Work Parties - Can you help?.

Members can help in the work of the Association building and maintaining stiles, walkways, bridges and generally maintaining the river access for the benefit of all. Work parties are arranged throughout the year from the early season maintenance of paths to removing and clearing up trees from the river after storms, but we do need your help.

Please use the Form on the ‘CONTACT’ page with your contact details if you are able to provide some much needed help or encouragement. You don’t need to be super fit as there are plenty of lighter jobs to be done. Thanks.

Tay Board Fishery Officers Netting for Salmon broodstock.

As a result of requests made to the Tay Salmon Fisheries Board, (See Links page for meeting minutes) attempts were made to obtain Eden salmon as broodstock for rearing at the Almondbank hatchery. Unfortunately the attempt was then made too late in the season when river was too high to obtain salmon when the TDSFB had issues with hatchery capacity, but as lots of redds were found so it looks like spawning had already taken place which has to be good news.

Links

TSFB Fishery Officers at Dairsie Bridge Pool.

2018 Stan Reed Memorial Cup & Catch return prize draw winners.

The 2018 AGM of the Association was held at the Wilkie Hall Pitlessie on 2nd December.

Colin Jeffrey is the winner of the Stan Reed Memorial Cup with a Salmon of 8 lbs. Well done Colin. No mean feat given the low water conditions .

Frank Doyle won a free 2019 season permit in the prize draw for members who made their catch return. If you want to win it. You need to be in it. Frank your permit will be posted out to you for the start of the season.

Ladyburn

Walked the Ladyburn as far the Carslogie burn today. Sadly it was running milky white at the Sports Ground area. Reported this to the SEPA POLLUTION HOTLINE 0800 80 70 60.

SEPA investigated early next day, but surprise surprise, after more overnight rain the burn was well up. SEPA have put it down to a “colloidal suspension of Soil” or as we say in Fife, muddy watter. On the positive side it is raining and the burns are finally coming up. SEPA have responded relatively quickly, even though it was not possible be sure of what may have caused it a day later.

Members please note the SEPA POLLUTION hot line number, 0800 80 70 60 keep it with your permit and use it to report problems on the river to SEPA yourself as every minute counts. they will respond. Phone the secretary or committee members afterwards.

Annual General meeting:

The 2018 AGM is convened for 7:30 pm Sunday 2nd December at the Wilkie Hall Pitlessie.

Committee meeting convened for 7:30 pm Sunday 25th November at the Wilkie Hall Pitlessie.

The AGM is an opportunity for all members to have their say in the management and improvement of the river and it’s environment so please attend if you can. If you can’t attend please speak with any committee member to have your say and present your apologies.

• Proposals for the agenda to be notified to the Acting Secretary by Friday 24th November. Any items received after this date may if time permits only be considered under Any Other Business.

• Catch returns are crucial for compliance with our lease and Scottish Government terms & conditions. These need to be made now by any means to the secretary (see contacts page) or by using the on line form. This year the names of any member failing to make a catch return before the AGM will be referred to committee.

Fishing Report

Late in the season it is, but there are reports that some Salmon have entered the system above the Pouch with the last pickle rains and there are sea trout and good sized finnock being caught. Without rain fish are coming in and out with the big spring tides, which peak on 25/26th of the month.

Tight Lines

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.

2018 SEASON TICKETS

Season tickets for the coming year are now available from the usual outlets and the secretary. We have managed yet again to keep the prices the same as last year.

I wish all our anglers an enjoyable season on the river.

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

Quite a lot of salmon and grilse are starting to come into the river. They are still mainly in the lower sections but will spread out quite quickly. Some are being caught, mainly on spinner.

Timely Reminder

A car parked in the lay-bye above the pouch was broken into and a lot of tackle stolen. While this is a rare occurance, it does happen. Please make sure that all your valuables are out of sight when leaving your car and report any suspicious behavior to the police.