Week beginning 23 April 2018
Monday 23rd April. Bit windy today not a gale but it made me swear a couple of times. 1’10” and 50 degrees water temp. Jonathan Reddin got into a fish with his first cast of the day in the slap but shook it off after a minute; he made up for this slip by getting a liced 8lber from the back of the wall this afternoon. “Tosh” Thompson flogged away all day casting into the distance but never had a touch. Jonathon Pearce who has fished the Lees for years and years covered Learmouth stream with a degree of skill not seen on the Lees since he was last here, but by the end of the day all he had to show for it was wet feet as his waders have a large leak. There was another large fish seen in the Back of the wall this afternoon so maybe it’ll be waiting for us in the cauld tomorrow morning.
Tuesday 24th April. A windy morning followed by a slightly better afternoon. 1’10” on the gauge and 50 degrees. We did see a couple of fish today but no action to be had. Flipper had one over at West Learmouth on a Red Bullet which I presume is a type of flying condom. Boathouse also had a fish way downstream from us so that gives me a wee bit of hope that more fish are coming in and not rushing straight through, Upper Floors fish at 11lbs and covered in long tailed lice shows that they’ve not slowed down that much. Another windy showery day tomorrow, I’m away to fiddle about in the polytunnel with some new seeds I’ve got. It’ll be better tomorrow.
Wednesday 25th April. We were joined today by Duncan Brymer and his wife Hilary (who makes very nice cakes) along with Dave. Hilary has never fished before so today was going to be a challenge for her as it was blowing a bit hard. Jonathon Pearce was down in Learmouth stream and had a hold of two fish opposite the bench but was very careless and shook both of them off, on the bright side though his new waders are keeping his bits and bobs dry. There was a nice fish seen in the cauld and Dave covered it but no pulls. Hilary was in the cauld this afternoon and after a wee bit of coaching she was putting the line out like a laser but even her womanly charms couldn’t tempt a fish out. The Osprey gave us a visit this morning and again this afternoon but it also failed to catch. On the livestock front one of my French Marans has gone broody so I’ve taken a load of eggs out of the incubator and stuffed them under her. It’s a lot easier if she hatches them out and brings them up. Fishing apart from the wind is a lot easier now that the water temp is up and the levels are down, we can now get by with intermediate lines and sink tips instead of hauling up fast sinking lines. On the garden front nothing much is happening, it’s still bloody cold of a night so everything is still in the greenhouse and polytunnel apart from a bed of onions.
Thursday 26th April. A big day today as we caught not one but two fish and it was nearly three. 1@6lb from the Glide for Dave Harris which was his first one on the fly and one for Jonathon Pearce from the Cauld and he nearly had another from the Slap but it shook the hook about a yard from the net. 1’9” and 48 degrees with a bloody awful wind blowing about the river. All the fish were hooked this afternoon and a few more were seen so lets hope they are still there tomorrow. The rain that’s coming up from the south tomorrow night looks like it will stay south of us and if this wind would piss off I’ll be a happy boy, well happier at least.
Friday 27th April. A much better day as the wind has buggered off, for good I hope. 1’9” and 46 degrees. The river was in perfect condition today but we failed to catch. Flipper over at West Learmouth had a fish from the stream and South wark had a fish this afternoon, we did see at least three fish showing but couldn’t tempt them, that’s if they were still in the pool of course. The good news is that all the rain is to stay in the south so no flood. Cold tonight cold enough for me to have to put the greenhouse and polytunnel heaters back on.
Saturday 28th April. A dry day but with a very cold north east wind blowing this morning. 1’7” and 46 degrees. Michael Black and son Ian joined us along with Sandy Lang so we had a strong team fishing today. We saw a fish in the slap first thing but it never showed again apart from 50 yards further on 30 seconds later. There was a fish in the lower cauld which refused all offerings and one seen in the Duddo this morning, it also refused to play. The water is down to a height where I like it at this time of year it now needs to warm up again and of course a few more fish would help. It’ll be better next week.
© M Campbell 2018
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