1 July-31 July
Unsurprisingly, Aspatria A. C. water remained largely deserted during the July heatwave. With soaring temperatures, bright sunlight and low water, there have been no further reports of sea trout catches following Arthur Dixon's successes of last month, and we are yet to witness any grilse presence in the river. Sport with brown trout also slowed markedly. Smaller fish could still be found in faster, well-oxygenated open water, but they were few and far between, while the bigger wild and stocked fish sought sanctuary in deeper, cooler areas.
Fly fishing was pointless between early morning and late evening, and searching the pools with spinning gear provided the best chance of daytime action. Clark Colman landed a 1lb 8oz wild specimen from a long, slow pool above the New Bridge, shortly before one o'clock on 20 July-one of the hottest days so far this year. A size two gold Mepps, presented upstream on 5lb line, was the successful method. As the month draws to a close, long-range forecasts predict that August will be greeted with wet weather conditions. For our sake, and that of the fish, let's hope this is true, and that rain dancing will not be necessary!
Report compiled by Dr Clark Colman (Vice-Chairman), 31 July 2006
Fishery Report 1st July to 31st July 2006
