CORONAVIRUS - advice for Anglers UPDATE

UPDATE 31.3.20 - Following the latest Government Directives enforcing all but essential travel and the closure all non essential shops. It seems that all other outlets are now CLOSED until further notice. If anyone wishes to show their support for the Association, memberships may still be available from some of the Cupar outlets, but only on the understanding that they abide by government directives and follow the COVID19 access code below as they are amended.

PREMIER Convienience Store 16 Ladywynd Cupar, KY15 4D.

R DOTT THOMSON - 57 Bonnygate Cupar, KY15 4BY.

OR by post from the

SECRETARY - 49 Sandylands Road Cupar, KY15 5JP with Full Name; AGE; Address; Post Code with a CHEQUE for the permit(s) requested. Do not send any cash in the post.

All Association committee meetings and organised work parties have been cancelled until further notice.

PLEASE STAY AT HOME- keep up to date, follow government advice, directives and the instructions from the Police. It is a long Fishing season and our NHS heroes need you to stay safe so they can cope in the front line.

An EAA Facebook group page can be now accessed by any one who wants to share happier pre COVID19 Eden fishing memories on line. Just access facebook edenangling.org or e mail the secretary with your full name, address, postcode and e-mail address to pre register and get the link.

All the best, and take care.

The Secretary

Sea Trout

Sea Trout are being caught now river levels are returning to a fishable level. This is Steve Smarts first this season.at 1 lb 6 oz on a Mallard & Claret.

Litterpick

Bacon Rolls to fuel the pick

Amazing the amount of litter we 4 collected in just a couple of hours. 10 bags or 600 litres of just about everything imaginable that floats or has been carelessly thrown away into the Eden by those treating the countryside a waste bin. Many thanks to Bill Wardlaw for the the use of his tractor and Barbara for the breakfast bacon rolls tea,coffee & handwashing facilities.

If anyone has some time free on Sunday morning meet at Newmill Farm at 10am first. Any litter collected should be stored at Newmill for uplift.

2 hrs 10 bags later. Thanks Win, Harald & Bill for turning out

Footnote: Sadly the fife Coast & Countryside Trust did not deliver the litter picking kits promised but we have managed to obtain some locally. Contact the secretary if you need bags or gloves.

Workparty - Litterpick

Sadly there is quite a lot of plastic & rubbish washed up below Cupar on the river banks following the high water. As we don’t want this to end up in the river or our beautiful beaches at Tentsmuir or the West Sands, anyone who can help out with litter picking on Saturday 14th March or Sunday please contact the secretary. or just turn up at Newmill farm on Saturday at 10am for a bacon roll before splitting up & heading out. All litter and kits gloves etc need to be be returned to Newmill Farm when done for an uplift. Anyone with free time on Sunday 15th March please contact the secretary for a litter kit and areas still to be cleaned.

EAA signage

Ramornie Bridge

Eden Angling Association ‘Fishing by Permit Only’ signs are being placed at the main points of access on the river to provide information via the web site address as to where permits can be obtained and to support the increase in permit checks throughout the season.

Many thanks to Tosh & Steve for their assistance .

Salmon Fishing Effort reporting

Marine Scotland now use the number of days spent fishing for salmon in deciding the conservation status of the river. Days spent fishing for sea trout or Brown Trout do not count. More information can be found below or at Marine Scotlands web site https://www2.gov.scot/Resource/0054/00544540.pdf

What if I only fish for an hour or so in a day?  As above, we are asking that you record rod effort as the number of rods fished each day, summed across the month – regardless of the amount of time actually spent fishing on the day. We recognise this is a simple measure of effort and we may seek to refine these estimates in the future.

What if I don’t catch any fish? in general, effort is a measure of the time spent fishing, even if no salmon are caught, and each day or part days fishing should be recorded as a rod day.

What if there is no fishing for salmon in a month/year?  If a catch form is being returned but no fishing for salmon took place in a particular month, zero rod effort should be reported for that month (see example below).

‘Rod days’ refers to fishing by any method. If an angler goes out fishing specifically for sea trout but catches salmon instead, should rod effort be recorded?  Yes. While we recognise that in this case the intention was to catch sea trout and not salmon, if any salmon were caught then a rod day should be recorded for salmon.

Non-specific angling (i.e. aiming to catch salmon and sea trout) undertaken should be treated as angling for salmon.

Eden Opening Day

From L-R: Harald; Bert; Dave; Bill: Colin; Alan; Graham & Dougie

The blessing done., something like “what a waste of Uisge”

Good to see such a good turnout. Hon President Bill Wardlaw did the honours blessing the Eden in the all too brief lull before storm Dennis hit and turned the day positively Baltic. After the Presidents first cast a few brave souls ventured out as conditions although not ideal were set to get much worse as the day progressed. Apologies to Michal and Steve who appeared later and missed the photo.

