Well its been a little while in the making but you are now looking at the new Hemmingways web site. Hopefully all will be well and I look forward to posting plenty of your success pictures and tales on the Catch this blog over the coming months..

WE had a week or three down on Windermere recently and had some grand days out but with the water temperature being higher than the air temp the fishing was a bit slower than I would have wished. Still there were some good fish to be had and although we only managed one twenty pounder it was nice to be back out there. What was most interesting this short visit ( two weeks) was the number of smaller pike showing up. Its a rarity on there to be catching single weight pike and we generally get more above 15lb than we do smaller ones but this November there were quite a few around the ten pound mark. Mind you they were all fine fat fast growing specimens so it all bodes well for the future. What was also noticeable was the lack of other boats out there which has to be good news for the fish. Barnsley Matt, one of my acolytes had his first twenty after years of trying so gets a quick mention here. ( he was so emotional he had to pack up and go home! ) Aaah ! Meanwhile, another of my regulars Ciaran Wilson had a superb 29 from Menteith on a SPAC day. Well done the pair of you.

For the time being I’ve put the Beagle back on Derwentwater for a couple of pre- Christmas sorties as its less hassle and closer than the Windermere moorings.

On another subject, I’ve been spending a bit more time on the river recently -mostly catching Grayling and watching salmon spawning but its made a nice change to be travelling light wandering the banks of the Eden and we have met some fine fish to just under two pounds. Over on the Derwent we have had one of the worst salmon seasons on record but there would appear to have been a fair number of salmon come into the river after the seasons end and a recent redd count on St Johns Beck revealed at least sixty redds which although not as good as ten years ago is a huge improvement on last years tally of less than twenty in the same area. So maybe we might just still have a salmon fishery for future generations, unless the juvenile fish get eaten by the cormorants and goosanders!

Tarra

Eric

First of this winters bigger Pike

Stuart with one of three on a bright day

Ciaran Wilson with a 29 from Mentieth