Week beginning 24 April 2023
Monday 24th April. It was cold today in the north wind and showers really cold, my hands knew about it as my arthritis was giving me some jip. Another week is upon us and there’s fish to be caught. 1’4” and a chilly 44 degrees with that north wind cutting right through you. Jonathon Reddin was here again for the day and finally caught his first fish of the season; it was a wee liced 7lber from the Cauldstream and took his favourite black n yellow tube off a sinktip line. The rest of the team thrashed their way round the beat and never saw a fish. This afternoon up top with David who is filling in for Malcolm Dutchman Smith today we saw 1 in the Cauld which jumped clear of the water right in front of us, it would have been around 9lbs and with the sun shining on it it was as silver as a polished Calcutta cup, it didn’t want to know or perhaps it was on its way to find friends further upstream. We saw 2 in the Slap later on but again no pulls. There were 100’s of martins over the Cauld looking for something to eat this morning but there was nothing there, this afternoon when the sun game out the odd fly made an appearance and was grabbed in a flash by one of the martins. The cheery weather girl says the wind is to drop right back tomorrow and to warm up by Thursday, I hope she is right. Down the beat the pools are looking good especially the Duddo and the Bags, they look perfect but need some residents in them.
Tuesday 25th April. Another cold day with that North wind blowing. 1’4” and 42 degrees. Stuart Dawson was on the Slap and Cauld this morning and he was just rolling the head out of his line when a fish grabbed the fly giving both of us a fright, sadly it was off again in a few seconds, another fish was also lost today but I can’t remember where as I’m writing this a day late. Anyway I just wish it would warm up.
Wednesday 26th April. Some nice silver fish showing in the Slap and cauld today and fish were also seen in Learmouth but we just can’t get a hold of them. Duncan Brymer tried “hunners” of flies in the Cauld and Slap but not a nibble was had. Jonathon Pearce covered a couple of silver fish in the Glide but had the same result; it is nice to see them as they are scarce this year. The wee sandpiper was piping his hardest looking for a mate; the osprey was fishing the Lower Cauld, an Otter was running about on the Cauld and a Kingfisher gave us a blue lighting flash as he went by so it was a nice day for nature spotting. David Foreman fishing down at Horncliffe had a cracking fish of around 15lbs, photo on instagram on tweedbeatsfishing but catches are way down on what they should be, maybe tomorrow.
Thursday 27th April. Right place right time goes the saying and a perfect example of that was today when Duncan Brymer got a fish in the Glide, one in Cornhill bend and lost another, he obviously met a wee lot of fish coming round the corner, the one’s he landed were 7lbs and 14lbs both liced and on an Alistair tube. Up the top where Tim was thrashing away at the river we didn’t see a fish in the Slap or the Cauld proper but did see 3 way down in the lower Cauld but no pulls to be had. The wind has gone into the south east and was blowing straight up the Cauldstream making holding the boat beside the stream a challenge with the backwater continually trying to pull the boat away from the stream and the wind blowing the boat upstream. 1’3” and 44 degrees but cold in the wind. Catches were again very low on the websites with 8 reported. The cheery weathergirl keeps saying it’s going to warm up but there’s no sign of it at the moment.
Friday 28th April. 1’2” 47degrees and clean but the river bed has a lot of stone dirt on it. Down at the Iron gate Duncan saw a couple of silver fish as they went past, there was a bit of a splash in the Duddo as Tim was going through it, up top a couple were seen in the Cauld and the odd boil in the Slap, so there are some fish about but not keen to take or perhaps hang about. This afternoon Tim who was on the Slap had fished it with a tube and I suggested a decent sized sunray, with the water being warmer and the north wind gone it was a bit milder and to me at least felt a lot more fishy. First cast and the fish was on, making it more exciting was the fact we both saw the whole thing as it came up out of the deep took the fly and turned with a splash, it was a fresh fish just over 6lbs, no lice but fresh, the sunray (see instagram) was about 5 inch long on an aluminium tube with a #6 single to stop the hair tangling. We tried the same fly in the Cauld and had a pull and whilst in the Cauld I saw a biggish fish right down the very tail of the Cauld so we set off for a look. Fishing the tail Tim had a boil at it, the a fish chased it right across the pool but didn’t take. I received a text from young Dean who said he had a seal in front of the Learmouth hut then one from Paul to say it was off the point at Learmouth, not what you want to see in 1’2” of water, it was likely a common seal going by the size (they are smaller), later it was seen going back down through the Glide and hopefully back to sea, we wouldn’t want it to come to any harm in this low water getting stuck somewhere and maybe scratching itself before we could get to its aid. Catches low with 8 on the websites but I know of a couple of others reported, half the catch below us so that’s encouraging. I saw the first two clutches of ducklings of the season today one in the Glide and one in the Duddo, amazing birds as they must have laid their first eggs in February given it takes 27 days incubation.
Saturday 29th April. The cold was back today with a vengeance, it was really cold with grey skies all day. 1’2” and 48 degrees so the water was warmer than the air which I never like. Andy Dunlop was up top this morning and we tried the sunray in the Slap again and had a pull but it didn’t stick, Jonathon Black here for the day lost a fish in Learmouth as he held on a bit too enthusiastically and pulled the hook. The saying the things you see when you don’t have a gun is so true as a mink swam across the Cauldstream this morning as we were in the boat, I gave chase with the boat with the idea of netting it and giving it a smack but it was too quick. It made it onto the bank and I directed Jock the ginger dug onto it but the mink was a feisty beast and saw Jock off, Jock is a bit of a scaredy and has never tackled a mink before, by the time Kelsae arrived it was gone, Kelsae is a bit on the slow side now but she would have ripped it to bits. We did see some fish in the Slap, Cauld and Duddo but no other pulls were had. I see Tillmouth had 4 today so still some coming in. For me it needs to warm up especially the air and let’s get rid of the north wind. The clutch of ducklings down on the Glide made it through the night and were looking for what few flies there were in this cold weather.
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@M Campbell 2023
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