Wildlife Crime Talk

Pleased to report on a most interesting and helpful talk to Committee by the new Fife Wildlife Crime Officer who is the point of contact for all wildlife crime in the county. The talk covered not only wildlife crime such as Deer Coursing and badger baiting, but also the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) act 2003 where In order to fish for freshwater fish (including Brown Trout) and migratory fish (sea and freshwater) you need written permission from the landowner or a fishing club. Committee found this helpful for handling and reporting the frequent random Permit checks they carry out throughout the season.

2020 PERMITS

PERMITS FOR THE 2020 SEASON ARE NOW AVAILABLE from following outlets.

R DOTT Thomson 57 Bonnygate, Cupar KY15 4BY;

PREMIER Store 16 Lady Wynd, Cupar KY15 4DE;

REEKIE Cupar Trading Estate Prestonhall KY15 4SX;

KILT SHOP 68 South St, St Andrews KY16 9JT

ANGLERS CHOICE  259 Strathmartine Rd, Dundee DD3 8QQ

ALLADINS CAVE 259 High St, Leslie, Glenrothes KY6 3AX

DEALS on REELS 18 Station Rd, Cowdenbeath KY4 9SG

WE’RE GAME 126 St Clair St, Kirkcaldy KY1 2BZ

ANGLING ACTIVE 10 Halbeath Rd, Dunfermline KY12 7QX

Permits may also be obtained from the secretary, Mob: 07986 666 898

PERMIT PRICES - 2020 SEASON:

ADULT (18 & OVER) Season Permit: £55

OAP (65 and Over) Season Permit: £30

JUNIOR (Under 18) Season Permit: £10

DAY TICKETS: (15th February - 31st October) £15

Anyone posting 5 Day Tickets to the Secretary will receive a free season permit for remainder of the year.

Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board - 2019 Annual Report

The Annual report for 2019 can be accessed through the link .

Petition - Consultation on stocking of salmon rivers

The Scottish Gamekeepers Association Fishing Group believes Marine Scotland, a government agency, should carry out a full and formal stakeholder consultation before announcing a definitive policy on the stocking of Scotland’s salmon rivers. The Petition can be accessed on the link below is open until 28th January 2020.

Access Point Signage

Tosh Gray at ‘Dirdum’ brae car park overlooking Kemback

New signs are going up at the main fishing access points on the river.

Flytipping

Yet another load of rubbish dumped behind the Beet Factory reported to Fife Council today. The second load in the last couple of months. Hope Fife Council find the culprits soon. Anyone finding Fly tipped rubbish on the river should report it to Fife council using the ‘Links’ page form on this web site.

Salmon Conservation - a national priority?

There is an interesting article on STV news this morning about the decline in salmon catches, climate change and funding for a smolt tagging project, to inform Scottish Government’s wild Salmon conservation strategy by September. For further information follow the link below. Any questions or suggestions regarding the effects of government salmon conservation on smaller community angling associations and their wider community benefits should be forwarded to our local MSP Willie Rennie MSP at

G3 Granary Business Centre
Coal Road
Cupar
KY15 5YQ

Kemback Work party

A good turnout for the first work party of the year clearing the river bank at Edengrove. There are quite a few storm felled trees down in this stretch and more work is planned. This will be posted on a separate page soon. Many thanks to the stalwarts who turned out.

Clearing the wind fallen trees at Edengrove

Happy New Year

All the best and Tight lines for the new year..

Close Season Work Parties

Thanks Harry

Weather permitting, plan is for willing helpers to meet at the Dairsie Bridge Big Car park Sunday 5th January at 10:30.

Harry Brown has already been busy tidying up Kemback trees hauled out in previous years. Watch this space for other close season improvement jobs to do and work party diary dates. If you know of any access, repairs or improvement work needing done please report it to any member of committee or the secretary.to get it on the list.

TDSFB 2018/2019 Annual Report

The Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board Annual report is now available. Worth a read particularly the update on the changes to Scottish Government’s Fisheries Management Scotland (FMS) Salmon stocking policy.(See Page 12.& 13). It is not yet clear how this might affect the Eden. Please feed back any comments you may have to the Secretary.

Eden 2019 season Catch results

The 2019 season has seen a total of 21 Salmon caught and released compared to just 9 in 2018 including some from the upper beats of the river after August when the rains kept the water levels at a good height for the rest of the season. In the summer many more salmon were hooked and lost in the lower beats for reasons best known to those that hooked them. 191 sea trout were recorded as caught with 90% returned. Sea Trout were generally 1 to 1.5 Lbs with some 2 -3 lbs. The Eden Estuary also had a prolific Finnock season with over 362 recorded as caught & released. Prospects look good for the future and particularly good for sea Trout in 2020.

Annual General Meeting of members

The AGM is being held on Sunday 1st December in the Wilkie memorial Hall Pitlessie at 7:30 pm. All members of the association are invited to attend to elect office bearers, committee and to have a say in how the association is run.

Proposals for discussion should reach the secretary by Sunday24th November to be included on the agenda

Please remember to make your catch returns. This also applies to those fishing on day tickets. Without them we cannot hope to influence river catch & release categorisation.