout from Canonbie Beat. Unfortunately we then endured the driest May on record. This coupled with cold winds from the East mean't that sea trout held off ,with no significant numbers showing in either the rivers or the inner Solway.

Drought conditions really bit hard and toward the month end, it was possible to cross the neck of the Willow pool ( which is on the main stem of the catchment) in a pair of wellingtons. Stones and boulders were bleached white in colour. The rain which deluged the south of the kingdom barely touched the Scottish Borders at all.

Fishery manager, Iain Bell has asked me to remind anglers fishing Esk & Liddle Fishery waters about the conservation measures to optimise on the future reproduction of sea trout. All sea trout over 3lbs weight are to be returned to the water with the minimum harm possible and there is also a bag limit of 2 sea trout maximum a day. The vast majority of large sea trout are hens. A school sized sea trout hen will only lay about 700 to 1000 eggs at spawning time. A double figure sea trout would provide 10,000 or more eggs of a durable genetic type.

Iain is pleased to report that the Solway Firth is now to be included in a major effort to secure the best possible future for this prince of fish and will form part of the Celtic Sea Trout Project, linking Solway rivers with Irish and Welsh bodies in a joint effort at establishing facts about the marine stage of the fishes life cycle ,its protection and enhancement.

Sampling of sea trout scales and DNA from the tidal Solway should be underway by June and also marine temperature monitoring will establish if and when any dangerous heat peaks occur to deter fish entering esturine waters. The significant increase in numbers of shoaling Bass in the Firth are also being looked at to establish how much of their food predation is made up from sea trout or salmon smolts.

Those participating in the project include Buccleuch Estates, Esk and liddle Improvement association, Environment Agency, Galloway Fisheries Trust, Annan District and Nith District Fishery Boards, together with Solway Haaf net and stakenet operators. The research operation will be brought together for study by the School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University , under Dr. Nigel Milner.

River monitoring introduced over a year ago is being continued and extended, with extra temperature probes fixed in upper catchment spawning burns during the last week in may. Iain said during these jobs, he was encouraged to see numbers of this years sea trout fry in the low water and plenty of invertebrate life to feed on. Notably some of the burns carried stocks of fresh water limpet,(Ancylus) which will only tolerate pure water.

Good tides are due for the first weekof June and given heat and a little water we should see fresh sea trout arrive in greater numbers.

April 2008 Reports

2008-04-29T23:07:00.005Z

John Walters kicked off for the month with a beautiful 16lb spring salmon, caught and returned on a bluish fly from 'The New Bit',just down stream of Schelly Hole on Canonbie permit Beat. Peter Graham from N.E. England followed with a 7lb spring salmon caught on a brown and gold devon further down stream on Willow Pool Beat. Chris Elliot is also reported to have had a fish there of just over 4lbs on Flying 'C'. Season permit holder on Canonbie Colin Hudson, landed a nice brownie of around the 2lb mark on fly from the Wires.

The Sea Trout started to come in early season numbers too. A small pod were reported seen going through Cauldron, and Neil Bird of Gretna, caught and returned 2 very fresh sea trout of 2lb and 2 1/2 lbs, losing another in a session on the tidal stretch at Metal Bridge. There may be occassional access problems encountered at Metal Bridge Fishery during the building of the new motorway bridge there, which may not be completed until the end of this season. Those persons holding Metal Bridge permits are asked to inform Esk & Liddle Fishery Office (013873 81951) of any problems in that respect.

Iain Bell said that after good tides he saw a nice sea trout of 5 to 6lbs in the neck of coopers Stane at Irvine House Beat . Just a few days later during the last week of April, good rains came, lifting Liddle into good flood and Esk into a beautiful fishing spate. Given some slightly higher temperatures due , prospects look very encouraging for May.

Further to the Esk and Liddle Fishery Sea Trout scale sampling for chemical composition analysis under taken last year, from which it is hoped to determine sea trout rivers of origin. It is hoped that through the School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University more work may be undertaken including DNA, particularly aiming at the marine environment, which could lead to a greater knowledge of marine movements, thus enhancing our ability to protect sea habitats and the sea trout themselves. Members of the Solway Group of fishery managers hope to secure funds for this and form a link with the Irish and Welsh Celtic Sea trout Project