Week beginning 30 October 2017
Monday 30th October. A cold frosty morning, the first proper frost of the autumn which gave us water levels at 1’7” at the Lees and a temp of 44 degrees and of course cold steady water is always clean. John Wilkinson was the “old dog for the hard road” this morning getting two fish at the Iron Gate one of them a liced 8lber. This fish pulled so hard it actually pulled John over (he slipped really) and ended up in the river as he was landing the fish, he has an excuse as he’s about to turn 92 years old in January. Malcolm Dutchman Smith had a pull in the Babyhouse and that was all the action for the morning. Charles Yeoward fished the Temple this afternoon and although seeing the odd fish didn’t get a pull. The lucky boys today were fishing at South Wark and Birgham Dub getting 8 and 7 respectively, 3 of the Wark fish were fresh. Downstream I see that Ladykirk and Pedwell had 5 fish between them so perhaps there still a few coming in. West Learmouth had an old cock fish for the day but it was 25lbs, if you’re only going to get one for the day 25lb is a good “one”. There were more fish in Learmouth stream than I’ve seen for a while so maybe tomorrow morning we might get in amongst them.
Tuesday 31st October. A much milder day which is just as well as John Wilkinson fell in again at the Iron Gate but was a bit deeper than yesterday and set his life jacket off and he didn’t have a fish to show for it today. Colin Lynam on the other hand didn’t fall in and landed a 14lber from Learmouth stream as well as losing two wee fresh fish. Charles Yeoward casting miles never had so much as a touch all day but never stopped smiling. Colin’s day wasn’t perfect though as when fishing the Iron Gate he hooked a fish that ran him over the rocks and got his line caught which eventually ended with the backing snapping and the whole line lost as well as the fish which by this time had got off the hook. Jeremy Grace left it until his last gasp getting a 15lb old hen from the Cauld. Paul and Colin both reported seeing a good number of these wee grilse splashing in Learmouth stream this morning but apart from the two couldn’t get them to pull. The bottom end of the beat was very quiet with Bruce and Ron only seeing the one fish against the far bank in the Middle stream. The catches up and down the river were low again with Birgham Dub being top beat today with 5 the rest getting 1,2,3 or nowt. October catches on the Lees Temple 9, Slap 2, Cauldstream 24, Learmouth 9, Back of the wall (Iron gate really)19, Glide 9, Duddo 1 and the Babyhouse 1. 74 landed and 67 returned. We’ll see what November brings. Now I’m away to beat up the kids that are coming to the door Guising (trick or treat in Englandshire), I’ll leave the dog in the front garden with outside light off and she’ll scare the crap out of them if they come knocking.
Wednesday 1st November. White rabbits and all that. It was a better day for John Wilkinson today as he didn’t fall in, the wind blew his hat into the river before he even got into the boat but at least he was dry. 1’6” and 48 degrees and squeaky clean with a stiff hat removing south westerly. John fished the lower Temple and Slap all morning helped by the otter that refused to bugger off and in fact we had to stop fishing several times for fear of foul hooking it. Ron Charlton in the Cauld couldn’t believe that he wouldn’t catch a fish as they were splashing all around him but he never had so much as a pull. Down on Learmouth Oliver Falk thrashed away all morning with the same result, I’ll keep it short no one had a pull all morning. This afternoon after my prawn salad and chicken cupa soup and feeling much refreshed Ron and John told me they’d decided to give it a miss due to wind and rain. Charles Yeoward had packed up at 11.00am as a very long drive in front of him all the way to Devon. So it was up to Colin and Oliver to get us on the score board, Oliver nearly did losing a fish in the Glide late afternoon. So November got off to a blank but we might get one tomorrow. Top of Tweed rising tonight so we’ll see if there’s any more water tomorrow, I hope not.
Thursday 2nd November. A nice day, calm and mild with a bit of sun. 1’7” and 46 degrees squeaky clean again. Good news for the day is John Wilkinson stayed dry all day. Bad news is we didn’t land a fish, David Birch hooked one in the Cauld this morning but it was just a brief connection. There are still fish splashing around the beat, the top of the Temple was very busy this morning and Learmouth has a fair few in it. The otter was in the Slap and Upper Cauld again and it was nice to see the kingfisher hovering and diving in for minnows. There is a tiny rise coming through tonight, it won’t make the slightest difference just thought I’d mention it. 13 fish reported off the river tonight, we used to catch that before lunch just 4 or 5 years ago but it changed days.
Friday 3rd November. A lot cooler today but that didn’t deter the team as they are made of stern stuff, that was until Ron Charlton discovered he had a leak in his waders and had to retire to his digs to get dry clothes, it was a substantial leak. Colin Lynam and myself gave the Cauld a good going through but only had a trout to show for it. The rest of the team were much the same apart from Ritchie Gallagher who lost a fish in the middle stream. Highlight of the day was an extremely long shot at a Carrion Crow which ended it egg pinching days, the mole at the Cauldstream boat however continues to elude capture for the time being. 1’7” and 46 degrees again with squeaky clean water, this made no difference to the catches as by 8.30pm only 23 reported across both websites. South Wark were the lucky boys getting two one of them a liced 4lber, the Little Temple is working well for them, sadly out of bounds for us. What will tomorrow bring? Much of the same no doubt unless I win the Lotto in which case you’ll never see me again.
Saturday 4th November. A nice enough day with a bit of sunshine but as soon as a cloud drifted over the temperature really dropped. 1’6” and 45 degrees and still squeaky clean. Ron Charlton broke his duck this morning getting a fish out of the Cauldstream, it was a wee old grilse but at least he had a pull, Andrew had another wee grilse from the ledges this morning at 3lb which was just as old. The beat is getting quieter as fish are leaving to head upstream but there are still enough to frustrate the anglers as they jump over the line but ignore the fly. On the plus side today John managed to not to fall in and Ron has new waders that don’t leak. Michael Black and son Ian joined us today but never had a pull but they enjoyed their day out. Ritchie Gallagher fished his way steadily round the beat and despite covering a good few fish blanked as well. A dry weekend in front of us so I imagine it’ll be down to 1’2” by Monday, if we can pick away at 2 or 3 a day I’d be delighted.
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©M Campbell 2017
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