Week beginning 11 September 2017
Monday 11th September. A cloudy morning with a stiff westerly blowing, the Lees gauge was sitting at 1’6” first thing but was rising slowly up to 1’9” by 10.00am, water temp 52 with a beery tinge. Team Randall here for three days and Sebastian Marr was the first to score getting two fish from the Back of the Wall area, both were older fish and both safely returned, he was fishing a fast sinktip and an Ally type tube. Like last week there were fish showing but I didn’t see any fresh ones. I did hear later in the day that some fresh fish had been seen running further downstream so maybe just maybe they might be with us tomorrow. Matt Randall not wanting to be outdone landed a 15lb old cock fish from the Iron Gate this afternoon in some almost biblical showers, I was amazed that the lower Teviot isn’t away it must have been very localised. The catches today have followed the trend in recent weeks with 20 odd fish being reported. A nice day tomorrow until the evening when the wind is to pick up along with very heavy rain so Wednesday might be a washout. It’s show day on Saturday coming so I’ve spent the evening washing my potatoes and picking my best onions out of a bad bunch this year, I’ve not got a single carrot to show this year thanks to the root fly.
Tuesday 12th September. Same as yesterday 1’9” and 52 degrees with a wee beery tinge. Matt Randall was first out of the blocks getting a 10lber from the Back of the wall in a fairly stiff breeze. I know it was a fairly stiff breeze as I was rowing the Cauld boat all morning with Clive Roberts fishing as best he could with a rod that was a wee bit too small for the job, after a quick change we were back out and fished it through with a #6 dressed fly to no avail, back to the top and a sunray was put on, this had the desired effect and a fish was on in no time, it was a decent sized fish but sadly it didn’t stick, a few casts later and another one had a go at it, really showing itself as it pulled it but it also let go. This afternoon Clive restored some order getting a 6lb cock fish from the Learmouth stream which was one of the brightest fish I’ve seen in weeks (that’s not saying much mind you). To cap the day off Perry had a 15lber from the Iron Gate and had a couple of other pulls. Weather warnings have been issued for tonight with strong winds and heavy rain so I’m not expecting to fish tomorrow.
Wednesday 13th September. Well! So much for the flood warnings and the gale force winds that were coming, I pulled the Learmouth boat off and got everything fixed down round the hut and at home for the 70 mile an hour winds that were coming, and not a puff and in fact the river went down 4”. That would catch a lot of people out, one Ghille had booked a tee off time at the golf course and rods were phoning up to see if the river was fishable. 1’5” and 50 degrees with rain off and on most of the day. Clive Roberts had a 3lb fresh grilse from the Cauld this morning on a sunray, I think that’s the first liced fish I’ve seen since late July. Following my lunchtime round robin text it appears that a few fresh fish have been seen today and one or two caught. Upper Floors had a licer around the 10lb mark and at West learmouth they had two clean fish, one caught by a 98 year old whose name I’ve forgotten. So there’s hope yet for us all. The river tonight is back up to 1’9” and has a bit more beery tinge to it.
Thursday 14th September. 1’11” and rising slowly, temp 50 degrees and beery again. This little rise did nothing to improve the catches but Dave Bowman fishing with Paul in the Temple managed two fish one which was fresh/clean. I was in the Cauld with Chris Major and we went through a fair old selection of flies none of which tempted a fish. This afternoon everyone had a pull off something but Paul Colinson was the only rod to get a salmon to stick on the hook, landing a nice clean hen at around the 16lb mark down at the Iron Gate. Chris Major came back from Learmouth stream with tales of burning his fingers on the spool of the reel but no fish to show for his blisters. Craig Scorer not wanting to be outdone and thinking about having to listen to everyone else talk through their captures over dinner landed a 5lb seatrout whilst wading the tail of the Cauld. There were some fresh fish being caught again today, not loads but some at least. Tomorrow will be a test as the water clears we should have a better chance of more of the fish coming on the take and we’ll see just how many fresh ones are there(I hope). Lee from Carham text to say there was another seal coming down just after lunch so I got a couple of rockets ready, Paul at the top of the Temple gave an early warning phone call and sure enough Sammy was leisurely swimming down the Temple, he didn’t like the first one and really didn’t like the second one, Bob at Learmouth phoned to find out if world war three had started, but at least the seal was gone and non lethal methods used which will please Chris Packham and the other bunny huggers.
Friday 15th September. 1’9” and 50 degrees still with a beery tinge. Paul Collinson was the cat that got the cream today getting 4 from the cauld this morning one of them that would have tipped the scales at something over 25 lbs. Paul Hume was looking after him and he said it was one of the fattest fish he’d ever seen and it was a struggle to get his hands round it’s wrist. The rest of the team on the other hand never had a pull all morning, I was in Learmouth stream with Craig and we saw plenty fish some of which were clean but they didn’t want to play. This afternoon Dave Bowman hooked a fish in the cauld on a black and yellow tube and lost it just as I was getting the net ready (see instagram for photos and video clips), he also had a big boil at a hitched sunray. Chris Major landed a 9lb old cock from the Slap. We are all using intermediate lines or fast sinktips on floaters and the fly that did the damage for Paul Collinson was a Little Red, it a sort of cross between a Frances and a Snelda. I have heard a few report of fresh/clean fish being caught, not loads but enough and well spread up the river.
Saturday 16th September. Today turned out to be the best day of the week with 7 fish landed at the Lees and across the river as a whole it was also the best day of the week. It was also a good day as I won two trophies in the local flower and veggie show, sadly not for my Kelsae onions as they were all but wiped out by root rot. The fish today were well spread round the beat from the Temple to the Bags with the biggest being a 15lber from Learmouth stream, the best fish was a 13lb cock from the Cauld which was as fresh as paint and a very welcome sight. There are reports from a lot of beats that they are seeing some fresh/silver fish and catching the odd one. Next week looks to have a cooler start with perhaps a wet Wednesday then turning warmer.
See instagram for photos and wee film clips
©M Campbell 2017
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