9 August 2026 News/Editorial
Some quickies this time. This is being posted a tad early; we are off to see the new arrival (see below).
- It will rain today (Sunday), but not enough to do any good. And no, it is not going to rain again properly next week, at least not until after Friday 14th August, probably not even then. It could be very hot, even up here, Wednesday to Friday.
- Last week was more of the same, say 120 Tweed salmon caught, and the vast majority on beats near the tide. I hear it is heaving with fish there, but for the most part they won’t take your fly. I also heard the 11 at Horncliffe on Friday was in fact 1. My perennial problem on the old keyboard; FFS.
- I also hear the dolphins and seals are having fun with our salmon off the coast and in Berwick harbour. There was a study in the south (the Frome?) a year or two back which indicated you could lose up to 50% of your fish when they cannot get into the river straight away, and hang around being eaten by seals and dolphins for a prolonged period.
- Please answer, and submit, the consultation on river gradings etc (or "proposed conservation statuses for 2027”) for Scottish salmon rivers for 2027 here https://www.gov.scot/publications/salmon-fishing-proposed-conservation-status-for-2027-season/
- Can I suggest you ask for the banning of all commercial netting and killing of salmon for 2027 onwards? Here (link below in blue) is what is happening to some of our Tweed salmon, with thanks to my kind correspondent for spotting it, killed by the Gardo net; the most revealing line in the link below is this: “ This (Tweed) wild salmon is so fiercely protected – and fishing so restricted – that it is nigh on impossible to acquire stocks, with prices reflecting its rarity. We would urge you to order while you can, as there is a grave danger you will never experience this wonderful delicacy again.”
- I hope they are right!! Ban the deliberate killing of all wild salmon, please Government.
- https://www.formanandfield.com/product/genuine-wild-river-tweed-smoked-salmon/?_gl=1yybbhi_upMQ.._gsMQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjwvsvTBhBaEiwAmf-3nnLwlxp6xCRlLgXWNUsKAFdQF15hS1uiWsAQxtNdn2XC8SYHhSC8NRoCO-YQAvD_BwE&gbraid=0AAAAABHwMe8PKlF6CDlGMq-VlFJW0-nw
- I caught my first salmon here, this year that is (not “the first” as in 1960), on Thursday; it was torture. It shook its head from the moment it was hooked, as fresh 6lb grilse tend to do. Nobody was more surprised than me when it came in, quick pic, and back faster than you can say “Jack Robinson” (if people mention poor old Jack any more).
- More importantly, by far, “we” (as Mrs T once almost said) are a Grandfather, of a little girl, born last Tuesday in Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary. Name so far unknown, but possibly a British/Mexican synonym. I was one of three boys (middle child syndrome, don’t get me started), we had three boys, our eldest son has had two boys, so a girl has us all scratching our heads. We will all spoil her, something rotten.
- The aforementioned Scottish rivers conservation status review/consultation has the “Good” status river numbers reducing from 37 to 22 over the last 5 years (the Tweed is one of the 22), and “poor” status increasing from 101 to 123. Of the 173 salmon rivers in Scotland, 28 are “moderate"; only 22 (or 1 in 8; 12.5%) have “good” conservation status. The trend is distinctly negative. Maybe sometime the Government will take it all more seriously and act against the multiple iniquities of Scottish salmon farms, and help us reduce the all too obvious impact of predation on our young fish (avian) and returning adults (seals)? Don’t hold your breath. Nero is fiddling, bigtime, while Rome burns and our precious wild salmon numbers inexorably decline.
- To sum up for this week, one bit of fantastic, the best possible, family news. The rest, about our wild salmon, is a bit rubbish.
- Au revoir.