Week beginning 24 August 2015
Monday 24th August. Still very beery this morning, 1’11” and 60 degs so we stuck on the X Raps, yes we do spin when conditions are like this. The Macintosh brothers were at the top end and managed a 5lb Salmon from the Cauld along with a 3lb Seatrout, down on the Back of the wall John Sevior had a 3lb Seatrout also that was it for the morning though. This afternoon we fared better with Richard Hold getting two from the Temple at 12lbs and 5lbs as well as losing a couple and 4 or 5 good pulls which gave him a fright every time which is typical Seatrout they really tug it. There were a fair number of fish showing in the Back of the Wall and the Temple so as it clears some more tomorrow could/should be a better day. I’m never happy, a bigger flood would have done far more good, this one has helped but we really need a big one to turn the stones over and clean the river bed, more rain forecast for Wednesday so you never know.
Tuesday 25th August. 1’8” and 58 degs, still very beery this morning, I was in the Temple and cauld with young Richard who is a Ghillie on the Grimista on Lewis so a cast on the Tweed makes a bit of a change for him unfortunately he never had a touch this morning only one boil at a big Sunray in the Cauld, John Sevior his fishing partner in crime had a nice 8lber from the Cauld. This afternoon the water had cleared considerably due to the Teviot water running through us. Richard lost a fish in the Back of the wall and John had an old 3lb Grilse from the Glide, upstream on the cauld Allan Michael Blacks guest had a 5 lb Grilse from the Cauld and that was the total for the day. I was thinking this morning how I would like to put a 20g silver Toby through the Temple, thinking it would be a numbers game but South Wark did just that this afternoon and never had a touch! I expected to see more fish today so I was a tad disappointed, maybe tomorrow.
Wednesday 26th August 1’5” 58 degs clean water. The day started off well enough with a zephyr of a breeze from the south west and Paul Holland on his first of a two day trip getting a nice 10lb hen from the Iron gate followed by another at 8lbs, he released the 10lber, and also had another couple of pulls on a intermediate tip and a 1” orange conehead. Paul’s brother Carl fished through the Glide twice as he’d seen a lot of fish there but couldn’t get a pull from them, they were almost all river fish, he then went round to the Cornhill bend and was soon into a fresh 9lber which put the smile back on to his face. By 11.30 the wind had really picked up making casting a bit of a challenge. Upstream on the Cauld and the Temple Alistair and son Charlie (whisky blender of note) had a 6lb Seatrout and lost a fish in the Slap, that was the total for the morning. This afternoon we had a pull in the Cauld on a Sunray a 4lb Grilse from Learmouth stream and a 8lber from the Glide so not a bad day given the conditions. Paul reported that around 4.00pm he saw a number of fresh fish down in Duddo, so will they still be there tomorrow? There’s a wee bit of rain forecast for tomorrow but not enough and the rest of the week looks dry, this of course suits the farmers and there is a constant hum of combines all around along with seed drills getting in next year’s oilseed rape. The catches downriver are slightly better today but less than I’d like to see.
Thursday 27th August. 1’5” and 56 degs and a rather cool morning in fact it’s the coldest it’s been for a good while. We had one from the Cauld this morning for Paul Holland, Carl Holland lost one in Learmouth stream, and one from the Back of the wall for Ian Black who was on a flying visit with very leaky waders, his dad Michael had nicked the good ones it turned out. The Teviot was rising again and it arrived around lunchtime outing the river up 6” that along with the near gale made it a challenge to cast and a bugger to row the boat. This afternoon things were very quiet until Paul Holland hooked one in the Glide which then came off followed by a very red faced Paul who realised that he hadn’t tucked the blood knot and was left with a wee piggy tail, that’s a bugger he said it was well hooked, it still is I said it’s just not attached to your line anymore. That was all the action today and the river has settled at 1’11” with very little colour in it but there’s always a but, on these small rises the colour often comes well after the rise. There is still a shortage of fish on the beat for the time of year, I did see a few good silver fish in the Glide this afternoon so there is enough to go at, I just would like more.
Friday 28th August. Well as feared the colour came later and this morning it was 1’7” and 56 degs but very murky. The team decided to give it a go and fished all the thin water in the hope a sharp eyed fish might have a go but it wasn’t to be, after lunch the team waved the white flag and took the decision to fish this evening when it might be a bit cleaner. There were fish showing in the Cauld and the Back of the wall some of them nice silver fish as well so tomorrow could be ok as long as the showers we have been getting don’t put it back up. This afternoon was spent getting a new pair of boots as my toes were starting to stick out the end of the old ones, some grain for the hens, a new head for the mop and trying to source a new running line for my multi tip line as the original has disappeared from the hut so if you borrowed it I want it back. Having just seen the forecast things look to be ok for the next few days if you can believe what they say. The river levels are fine apart from a wee lift on the top of the Teviot so it’ll be a numbers game tomorrow maybe.
Saturday 29th August. Well that’s August fishing over and done with and we can now start to look forward to the main event, the huge autumn run that will be sitting off the coast waiting to come in.48 Salmon for August which is over 50% down on the average with low warm water and humid conditions being the main factors. The river had a wee rise coming down again today, 1’5” first thing and rising to about 1’9” 56 degs. We had a nice fresh 10lb cock fish from Cornhill bend this morning and saw a few in the Cauld and the Back of the wall, the rods elected not to fish this afternoon and would have a cast this evening, I haven’t heard any reports of fish so I presume they blanked. The forecast for the coming week looks settled with the wind going into the north so that will drop the temperatures which is no bad thing and weather coming from the north rarely brings rain.
©M Campbell 2015
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