River Tweed River Report Week Ending 21st October
Yet again another unsettled week of water and wind, the whole week was
pretty much a wash out below Kelso with the effects of the Teviot rising most
days, above Kelso done slightly better but still very disappointing for the
time of year.
On Monday Upper Caberston landed a big cock fish weighing 33lbs
83 Salmon and 12 Sea Trout, with the best fish for the week was 23lb Salmon caught on the Ashiesteil and Lower Pavilion Beats.
Mr Cameron Chapman fishing on the
Ashiesteil beat reports “Cover the water and the fish will come.
It couldn’t be more different
to Wild and Windswept Caithness, it’s a complete transformation.
The rolling hills, agricultural
land and majestic trees, it feels and looks like a different Country but it’s
not.
So I thought I’d test my
12’4” Opti NXT #7 and the Loop Scandi #8 on something a bit wider than the
River Thurso.
Ashiestiel was running at
1’7” above summer level, a bit too high to be on song but she was running
clear, so there’s always a chance.
There were fish of every hue
and dimension pushing straight through and upstream, in that height of water.
I was stunned at how easy it
was to cover the water “well”.
“Well”, for me means a long
line at a shallow angle but always reaching the other bank with the fly.
It was a joy to fish and in
truth, it was so easy that it felt like spinning.
Unfortunately, I didn’t hook
my 23lber on the Opti but maybe that’ll happen next week!
A stunning fish in a stunning
location, amongst some of the most decent people you’re likely to encounter on
any river”
Above Kelso 44 Salmon were reported with the best of the catches made on
the Traquair 11, Cardrona 5 and Boleside 5.
Between Kelso and Coldstream 25 Salmon were reported with Junction 4,
Hendersyde 4, Lower North Wark, South Wark 4 & Lees 7 having the better of
the fishing in far from ideal conditions.
On Upper North Wark, A very frustrating week with the water conditions up and down with plenty colour, the week was pretty much a wash out we did fish 3 days and had brief contact with a fish on Wednesday in the Dub.
Lees Head Boatman Mr Malcolm Campbell reports
“Monday
16th October. It was a strange day with
hurricane Ophelia approaching. We started off with a flat calm and mild, warm
even then by mid-morning the sky turned pink with a dull yellow tinge to it,
all to do with sand from the Sahara which has been picked up by the hurricane
I’m told, By lunchtime it was so dark the hens went to roost, by 3.00pm the sun
was out again and it was sunglasses back on, but the wind was here and it was
blowing straight upstream from Learmouth to the top of the Temple. 2’4” and 54
degrees this morning but clean water at last. The Trevelyan Thomas team here
for three days and young Will was the top dog getting four fish onto the hook
and landing three of them, one of them a liced 11lber from Learmouth stream.
The drama of the day was Mark Lowe taking a tumble in the Glide and dropping
his rod which will now be downstream somewhere, so if anyone finds a 14’0”
Lennox rod with a Pfluger reel attached you know where it came from. The wind
is to be with us until lunchtime tomorrow that combined with a wee rise coming
down the Teviot could ruin the day. The catches were nothing to shout about
only 20 reported off the Tweed by 8.00pm and I have to say there were a lot
less fish about today at the Lees, you never know a big run might come in
tomorrow.
Tuesday
17th October. A very windy morning, gales in
fact as storm Ophelia went through, also a rising river which made all fishing
efforts futile. Looking at the catches on the websites I see that Traquair had
a 4lber which was the only fish reported off the river. It’ll be better
tomorrow.
Wednesday
18th October. 2’10” and 50 degrees and fairly
murky this morning but much less wind. We got the team split up on to their
respective bits to fish as we were all mainly at the top of the beat due to the
level. Steven had an old 7lber from the lower cauld which was the best bit to
fish at this height and colour. I started on the top half of the temple with
Richard who was casting a bit too furiously and managed to stick a fly into my
jaw, (note to self, duck quicker), after a yellow card was issued and a word of
advice things settled down a bit, by lunch Stevens fish was still the only one
we had. This afternoon I had Kate in the Cauld and her “snap “T” casting came
on a treat, this was more a self-preservation exercise than casting practice.
Richard Gerney managed to break his rod just before he finished another thing
he hit with the fly! So at the close of play the score was 1 fish, looking
across the websites we did as well as most and better than a lot. The Trevelyan
Thomas team have had some bad luck with the wind and water but we’ve had a good
craic and sorted out the casting, it’ll be better next year for them.
