Fishing information
Fishing on the River Eden and the River Caldew through Carlisle
is managed by Carlisle Angling
Association (external link). Information about where to fish
and what species can be found the Carlisle Angling Association web
site. Permits can be obtained through the Association.
Carlisle City Council offer angling facilities at Talkin Tarn.
If you are twelve years old and over, and intend to fish for
freshwater fish or eels in England and Wales and on the Border Esk
Catchment, you must have a current Environment Agency Rod Licence.
This can be obtained from any Post Office or on-line from The Environment Agency
(external link).
Closed Season and Fisheries By Laws.
For more information about the Closed Season, please refer to
the The Environment
Agency (external link) and look for North West Region Fisheries
By Laws.
Save our Salmon.
Our native Atlantic Salmon are facing an uncertain future,
anglers can help protect them. The parasite (Gyrodactylus
salaris) is less than half a millimetre in size and barely
visible to the naked eye, but it can cause severe damage to salmon,
and often results in the death of affected fish. It is now
widespread in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, and has also
been found in France, Germany, Portugal and Spain.
Thankfully the parasite has not yet been found in the UK - but
experiments have shown that our salmon would be killed by it, so it
is really important that it is not introduced from Europe.
There is also a small risk that anglers and other water sports
enthusiasts returning from European countries (Denmark, Finland,
Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain) could
inadvertently carry the parasite back to this country.
The parasite can survive in wet or damp conditions for five to
six days on boats, equipment or clothing. Most affected are
recreational water users returning with their equipment, or
European competitors entering the UK for events, where they intend
to re-use their equipment within a week.
If you are returning with equipment used in rivers in the
European countries listed above you can help prevent importing the
disease on nets, reels, canoes, wet suits, clothing and footwear by
doing two simple things:
- Thoroughly drying all equipment for at least 48 hours. (Drying
in sunlight in temperatures above 20°C).
or
- Disinfecting by immersing equipment in seawater or a salt
solution (sodium chloride concentration 3% or more) for a minimum
of ten minutes can kill the parasite. All equipment should then be
thoroughly rinsed in tap water.
Marine vessels returning from abroad do not pose a risk as the
parasite cannot survive in seawater but consideration should be
given to tenders or other equipment used in rivers.
Crayfish Plague.
The River Eden and its tributaries is home to the native White
Clawed Crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) which is under
threat from the introduced American Signal Crayfish and the
Crayfish Plague that it spreads.
The fungal spores of crayfish plague can infiltrate our
freshwater habitats by being carried on angling equipment, boats
and even wellington boots.
Anglers have a key role in helping to reduce the risk of
spreading the disease by:
- Drying, or disinfecting any boots, nets and angling equipment
before moving between rivers. It is best to avoid fishing different
rivers on the same day.
- Not using any crayfish as bait (this is illegal).