Catch Returns

Marine Scotland have for the time being designated the river Eden as catch & release for SALMON. All salmon caught must be returned to the water as carefully as possible to give them the best chance of making it to spawn. It is a criminal offence for any EAA ticket holder to kill one. Only if the club can, drastically improve catch and fishing effort returns can we argue for lifting the ban and demonstrate that it is once again sustainable to take salmon.

This year, can ALL members encourage their fishing buddies to do the right thing for the river and ensure that catch returns are made to the secretary by text, by returning their paper return supplied with the permit, e-mail or by using the on line return on the contacts page of the web site. It is vitally important that we do so.

If any one has ideas on how to improve the returns please contact the secretary, or any committee member.

Last Chance Monsoon Saloon

Finally, in the last few weeks of the fishing season and a long dry summer the rains have come to sweeten and lift the water. This should allow fish in the estuary to run up river. Make the most of it. Return and report all salmon caught and conserve as many sea trout you can to spawn. The Brown Trout season is now closed.

'Storm Ali' clear up

Many thanks to all those who helped out at back to back Sun work parties to remove the worst of storm Ali trees from the river between Nydie Mill to above Dairsie bridge. More volunteers are needed as there is still a lot of timber in the river. Even a few hours will help. Future work parties will be posted here on the web site now it is up and running again,

Pollution of the river

Sadly, right at the end of the season, the river has suffered yet another serious pollution incident. Salmon, sea trout and Brown trout have been killed downstream from the Cupar water treatment plant. Thankfully a member had acted quickly, phoned SEPA and the committee in time to identify the source and gather the evidence essential for prosecution. If any member sees anything detrimental to the river, please contact the secretary or any member of committee right away.

There are however reports of fresh sea trout entering the Dairsie castle beat. Tickets are available from the usual outlets with the best of the fishing below Dairsie bridge.

WELCOME TO THE 2018 SEASON.

Welcome to all new and existing members. This cold blast has kept most people away from the river with very little to report.

It has been confirmed, despite our appeals, that the Eden will be a category  3 river this year. No salmon can be killed. We still need to fish for salmon and give an accurate catch return or we will remain as category 3. It is now obvious that all categories will be determined by the catch numbers.

To date, we have still not received any information from SEPA regarding the lack of weed in the river. We will continue to press them for an answer.

Hopefully the weather will improve soon and we can look forward to an enjoyable season.

Happy New Year.

A happy new year to everyone. Here's hoping it will be a better one for the Eden and the Association. At present there has been no further news regarding the category 3 status. If we receive any update we will publish it as soon as possible.

THE EDEN, DROUGHT AND WATER ABSTRACTION.

A local area group, headed by Dr. Andrew Black of St. Andrews University, are looking into drought and it's effects on the river Eden environment. Anyone wishing to attend a public meeting on the subject please see below

  1.  
  1. Public meeting on Sat 20th Jan from 9.30, Lomond Hills Hotel, Freuchie - focus on the effects of climate change on farming and the wider environment in the Eden catchment . Registration link & further details here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/climate-change-agriculture-in-ne-fife-tickets-41887744371

I would imagine that entry would be possible on the day, but please use the link to gauge response.

2017 AGM NEWS

The secretary would like to thank all those that attended the meeting. Considering the size of the membership the attendance was disappointingly low. The main point of interest for the members was the decision to keep ticket prices the same as last year. The following report was given to the meeting by the secretary.

 

SEASON 2018 CATEGORY 3 STATUS.

The secretary was unhappy to report that Marine Scotland had given the Eden a category 3 status for the 2018 season. On behalf of the membership he had appealed this decision. He understood that other appeals had been lodged on our behalf including an appeal by the TDS FB. Whether these appeals are successful remains to be seen but as yet Marine Scotland have not produced any reliable scientific data to back the decision to make the Eden a category 3 River.

 

ANNUAL CATCH RETURNS.

The secretary reported that once again the annual catch returns were poor. There has been encouraging use of the catch return form on the website but the majority of members did not send in their annual catch return. Without this information it is very difficult to assess the actual health of the River. At this point in time, it would appear that the salmon and finnock catch would be down from last year’s figure.

RIVER CONDITION.

Several members including the secretary had noticed that there was no weed growing in the River below Springfield. This could have a catastrophic effect on the ecology of the River. The lack of weed meant that there was little or no cover for the fish and left them wide open to predators. The whole ecology of the River was in jeopardy. The secretary had contacted SNH, the TDSFB and SEPA. None of these government agencies offered any practical help. After contacting the local MSP, SEPA agreed to investigate the situation with an ecology unit. As yet the secretary has not received any reports on their findings.

TDSFB.

The secretary had attended several of the Tay board committee meetings over the year. He hoped to highlight the River Eden and its ongoing problems. So far the board will not commit to taking salmon from the Eden for breeding purposes nor did they seem particularly interested in this year’s problem of all the weed dying out. They had conducted a survey of juvenile salmon in 2016 and 2017 however none of the data from these surveys has been made available to the Association. The secretary intends to attend that the Tay board AGM to raise points on behalf of the Association.

NOTICE OF AGM.


The AGM will be held on Sunday 3rd. of December in Pitlessie village hall at 7.30 pm. Please make sure all proposals reach the secretary by the 19th November.
Please send your catch return to the secretary before the end of November. You can use the CATCH RETURN button at the top of the website.

Ian Young (secretary)

CATCH RETURNS.

Please make sure that all catch returns, (including nil returns) are sent to the secretary before the end of November. You can use the CATCH RETURN button at the top of the website. Alternatively you can post them or email them. It is absolutely essential we receive as many returns as possible.

The AGM will probably be held on the first Sunday in December. This will be confirmed soon.

URGENT UPDATE FOR THE 2018 SEASON.

Marine Scotland have announced that for the 2018 season the Eden will be classed as a category 3 river. This means that you cannot take a fish for the table. You can still fish for salmon but they have to be released. Our association successfully fought to have the Eden made category 2 and we must do so again. I would urge every member to write or email Marine Scotland at the address below, lodging your objection to them reclassifying the Eden.

Keith Main/Tom Hogg

Marine Scotland

Salmon and Recreational Fisheries Team

Area 1B North

Victoria Quay

Edinburgh

EH6 6QQ

 

Email: salmonandrecreationalfisheries@gov.scot

  Marine Scotland have no sound scientific evidence to base this decision on. To my knowledge they have never visited the river.

Please make sure your objections are made before 13th of October.

River Update.

This has been a difficult year for brown trout fishing. The lack of in river weed from Springfield downstream means that the trout have nowhere to hide and an easy meal for predators. The weed situation is being looked at by SEPA, but as yet they have not given a reason for this serious problem. The best of the brown trout fishing is still in the Pitlessie area.

Salmon and sea trout have started to run into the lower river with a couple of salmon being hooked and lost. Some good sea trout have been caught around the Pooch area but the estuary has been pretty patchy this year.

 

River Update

At long last we are getting some much needed rain. Hopefully this will encourage some sea trout into the river although there doesn't appear to be many in the estuary at the moment.

The best of the brown trout fishing is in the Pitlessie area where there is good cover and feeding for the trout. Below Springfield there is little or no weed in the river. This is very worrying as it points to a problem in the ecosystem. It impacts on fly life and habitat for trout as they have no cover from predators. We are working with SNH to try and identify the problem and come up with a solution.

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