16 July 2017 News/Editorial
As we get into the second half of July, the suspense is beginning to build about what August and the autumn will bring for the Tweed?
Will it be the same as 2016, or will Tweed’s legendarily reliable autumn run come back as quickly as it went? Will there be any grilse, noticeably lacking in 2016?
2017 so far has been mixed.
A worse than average spring seems the likely conclusion, once the River Tweed Commission has collated all the figures to 30th June.
July has been patchy, with a good, even double figure, day on some beats immediately followed the next by a blank, indicative perhaps of pockets of travelling fish…….one minute you have them, the next you don’t. And grilse have been absent, the salmon caught averaging 10 lbs or more and in excellent condition.
All this has been helped, in the beats above Coldstream at least, by water. There have been a number of rises, and the weather has not been too hot. Beats below Coldstream should begin to accumulate a resident population, but thus far reports are of few fish being seen.
Nor do we get much clue of what to expect from other rivers, where catches have been steady, but no more than that. Yet again, the Riding Mill counter on the Tyne in Northumberland has had a big run of fish in June, the unkown factor being how many of them are sea trout.
So there is still all to play for in the 2017 season, and, for once, it would be good if we continue to get enough water, and avoid the September droughts of the last 2 years.
The forecast is hot and dry until midweek when there could be a thundery breakdown, with more rain at the end of the week.
By then it could be needed.
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