Week beginning 5 May 2014
Monday 5th MayOvercast start 1’5” and 50 degs the air was thick with the smell of honey from the oilseed rape fields which are in full bloom team Collinson are here for three days but Paul Collinson is not with them as he’s bonefishing in the Bahamas and the latest news is he’s caught nowt! So he would feel right at home if he was fishing the Lees as that’s what we caught today, Craig Scorer almost had one from the Slap on a Sunray but it was one of those log ones with a short tube so the hair was 2” longer than the tube which is fine if the fish come sideways on but when they come from behind they grab the hair and thats what happenedthis morning. A 33lb fish was landed at Hendersyde this morning so well done to the lucky lad who got it he’ll be more than a bit pleased I should think.
Tuesday 6th A nice bright start and 1’5” 52 degs clean and we had a fish! Craig Scorer was the lucky lad getting a 10lber from Cornhill bend on a wee bottle tube and rising another on a Sunray, and that was it for the day, a couple showing in the Slap and nothing in the Cauld as usual. Not much more to say on the fishing front, I could talk at length about Parsnips and carrots ECT but I won’t. The Osprey was fishing the Cauld but even he blanked and got chased off by a pair of Carrion Crows that are nesting in the trees at the bottom of the Cauld so I’ll have to give them a visit soon. No Moles to be seen round the hut and I have a couple of Bantams broody which are sitting on Maran eggs, they are due at the end of May so by the Autumn egg production should be up to speed as long as the bloody dog walkers keep their mutts under control. Wednesday 8th May Its a bit like this in May, everyone sets off to their respective beats hoping for a fish, or two even, but the rod thats on the Slap is the guy in the pound seat and that was the way it was this morning. Chris Major had a couple of casts into the wind at the Slap and he was into a nice 12lb springer not brand new but they all count, he was using a wee bottle tube on an float/inter line, so he was a happy bunny until tonight when he returned from the bottom of the beat with a puncture and fell on his arse into the mud (cream trousers) trying to get the wheel nut undone. The Cauld was the same as last few weeks and the Temple is a long haul, there were fish seen in Duddo and the Bags and a splash in the Glide so hope for the other pools is still alive. Summer is here now as the Swifts have arrived and are swooping around my house as I write this. Rain this afternoon but not enough to affect the river if that’s all there’s been upstream as the land and plants will take most of it. Having said that I’ve just seen the forecast and theres more rain tonight so we’ll see tomorrow, I don’t want any more water.
Thursday 8th May With the river rising slowly I didn’t hold out much hope for the new team today, Tony and Jim decided much the same and soon demolished a bottle of Balvenie and threatened a bottle of Highland park whilst we sorted out the salmon fishing in Scotland, Ralph on the other hand was off down the beat like a rat up a drainpipe. I eventually forced Tony (at gunpoint) down to the back of the wall and got Jim into the boat in the Cauld, a 1” wille Gunn tube on and at the tail end a lovely pull and a fight which I thought was a salmon as not a lot of action but as it came closer to the shore it took on the classic Seatrout action and was leaping about all over the place, it was the length of a 6lb fish but would of weighed 8 lbs without a doubt so thick was it’s back. That sadly was the only action for the day and by 5.00pm the river was up 7” and starting to carry a bit of rubbish, grass cuttings and stone dirt bits of weed through the water column, it should drop back a bit for tomorrow and will have turned things around a bit so here’s hoping. The forecast for Friday night and Saturday morning is for heavy rain all over the catchment so a flood on Sunday looks likely. The Osprey was with us today again and the Swifts were here again, one or two Trout rising and a huge hatch of Grannoms this afternoon.
Friday 9th May 1’8” this morning and 52 degs bit of a tea stain to the water, Tony chucks a Sunray over the Slap and rises a fish straight away and later on loses one in the Slap, we fish the Cauld through but no action although we did see a fish which is a result. Jim lost a fish in the Glide and this afternoon, Douglas also loses a fish, in the Back of the wall this time, Tony gets a Seatrout from the Glide this afternoon and another pull, all told we had a hold of 4 fish plus other pulls and boils but only a 4lb Seatrout to show for it, but that is a huge improvement on the rest of the spring. The osprey was here again today but didn’t dive onto a fish and was chased off by the crows again. The rain is still on it’s way and it looks like we will fish all day tomorrow but get wet in the process. Saturday 10th May 1’8” 53 degs tea stained but certainly fishable and there’s a few showing in the Slap so I’m quite excited, any way we thrashed the Slap and not a touch so it was into the Cauld and almost the same place as yesterday Jonathon Lane was into a 5 lb Seatrout on a #6 dressed treble, that was it for the morning at the top end but Tay Champion Tony Black had a 6lb Salmon from the Glide and a 3lb Seatrout all on a Sunray which is now the new flying condom on the Lees but a lot safer if you’re a fish. One lost in the Middle stream and another couple of pulls in the Glide! It’s all go now. Not to be left out Jim had a 2 1/2lb Broon Troot from the Glide as well, there were some very heavy showers this afternoon and the river is waxing at Melrose at 5.00pm. The young Otter that was beaten up by the male Otter a few weeks ago, I’ve just heard was found at the time by the local vets wife and take to the surgery but didn’t make it the wounds were too bad, it’s a hell of a job when your dad wants to bonk your mother he ends up killing you in the process. There’s aye next week to look forward to!
Photos are Jim Reid playing his 8lb Seatrout.
© M Campbell 2014
our twitter feed