South Wark

Fishing Conditions

General

• Tenants meet the boatmen at the Boathouse located in Wark village on the north side of the ruins of Wark Castle.

• Two boatmen are provided in the Spring Season. In the Autumn Season three boatmen are available. The owners reserve the right to fish after 5pm.

• Every effort will be made to provide two or three boatmen/ghillies where stated, in the offer to lease letter, but no absolute guarantee of this service is given and no liability shall adhere to proprietors if for any reason they are unable to provide this service to the anglers.

• The boatmen are in attendance from 9am to 5pm, with one hour off at lunchtime. No boats can be used during the boatmen’s lunch break. During the hot summer months boatman can show a degree of fliexibility with their attendance and fishing can take place outwith 9am to 5.00pm.

Conduct

• Tenants and their guests must ensure that fishing is carried out in a fair and sportsman like manner.

• The Country Code shall be observed at all times and no fires shall be lit and no litter shall be left in or around the Boathouse or on the river banks or in the river. Anglers must endeavour that no pollution is caused to the beat.

• Tenants are requested to keep their dogs under strict control, and in particular, not to worry livestock or otherwise cause a nuisance to the owner.

Tweed Rules

• Tenants must ensure that they and their guests are familiar with the River Tweed Commission’s (RTC) Angling Code, the Tweed Spring Salmon Conservation Measures and the South Wark boundaries. The details of fish caught must be given to the ghillie who will enter this information in the Catch Record Book.

• Tenants are entitled to the fish caught within the rules of the RTC Code and the Tweed Spring Salmon Conservation Measures. The boatmen will decide on the suitability of retaining fish – see Section B of the RTC Code under the heading of Handling Fish – in particular Clause 5.

• In order to prevent the introduction of Gyrodactylus salaris into UK rivers, it is imperative that tenants check if they and their guests have been fishing outside Great Britain and Ireland, that their equipment and clothing is sterilised on their return in accordance with Clause 1 of Section B of the RTC Tweed Angling Code. Anglers are requested to sign the Gyrodactylus salaris book before commencing to fish.

Legal Requirements

• No liability shall be incurred by the owners for any loss, damage or injury however caused to the angler or his guests and their property during the period of the let with or without any negligence on the part of the owner and their employees.

• The tenant shall indemnify the owners against all claims, proceedings, costs and expenses arising from or in connection with the grant of right to fish for salmon and sea trout by rod and line on the South Wark beat

• The tenant shall ensure that the rights are exercised on the South Wark beat in such a way that no damage shall be caused to the boundaries, fences, streams, hedges, animals and other property. The tenant agrees to make adequate compensation for all injury caused by the tenant and his guests in such exercise.

• Tenants will not exercise or permit to the exercised rights and privileges when Foot and Mouth Disease precautions or other restrictions imposed by The Department of the Environment Food and Rural Affairs affecting access to farmland are enforced.

Health & Safety

• Health and Safety requirement – the proprietors strongly recommend that anglers wear a life jacket whilst fishing. Details of the Health and Safety Executive’s Information Sheet and Wark Estate’s Health and Safety (H&S) Policy are available for inspection in the Boathouse. Life jackets can be provided. Anglers must sign the H & S declaration form provided by the boatmen before being permitted on to the river.

• Two overhead high voltage electric cables cross the river, so it is vitally important that anglers keep a 30 metre distance away from the Pylons, both upstream and downstream. The location of these cables is shown on the South Wark fishery map.

• In conditions of high water/ rising river levels and/or high winds, the boatmen decide if it is safe to fish and/or fish from boats.

Spinning

• No upstream spinning will be allowed at any time.
• Spinning downstream will only be allowed in big water at heights of 1ft 11" or above on the Wark gauge.
• By exception, and only with prior permission from the Head Boatman on the beat, the very young, very old or infirm, or those who struggle to handle a fly rod, will be allowed to spin in low water, but never upstream.

Wading

• Summer fishing takes place during the months of June and July. The maximum number of wading rods permitted to fish at any one time is three. A rod may be shared by two anglers in a day. No boats are provided during the summer weeks. It is recommended that anglers use a wading stick when wading.

• A ghillie will be in attendance from 9am to show anglers the pools and boundaries on the first day of the letting.

• All details of fish caught must be given to the ghillie who will enter this information in the Catch Record Book.

• Fishing hours are 9am to 10pm. On the third or last day of the letting the anglers must finish at 8.30pm when the ghillie will meet the anglers at the car park at the Boathouse prior to their departure.