Week beginning 24 July 2017
Monday 24th July. Team Jameson here for three days. Rob Jameson knows the beat well and pals Chris Hill and Mark Giffkins have both fished the Lees before so I was expecting great things. Mark was the first to connect with a fish down at the Iron Gate but sadly it didn’t stay on, the fish jumped and shook the hook giving Mark a good look at it, he reckoned it was around the 10lb mark and fresh he also had another pull in the same place. Rob had a splash at a big sunray in the Cornhill Bend and Chris had a bow wave at a sunray in the Slap, that was the morning’s action. After a very convivial lunch Mark stripped a sunray over the Slap and had a big boil at it which I thought was on but no it wasn’t. I left the lads to it and got some weed cut as i can see it and get to it at the moment as by Thursday it could well be big and brown as the forecast for Wednesday is heavy rain coming in from the west.
Tuesday 25th July. A cloudy damp start and the weatherman said it was going to be sunny! Anyway the fishing, Rob lost a fish at the Iron Gate this morning, he had it on for 3 or 4 minutes before it parted company. At the top end I gave Mark a row up the Temple with a collie dug and we had 4 follows/boils but no pulls, we also had a boil in the Slap again to the collie dug. Whilst we were fishing the Slap we both saw a cracking fresh fish head and tail right in front of us in the low teens but it look like it had somewhere else to go. Chris down at the bottom end said he had a pull from something so small that it was hardly worth a mention, so I won’t mention it again. Mark came good this afternoon though getting 2 cracking fish from the back of the wall 12lbs and 13lbs, he was talking about using a bomber when he left the hut but I don’t know if thats what he got the fish on. Turns out Mark got both the fish on a cascade tube, stripping it back fast so well done him. I had a cast at the back of the wall this evening and had one fish have a go at my collie dug two times; I was then joined by a large otter which fished its way down to the Iron Gate. I dropped into the glide and had a big boil at the fly just off the point, in the tail there were several seatrout that followed it right across but not one would touch it but it was a nice night out.
Wednesday 26th July. Rob was on the top end this morning and decided to give the Temple a miss. We started on the Slap and after trying the usual flies we put on the Collie dug and had the usual bow wave but no pull. The rain was belting down by now and an east/south east wind was blowing up the cauld which makes it a bugger to fish and row. We opted for the skimmer straight away and on the second cast Rob was into a belter of a fish. We had it almost to the net and out popped the hook. Further downstream both Chris and Mark managed to shake off a fish each, the rain stopped around lunchtime and funnily enough the fish stopped taking as well. So two landed and a lot more lost, apart from the weather this morning a pleasant three days (lot better than that shite in February). There’s a bit of water coming down both the Teviot and the Ettrick so that’ll shuffle the pack a bit and perhaps bring some more fish in.
Thursday 27th July. Team Houldsworth here for three days. The rain from yesterday had put the gauges up and it was sitting at 2’3” on the Lees gauge. Nigel was armed with an intermediate line and his favourite Willie gunn tube on the end (sparkly version) which did the job for him as he had a 14lber from the Glide which he returned earning himself some brownie points. There is only one other fish on the website so well done Nigel. I’m off to Langholm Common riding tomorrow so Fridays report will be blank which will be about the same as my brain.
Friday 28th July. Langholm Common riding today so all I have for you is 1@10lb from the Glide and a seal swimming about.
Saturday 29th July. 3 reported today from the Slap, Learmouth and the Iron Gate the best being 18lbs from the Slap. 1’7” and 56 degrees with a bit of a tinge. Normal service resumes next week.
our twitter feed