Week beginning 5 March 2018
Monday 5th March. Well the thaw has set in on the lower lying ground and the river is starting to respond to the snow melt by taking on a mucky green colour. James Henderson was the only rod to show up today and he gave it a go, he had a brief hold of something in the Cauld this morning and that was the only pull of the day. SEPA have issued a flood warning for the Scottish Borders and rain is on the forecast so it could be brown tomorrow and considerably bigger. Two fish reported off the river today both from Junction and both caught by the same rod Richie Gallagher who is a Tweed regular. The fish were 20lbs and 14lbs, so well done Richie.
Tuesday 6th March. The thaw accelerated today and the river was rising and brown, I thought we were in for a bank topper but the gauges say otherwise. The light rain we have in Coldstream is perhaps falling as snow on the hills so not melting the snow up there. It’ll still be dirty tomorrow and with a slow thaw (not as slow as I’d like) the river is going to be big for a long time. Of course now that the snow is going everything is a mess, all the land is soft and muddy, everything is wet. In a few weeks it’ll all be a distant memory, the sandmartins will be here and a few Upwinged Olives and March Browns will be coming down and we’ll all be smiling.
Wednesday 7th March. Well nobody was smiling today not about the state of the river anyway. 3’6” and manky, it dropped back during the day to 2’11” but most of the gauges are rising again tonight due to the thaw. Will it fish this week? I have my doubts; it’ll be chucking a toby spoon off the bank in marginal water at best. The sun did shine and it was quite warm which of course caused the thaw.
Thursday 8th March. A nice sunny day but of course that means more snow melt, 3’10 and 34 degrees with a frosty start. Filled a few potholes in the drive and watched the otter swimming about the lower temple. Went up to local wood yard to get some sarking board for steps and the likes but there was none to be had so came back with a trailer load of wood chippings for my garden paths, they keep your feet nice and clean when walking between the raised beds. Some of the gauges are rising again tonight so no doubt it’ll be coloured and still too big tomorrow. It’s to reach the dizzy heights of perhaps 10 degrees on Saturday with some heavy rain so that’ll clear any snow thats left and of course give us another big flood.
Friday 9th March. Another frosty start with the jeep window white over. 3’4” this morning and still carrying too much colour, all today’s rods were wise enough not to bother turning up. We got some logs split and a bit of bank side clearing up done, recycled a nesting box for the bluetits and made a new laying box for the hens. The gauges are rising again tonight so it’ll be much the same tomorrow no doubt.
Saturday 10th March. Well that’s the week well and truly over with all the gauges rising yet again thanks to the heavy rain this morning. It’ll be big again tonight and tomorrow. Will it fish on Monday coming? I have my doubts. Looking back to next week last year the sandmartins arrived on the 16th March, I’ve yet to see a fly on the water so they will be hungry little birds.
©M Campbell 2018
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