Brown Trout Season begins on Monday 16th March!
Some hardy anglers have already been out in search of a spring salmon or sea trout but not long now until Monday 16th march when the season is open for Brown Trout too! We thought it was time to crack out this photo of this chubby cracker from a couple of years back.
If you haven’t already purchased your permit for the 2026 season, it’s easy to start a new membership or renew your permit at this link:
Or scan the QR code…
River Maintenance Work
Those of you have been out fishing already will have seen the new club posters in the noticeboard at the cottages car park at Kemback as well as repairs to the walkways and stiles as you head downstream. Committee members will continue this work as the season progresses and as usual, there will be some path clearance to improve access as the vegetation starts to get up.
Looking after our river and its fish
As most people reading this are aware, Atlantic Salmon is a critically endangered species globally. and the River Eden is classed as POOR making it a CAT 3 river again for 2026 for salmon which means all fish caught must be returned.
This is calculated as an estimate of the number of returning fish and, in particular, spawners giving an ‘egg requirement’. This has only reached an average of 25.7% of what would be expected over the past 5 years. This is shown in the diagram below:
PREVENTING POACHING
For this reason the Scottish Government has recently stepped up its action to protect salmon by significantly increasing penalties for serious fish crime. Details can be found at this link
Eden Angling Association and its members can contribute to the efforts to stop poaching by reporting anything they see that concerns them whether it is an angler fishing illegally or equipment found bankside. Recently vice president Colin Jeffrey found a cast net on the bank which is clearly illegal to use to catch fish on the Eden. This was reported to the Tay Board and Project Officer and Bailiff, Marek Wolf collected it. Marek has made it clear that Tay officers will be patrolling the river this year and all committee members when out also act as Bailiffs. Please help us to keep an eye out for this kind of thing and report it to the Wildlife Crime Officer on 101 or contact the Bailiffs:
Mike Brown 07748968919
Craig Duncan 07748338667
Marek Wolf 07816 159183
This cast net was found bankside, reported to the Tay Board and collected by their officer.
RESP Update
We have some important updates about our partnership with the River Eden Sustainability Partnership.
Invasive Non Native Species
EAA members have been involved for a long time trying to get rid of invasive plant species from the river bank - especially giant hogweed. In 2022 this was identified as a signifiant pressure in our Wild Trout Trust Report. Since then we have worked with the River Eden Sustainability Partnership to train up volunteers to treat invasive plant species as well as purchase a storage unit and a range of equipment for use by volunteers. In addition, RESP was funded to carry out surveys of the location of key invasive plant species on the mainstem Eden and Motray and 250m up all tributaries. The results of this can be viewed here:
We are now pleased to announce that on the back of this preparatory work, the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative (SISI) has decided to extend operations south to the River Eden and Earn. They are in the process of appointing a project officer to manage this work. Invasive plants Giant hogweed, Himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed will be the target plants in this catchment-wide, source-to-sea initiative but the project will also include mink control. This work will have multiple benefits for the river and biodiversity but also for the safety of anglers and others using the river for recreation. A seasonal worker will also be appointed. Funding is in place for 2 years with 50% from NatureScot and 50% from Offshore Wind community benefit funding. There is a strong chance that a further 10 years funding will be provided. SISI operate by working with a combination of contractors, landowners and volunteers so if anyone is interested in doing the training or getting involved, please use this contact form to get in touch.
2. Videos
2 new videos can now be viewed on the homepage of the RESP website.
Introduction to RESP was filmed with funding from Bioregioning Tayside, another catchment restoration initiative which has been supportive of the work of the partnership.
The Moor Road Project
The second one was produced by the Crown Estates who funded RESP’s Moor Road Project to reduce flooding into Cupar from this ancient path between Ceres and Cupar.
3. Riverwoods Blueprint Project
RESP partner Sustainable Cupar has secured funding for the partnership to be part of this national initiative to create a catchment woodland plan for the Eden and Motray. Through the funding, woodland consultants Walker Hines Woodland Services have been appointed to work with Fife Climate Forest for the next 12 months to scope out the potential for riverside woodland. It is hoped that at least 20 fully scoped planting projects will be agreed with willing landowners over the course of the year. Tree planting in the right place can have multiple benefits for the river and its habitats: It reduces erosion by holding banks together; it provides shade and cover which in turn reduces water temperature at a time when climate change has increased them. This suits our cold-water-loving trout and salmon. The cover also provides refuge from predators like fish-eating birds, reducing their impact. Trailing cover helps to develop in-channel diversity and this in turn creates the different habitats needed by fish at the different stages of development.
