Week beginning 4 February 2019
Monday 4th February. A nicer morning today, the grue has gone and it is a lot milder, no rods booked in today so we got on with the toilet for the hut which will be a great addition to the Lees. Andrew went out this afternoon for a cast and had a hard pull in Learmouth stream but it didn’t stick on. This afternoon the gauges are showing a bit of a lift coming down so there could be a bit of colour tomorrow as there is 2’6” at Roxburgh.
Tuesday 5th February. A rather cool morning with a west wind , the gauge was reading 2’0” and very murky with the grey colour that snow melt tends to give, this put paid to any thoughts of perhaps having a cast. By mid morning it was turning more to the brown coffee colour that we are more used to when the river rises. Reset a few mole traps then off to a funeral this afternoon. No fish reported off the river today and looking at the gauges tonight Tweed, Ettrick and Teviot are all rising again albeit not by much.
Wednesday 6th February. A cold damp morning which turned into a warm sunny afternoon for the time of year, it made no difference to the fishing as the river was rising and colouring up as the day went by, no fish reported off the river today and a very unsettled forecast for later in the week with gales and heavy rain.
Thursday 7th February. Not a lot to report today, no fishing at the Lees as no one was booked in but the river was also still a bit on the murky side 2’5” on the gauge and 36 degrees. This was reflected across the websites with no fish being reported off the river today. The Eurasian Crane is still with us and has been joined by two Great White Egrets, we also had a Cock Bullfinch outside the hut common in some areas but not round here, I think the first time I ever saw one here was about 7 or 8 years ago. The Oyster Catchers are back, I hope they have more success breeding than last year as the Carrion Crows got all the eggs, we had 5 nests round the beat and only 1 hatched but even then didn’t make it as the crows got the chicks in the end. Crows better look out this spring is all I’m going to say.
Friday 8th February. Very windy this morning and some heavy rain, the rain was much heavier in the west and it was soon showing up on the gauges with the top ones reading 4 or 5 foot each. By 7.00pm tonight the Sprouston gauge was reading 5’10” and rising and the Teviot at Roxburgh was 7’5” and rising so it will be big and broon tomorrow. The new toilet is coming along and it had a second lick of paint today, it should be operational next week, it’ll get a severe test with “Team Harper” here for two weeks. The water temp today was 38 degrees so that might encourage something to come in and the wind is to turn more into the north which is usually drier.
Saturday 9th February. Blowing a gale and the gauge reading 4’8” and a look of milky coffee so no fishing today. Forecast for week ahead is for settled dry calm weather so if anyone is thinking about having a cast next week could be a good idea. As ever log into tweedbeats on instagram or tweedbeats on facebook for latest pics and clips.
©M Campbell 2019
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