news/editorial

2 September 2018 News/Editorial

Last week’s Tweed rod catch was 218 salmon and 13 sea trout, making the cumulative season’s totals, to 1st September 2018, 2,138 salmon and 411 sea trout.

With exception of the lowest beats, next week, in the absence of any rain, could well see much reduced catches as water levels continue to drop and the weather becomes becalmed... with yet another (most unwelcome) Azores high pressure system dominating early in the week.

For any good fishing, river-wide, we need the Rain Gods to come back….and quickly.

As they just might from Thursday, if some forecasts are to be believed about an encircling low pressure encroaching from the east.

Even then, to be any good, it has to deliver substantial rain over the whole Tweed catchment.

But there is hope.

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As the Tweed salmon catch creeps over 2,000 by the end of August, it is worth reflecting on two things.

First, in all likelihood the Tweed will again have the highest rod catch of all Scottish (and English) salmon rivers in 2018, even if the total by the end of November is lower than recent depressed totals. This is simply because other rivers are doing worse than us, for lack of fish or thanks to the extreme drought, or, in almost every case, a combination of both.

Secondly, in years gone by, a pretty low score by the end of the summer would have caused little concern here....because the hugely prolific autumn months were still to come. Whereas we can all hope that autumn 2018 will produce something like the autumn runs of old, after the last few much reduced autumn years…... you wouldn’t put much money on it.

But then everything else about 2018 has defied the pundits; very few springers, drought and consequent poor runs of salmon in the summer, an unexpected preponderance of grilse in late July and August, and now I hear of some proper big salmon being caught (and released) in the research net at Paxton..... whereas in 2017 they caught almost nothing, either grilse or salmon.

Could we be in for a surprise once we get some water?

Probably not, but then so far every prediction of 2018 that I have heard....

.....has been wrong.