Week beginning 27 August 2018
Monday 27th August. A nice enough day with just enough wind to keep the midges away. 10” and 56 degrees, nice and clean. Nick lost a wee grilse in Learmouth stream this morning and we had another pull there this afternoon, a few fish were seen in the Slap but none of them would look at the fly. Further down at Duddo we saw a couple of fresh grilse splashing about but again no interest from them. There were two ospreys over the cauld this morning but they didn’t have a dive as there are no trout or grayling left as the bloody cormorants have had them all, and on that subject there were 25 plus goosanders and 5 cormorants on the lower cauld this morning, I also had a report from above Kelso where there were 40 plus cormorants on a beat first thing this morning, that number will only build as we go into September. Top beat today was Ladykirk with 11 followed by Tillmouth with 9, we just need the rain to get the levels up to bring them forward, last night’s rain didn’t put so much as an inch into the river.
Tuesday 28th August. A nice day out, bit of cloud cover and a gentle breeze which was just enough to keep the flies away. Colin Summerville was on the top end with me this morning and for a change we backed the Temple up with a sunray and caught bugger all. We tried the slap with a few flies and after a tussle with some wildlife we put on a wee bottle tube and a 6lb fresh fish was the result. Ronald Gardner down on Learmouth had a 4lb river fish but very welcome. Charlie Macintosh fresh from the fringe at Edinburgh lost a decent fish in Duddo, that was the end score so no complaints really, given the conditions. Top beats on the river were Lower Ladykirk and Tillmouth again. Floating lines and wee sink tips are the order of the day with #10 doubles or trebles, singles for that matter if you’re brave enough. Had Kelsae the dug at the vet today for an X-ray on her front leg and it ended up with a bill for £400 for the vet to tell me my dogs a bit on the tubby side, so it’s a diet for Kelsae from now on, so if she comes mooching into the rods hut tell her to bugger off, and no more slabs of beef or smelly stilton Terry Harper.
Wednesday 29th August. A nice day out with a bit of a North West breeze, 9” and 56 degrees. Michael Black here with Willie Robinson tagging along for company. Michael wasted no time this morning getting a 9lb hen from the Glide on a #12 posh tosh. I gave Michael a fright getting a fish on a stripped collie dug right in front of him, he was almost soaked by the splash when it grabbed the fly, Michael went on to further glory getting an 8lb cock fish from the Duddo on a #12 cascade after the other side had given it a run through with an upstream condom. He almost had the hat trick losing a wee grilse in Learmouth this afternoon. Catches on the web sites are a bit lower tonight; I suppose the water levels dropping have not helped. I popped along at 8.00pm just to check everyone was behaving and no one was there that shouldn’t be and chucked a collie over the Slap which was taken first strip by a decent sized fish which sadly didn’t want to be caught and a long range release was the result.
Thursday 30th August. Too bright, flat calm and not enough water. 9” on the gauge and 56 degrees this morning. We were joined today by Paul and Carl Holland along with their delightful wives Veronica and Louise, even the ladies with all their charm couldn’t manage a fish, Louise almost did in Cornhill Bend when she had the briefest of contacts from a wee grilse which shook itself off as quickly as it took. Paul Holland had a boil at his sunray in the Glide and that made up the total action on the Lees today. I popped along tonight and gave Learmouth stream a blast with a large Collie dug but didn’t move a thing. The catches on the river as a whole were down today due to the weather I’d think. Might be better tomorrow.
Friday 31st August. A flat calm sunny morning with not a cloud in the sky, its the last day of summer and even the swallows seem to know that autumn is round the corner as they are starting to gather on the wires outside my house. 8” and 54 degrees this morning with a fair bit of green algae coming down the river. Carl Holland had a pull in the Glide this morning and that was the total action for the morning. This afternoon Michael Black lost two fish in the Duddo stream which was a bit careless, not as careless as his guest Sandy Flokhart who fell in the Glide and got a proper soaking which I have to say is difficult at the moment , you’re more likely to skin your knees as it so shallow. Paul Holland and myself fished the Slap and Cauld all afternoon and only saw the one fish in the Slap. The rod at West Learmouth had more luck today getting 3 this morning all on the upstream Johnny although they did get 2 on the fly yesterday. I went along this evening to cut the weed at the cobble point but it is a big job, mostly due to my son trying to keep the boat in one place but also every cut brings up a cloud of silt and there’s no current to take it away. It was a lovely day to be out though.
Saturday 1st September. An overcast cloudy day but warm enough. 8” and 56 degrees, there were far fewer fish showing today, not that there were loads before. I fished the Cauld all morning with Carl and only saw one coloured fish in the Cauld backwater. This afternoon with Jonathon Black down at Learmouth stream we did see a few fish all wee grilse but none wanted to play with us. There are all sorts of stories as to how many fish are down near the tide so I think I’ll have to go for a look tomorrow. No rain on the forecast so the Cauld will be dry both sides by Monday, still you never know!
©M Campbell 2018
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