Thursday
19th October. Same height and temp as yesterday
but improved colour. Will Haggas, Claire Shaw (check out her art work) and Lucy
Wrisdel here for the day along with Richard Mildway White, Tom Leslie from Fin
and Game was also here to help keep an eye on the lot of them. First into a
fish today was Lucy and it was a very important fish as it was her first, Lucy
was wading the lower cauld with Tom and got into a 14lber which gave her a fair
old tussle. The fish was cleaner than most but still not a keeper, but Lucy has
the photos to keep. Will got an 11lber from the ledges this afternoon and that
made up the total catch for today. The weather was much better than yesterday,
calm and overcast and I expected more to be honest. As I write this at 7.30pm
the gauges are showing steady but it’s raining outside and the forecast is for
a pickle rain tonight, will it rise and colour again? I hope not. The catches
up and down the river were nothing to shout about, well you could shout but it
won’t make any difference.
Friday 20th October. It turned out to be a lovely autumn day today
but not for fishing. The rain that sneaked up on us last night had the river
rising and colouring, we started at 3’2” and it didn’t move most of the morning
but the colour really came in by midday and the chances of catching a fish were
zero. Spent the day tidying up round the place set a few mole traps, plugged a
few squirrels and scared off a cormorant or two (I have a licence). At 4.00pm
the height was 3’5” and very brown and the question is will it fish tomorrow?
There’s to be a couple of hours of rain overnight so it will be touch and go
tomorrow as we are already on a big water for the Lees. Trying to find a fish
when its spot on is hard enough but at 3’0” and manky it’s the needle in a
haystack story. Looking at the websites there were 2 fish caught off the river
today the lowest being at Dryburgh, there was 3 off the Middle Ettrick as well,
(I’ll bet they were bonny coloured).
Saturday
21st October. I didn’t think we’d be fishing
today but the bigger Tweed had washed a lot of yesterday’s colour out, it
hadn’t dropped much and was sitting at 2’10”. Richard Mildmay White fished
until lunchtime then threw the towel in due mostly to the upstream wind. This
afternoon I had Ritchie Gallagher in the Temple when to both our amazement we
hooked and landed a fish. It wasn’t a monster at 3lb 10oz but it was fairly
fresh and turned out to be the biggest fish of the day as it was the only fish
of the day. We were joined by what I at first thought was an otter but it was
just too big and a good 150 yards away so the scale was all wrong, it was of
course a bloody seal, it showed twice then just disappeared. On the websites
tonight our fish is the only one from Berwick until you get to Middle Mertoun,
then you have to go up to Boleside for the next one. A lot of rods had left
yesterday so many beats weren’t fishing today, I can’t blame them as it’s been
a hard week and yesterday’s rise and colour would be the last straw. More rain
coming up tonight which is a bugger, what we need now is no more rain and a
frost to drop it and cool it right down.
I did see a few fish in the Temple but nothing in the Cauld as it’s
still a bit on the big side for the Cauld and I’ve not been down the beat for
what seems like weeks so have nothing to say about that. 7 fish for the week.
It’ll be better next week”
Below Coldstream conditions were far from suitable and with this only 1
Salmon was landed on the Milne Graden Beat.
Milne Graden Head Boatman Mr Kevin Wright reports “One 6lb sea licer on Monday and another couple of offers on the same day. Rest of the week was a wash out”
On the
tributaries, the main beats on the Till were quiet this week with no fish
reported. Over on the River Ettrick the Middle Etrrick beat landed 7, while on
the Teviot no fish were reported.
Mr David Cowan of Berwick and District Angling Association Secretary
reports” Whiteadder started to rise towards the end of
the week peaking at a foot and a half on Saturday and
despite plenty fish showing and rods on the water the fish were not interested.
Late report of two fish from Saturday. One fish at
7 lb and one at 10lb both returned.”
The week ended with the level at Sprouston 2ft 4” and the water
temperature is 50.
Looking at the availability for the upcoming week I would suggest
Horsburgh, Bemersyde & Upper North Wark beats should have a good chance of
some action this coming week.
The forecast this coming week looks like another unsettled week with
wind, cloud and some showers.
As always I would like to thank all those who provide me with the
information to make this report, it is very much appreciated. If you have
information and photo’s you would like included please get in touch with Martin
on 07825334427 or info@taysalmonfly.co.uk
Water temperatures are starting to cool down dressed flies in sizes 6 or
8, if you prefer tubes over dressed flies 1” and 1.5” should be about right.
Copper Cascade, Tritton Shrimp, Newtyle Shrimp, Ghillie, Pot Belly Pig,
Snaelda, Red Frances & Junction Shrimp should bring success. As always come
prepared and always listen to the advice of your boatman or ghillie. If you’re
needing to top up your fly box ahead of your trip please check out
www.taysalmonfly.co.uk
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Season So Far catches
Total catch last week: 83 Salmon 12 Sea Trout
Total caught so far this season: 5306 Salmon and 1604 Sea Trout
As reported on Fishtweed:-
(Biggest Salmon 36lb Monteviot)
(Biggest Sea Trout 15lb Bemersyde)
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If you wish to contact us you can do so by clicking here
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