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 200C).
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).