Week beginning 2 March 2015
Monday March 2nd As I said last week that’s February out of the way and I’m always glad to see the back of it. March has started off with a bit of a flood 3’6” this morning and dirty with a raw wind that cut right through you, two of the rods had decided not to come, two did turn up one decided not to fish but Ian thought he’d give it a go chucking a Toby off the Cauld bank, it wasn’t long before he saw sense as the wind froze his hands and any other exposed skin so he was soon back into the hut for a brew and off home. A quick check of the mole traps and I was home in front of the fire as well, it wasn’t a day to be outside. The forecast is for another cold windy day tomorrow with snow showers then warming up for the rest of the week. No fish reported off the river today.
Tuesday 3rd March Well I won’t have to go to the gym tonight as it was more than a tad windy today, so windy in fact that I didn’t see a midge all day, so windy that the Lees caught the only Salmon reported caught off the river today as they say the old dog for the hard road! Calum Highet from Kendal got a liced 5lber from the Tail of the Cauld on a black and yellow tube it must have been all that mint cake. Ray Anderson had a Salmon Kelt; at the moment even to get a Kelt is something that was the action for the day. There were reports of another Seal in the middle of the beat a small one this time thats the most seals I’ve seen/heard of getting this far up, I kind of hoped they are chasing fish up but it’s more like they are looking for a fish. 2’10” this morning and 38 degs with a tinge of colour. It was the bloody wind that was the problem today casting in to it a challenge, rowing in to it a real bugger my hands were stinging a tad by lunchtime.
Wednesday 4th March Less wind today and just a bit warmer which put a brighter shine on things, we didn’t catch a salmon but on the bright side John Okell who’s back again this week didn’t fall in so every cloud and all that. I did see a nice fish going through the Cauld this morning but no action was had. On the down side though my Maran hen has turned out to be a cockerel so no eggs from him! 2’4” and 38 degs nice and clean so by tomorrow it should be down to 2’1” or less i hope if we can get it down to 1’8” or less even better as some fish might stay with us. Otters in the Cauld today but no Seal thankfully.
Thursday 5th March So it’s back to the near gales again! 2’5” and 40 degs, so much for the river dropping in the snow melt has kept levels higher and the wind is not funny anymore. I got John into the boat after his morning coffee and set off to the right bank of the Cauld where he was soon into a Seatrout about 3lbs no lice but a fresh fish. Graham came back from Learmouth where the waves were starting to fill his pockets and waded the tail of the Cauld hooked something at the bottom end but it was off before he could get a look at it. The wind wasn’t just a problem for those of us rowing the boats as Iain Jardine came back from the Glide looking for a plaster as he had stuck a hook in his nose (no laughing) he had the hook out himself but it made his eyes smart a bit, it made my eyes smart just looking at it. Looking on the websites tonight I see a few fish had sneaked past us and the river is rising yet again at the top end which is the last thing I want and the forecast is for more bloody wind! So much for this high pressure calming things down a bit.
Friday 6th March Blowing a bloody gale today 2’4” and 42 degs clean, Iain Jardine not being held back by his incident with a hook in the nose yesterday and his sight not affected was on the Cauld this morning, he had a wee pull at the top end but it was nothing to get excited about and after doing it a couple of times decided to wade the tail from the left bank and had a 13lb licer in no time, its an amazing place the tail and we’d struggle without it most springs. By lunchtime both Iain and Mark decided they didn’t fancy the afternoon session as it was a full gale by now and headed for home. John and Graham are made of sterner stuff and stuck it out till 4.00pm but John had to go back down the bottom end anyway as he’d left his wading stick at the Bags (you should take it with you all the time John, you might not fall in so much). Anyway the wind blew some more and the lads headed home. Forecast more wind tomorrow along with some heavy rain so I’m not looking forward to that.
Saturday 7th March I want to swear and more specifically swear at the weatherman, on Sunday last he said it would be calming down on Wednesday and by Saturday it would be flat calm! Wrong! Having endured hurricane Sandy mk2 I’m less than impressed when he tells me they have spent 10 thousand million squillion and some change on their new super computer to get it wrong and more so when it comes to wind, avid readers of this blog will know how much I love the wind and combine that with February or March I’m in full grump mode. The fishing, Paul took new rod Shun (from deepest Japan) on to the Cauld first thing and was rewarded with a liced 11lber from the tail end on the fly which gave Shun a hat trick as he had two from the Junction, not many rods on Tweed this spring can say they’ve had 3 springers this season. Alan Clarke waved the white flag first thing and I don’t blame him for that. Steve Becket and Adam over from Kendal and smelling of freshly chewed mint cake tackled the rest of the beat this morning but not so much as a pull was had, their back again in June so this was a recon visit. Bob (Learmouth Ghillie) will be dancing in the streets of Norham tonight as they had their first springer of the season today a liced 6lber from the stream on a Toby. The river was rising this morning but it took until 2.30pm to reach us. Anyway 3 for the week and a Seatrout is a lot better than last year. On the wildlife front the Skylark has been singing this week and there was a “plump” of Moorhens at Learmouth this afternoon (local name Pannyhen) also the first Whaup of the year so spring is somewhere not too far away. Clancy your Onions are cosy in the greenhouse and Ray Anderson your antifreeze recipe works just fine! No photos this week as I couldn’t hold the camera steady in the wind. It’ll be better next week I’m sure.
©M Campbell 2015
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