news/editorial

9 June 2019 News/Editorial

Tweed’s rod catches for last week were 151 salmon and 71 sea trout, both figures representing the best fishing week of the 2019 season so far. The cumulative totals are now 1,186 salmon and 202 sea trout to 8th June 2019.

Some water, at last, has arrived, nothing like as much as predicted, but enough to push the springers well upstream, as shown by the 9 caught at Lower Dryburgh on Saturday, and even 2 caught well above Galashiels, at Ashiestiel and Glenormiston, on Friday. In the lower reaches some fresh grilse are beginning to appear.

As for the weather next week, it will be a dry if cool to start to the week, followed by another very unsettled period, as a slow moving low pressure moves up from the south, from midweek. The fishing prospects should be good.

Given water, and understanding the impact of what is written below, it is far from clear that prospective Tweed salmon anglers yet fully understand quite how good June and July fishing could be.

Last week gave some indication, next week could be better still.

--00--

If we are entering a new era of Tweed salmon running mainly in the summer, as opposed to the autumn, then, in the absence of any meaningful netting either at the river mouth or at sea, enough water is all that should be needed for some seriously productive rod fishing. In 2018 we had both NE drift and Northumbrian coastal netting continuing and no water, a disastrous combination for summer rod fishers, and for the fish.

To give some idea of scale, the NE nets declared catch was 9,157 salmon in 2017, and 18,824 salmon in 2016, the emphasis of course being on “declared”, because even in these days of carcass tagging, it might be naive to think that 100% of the catch exits to the market through routes where tags are required. In addition, an average of 37,000 sea trout were caught in the NE nets in 2016 and 2017, but of course at least some netting for sea trout will continue in 2019.

What of the 2018 netting figures? If past performance is any guide, CEFAS should be issuing their preliminary assessment of catch numbers for 2018 sometime in July, so any minute now.

It will make very interesting reading and will be the most immediate indication of the numbers of salmon, now to be spared, to run our rivers in 2019, and all subsequent summers.

Given enough water, Tweed salmon (and sea trout) fishers could have much to look forward to this summer.