Week beginning 22 February 2021
Monday 22nd February. 4’5” this morning and wet but it soon cleared to leave a lovely day with blue skies and calm, the fact it was calm makes me quite calm as well. Sat on the bench at the Temple was lovely until the farmer on the other side started firing rockets at the swans and geese, I thought I might see a goosander or cormorant come by but not today, they don’t like all this high water. By 3.00pm the gauge had dropped to 4’0” and the water was starting to clear albeit still on the murky side, I might have a cast off the bank tomorrow I thought then my phone pinged, it was a text from SEPA telling me they have issued a flood alert, I checked the weather app on the phone the heavy rain is not until afternoon might still squeak a cast in until I checked the wind, 50mph I might just stay in all day tomorrow, regular readers will know my hatred of the wind, I’d rather stick rusty needles into my eyes than fish in that.
Tuesday 23rd February. It was nice enough first thing but the wind as predicted was soon trying to blow me off my feet, I didn’t try a cast. 3’5” and 42 degrees and a wee bit on the murky side, the rain started by lunchtime and it has rained all afternoon and evening and in fact it’s to rain most of tomorrow as well. As SEPA haven’t got their river levels sorted out yet I had a report from Hawick this evening that the Teviot is very big and sandbags are being handed out to houses by the river. Scottish Government have issued their path out of lockdown and it looks like late April before things really start to open out, it’ll be sooner as long as “R”number keeps going down and vaccine rollout continues at speed.
Wednesday 24th February. It was a big flood, not huge and not a great flood but a big one, 12 feet plus at the Lees this morning and racing past, the good thing was there was not a big amount of rubbish, branches etc left on the bank to clear up, by mid afternoon it had started to drop again and was down a good 3 feet by 4.00pm. We always worry about the redds and newly hatched fish but its happened before and it’ll happen again and they seem to get through it. Forecast looks a lot more settled for rest of the week so next week we might get a cast in and find the first fish of the season.
Thursday 25th February. A nice bright day with a bit of a west wind blowing but at least the wind was drying things off, thats the only reason for liking any sort of wind. 4’1” this morning so thats a drop of 8 feet overnight, it’ll be fishable for the very keen tomorrow in some places and if it keeps dropping even the Lees could be worth a chuck on Saturday albeit on the big side. Mrs otter with her 2 pups/cubs/kits or whatever their called were working their way along the far bank this morning and the kingfisher was giving a great display of its colours in the sun as it darted from bush to bush looking for a minnow that might be just sub surface. On the garden front my Kelsae onions are coming on fine, I’ve lost a few due to damping off but what’s left are looking good and a few sunny days will work wonders, they are now in the polytunnel in a heated propagator. Spoke to the lad at the garden centre and he reckoned they will not be open until late April so I’m going to have to source my first early seed spuds online, I’ve a few stored over from last season but need more.
Friday 26th February. Blue skies and a west wind not too strong though, Lees gauge reading 3’7” and 44 degrees still a wee bit on the murky side. A fresh 6lb seatrout caught at Upper North Wark today, this is a beat that likes high water, Martin the Ghillie tells me he got it first cast and that was the only pull of the day.
Saturday 27th February. Well thats February kicked into touch and I’m always pleased to see the back of February, mind you March can be the cruellest month you think its almost spring and its snows or blows from the east or north for the whole month. Two lucky rods on the river today as a fish caught at Upper Floors and one at Middle Merton. Blue skies all day at Costa del Coldstream and a balmy 12C or so, 3’0” and 42 degrees at the Lees and the water clean, forecast more of the same so it will drop back to a decent height for us next week and we might even catch a fish. Just think 3 weeks time the sandmartins will be starting to show up, the Osprey will make an appearance, a hatch of March Browns going down tempting up the hungry trout, then another week and the clocks go forward. A shed load of us will have had the vaccine and we will be like coiled springs ready to go, but then remember it’s still March, like I said before and she can be a bi##h of a month.
Sunday 28th February. 2’9” and 44f at the Lees nice and clean.
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©M Campbell 2021
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