I am staying in Seatoller in a couple of weeks and fancy a flick on the R. Derwent that runs through Borrowdale. I have tried all the usual sources but been unable to find out who owns the fishing. Does anybody know (and where to get tickets from, if available)? Is it worth it (certainly looks a lovely bit of water).

Thanks in advance


Tony

I used to stay in Borrowdale in the 70s and 80s and could never find out if a permit was available. I did fish Stonethwaite Beck, a tributary and caught very small browns and salmon parr (!). I have seen locals worming the Derwent in August in high water, presumably for salmon to judge by the tackle. I never saw anyone fishing for trout.
There are minnows so there must be the possibility of larger fish if you can find a deep pool.
The scenery, certainly, is some of England's finest so a day's fishing, though perhaps not very productive, should certainly be enjoyable.
There's decent fishing, free I think, in Styhead Tarn though April might be a bit early. There's a great thread called Mountain Tarns on page 17 which should inspire you.
Have a go and good luck.

Thanks Muddler. I will probably have a go on Styhead but when I saw the river last year, I really fancied a go and as I am going back, it would be churlish not to try. Excellenet scenery it is and the holiday is mainly for walking in it but the chance of an early/late cast on the river would be most welcome.

Thanks again.

Tony, I put in a couple of fairly intensive half-days on the river when during a family holiday at Grange a couple of summers ago.

It's a glorious-looking river - in some ways the closest I've seen to Slovenia this side of the Channel - but I'd have to say there weren't many signs of fish. In fact the only fish I saw at all was a really big salmon (15lb plus?) in a deep pool just below Seatoller - otherwise, no fish at all, not even minnows. Virtually no bugs on the rocks either, so I did wonder at the time if the river had had a sheep-dip problem?

If you do want tickets, I think I got mine for a couple of quid a day at the tourist office in Keswick... but I might be tempted to take muddler9's advice and carry a rod on your walks in the hills. Blea Tarn is quite nearby: a good hike up from Watendlath, but may have a nice surprise on the right day

Theo

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Theo has it spot on, the upper Derwent has very few fish in it. In a good dry summer the water almost disappears, leaving just a trickle. It is much better below the Lake where the river Greta joins, from here down to Bassenthwaite Lake great fishing.

Caddisman

You're right CMan, regarding the water level. The Seathwaite runner, below the sheep farm and Stan Edmondson's trout farm, disappears under the bed of the river in a dry summer, but you can sometimes hear it down in the substrate. A fair number of lakeland streams are clinically clean, hence little detritus and algae, hence few bugs, hence little fish. Now the bed of Bassenthwaite is a different kettle of fish-food altogether. No shortage of nutrients down there!!
More than a tad too much, alas. Before the threat of roe-devouring coarse fish, the main problem for the vendace was the 'muck'. TC

Thank you all for your helpful (if not very encouraging - at least as far as the river goes) replies. Looks like I shall have to put a rod in the pack when out for a walk.

Thanks again.

Tony