It's perhaps a rather late post, but fished the border Esk 18th to 23rd of Sept, despite what should be superb conditions with two good spates during the week there was a distinct lack of fish. The only fish that were clearly seen moving were one afternoon on the willow pool at the junction of the Liddle where I saw several fish. Apart from that the river appeared devoid of fish. The Solway half nets have I understand had a superb season, with low water most of the summer they've harvested a superb crop, so much so that I heard of sea trout being sold for as low as 68p per kilo. Surely this can't be right.

It isn't all doom and gloom, I did manage a slightly coloured 7 pounder which was returned, but it just seemed an awful lot of hard work for one fish.

The talk in the hotel of an evening was around the fact that no one was fishing as there were no fish, are any of the other Solway rivers suffering the same fate????

Fish or no fish, many Esk regulars are refusing, most commendably, to fish the river in protest against the preposterous proposal, by the English Environment Agency, that Scots should be required to buy an English rod licence.

__________________

Does anyone check for licences? Has anyone been prosecuted?
I'd be interested in the outcome if anyone had been caught or indeed appeared in court.

It was reported that Environment Agency officers made several cross border raids during the course of the 2005 season, with a view to enforcing the 1975 Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act (England and Wales) north of the border, where they have no jurisdiction and no authority under Scots Law. As I understand it, they proceeded to challenge several law-abiding citizens and charged them with violating their English Law, with a view to prosecution in a Scottish court...... yes, the notion is absurd. It is reported that they even went so far as to confiscate fish caught legally in Scotland. I believe that the fish were later returned to their rightful owner. As far as I know, there have been no consequent prosecutions. Indeed, I would be more than a little surprised if it were possible to bring a prosecution in a Scottish court under an English Act. Accordingly, I suspect that either the Cumbrian contingent of the Environment Agency, realising that they are skating on very thin ice, has decided not to report the incidents or, if they have done, that the Scottish Procurator Fiscal has sent them homewards to think again.

__________________