Tweed

[elwyman]

This is a report off M Evan's web site, for this week: -

Last week at Upper Caberston could only be described as difficult. Storm force winds and high dirty water at the start of the week had small pods of fish moving through and the story was of countless fish lost. The fish were only half heartedly grabbing the fly and then swimming on upstream towards you, often faster than you can reel in to keep the tension on. The fish lost because you can never get a proper hook hold - I lost 6 in a row myself!

Anyway, the high dirty water was then followed over Tuesday night with a plummet in temperature and blazing sun the following day. So by change over day on Wednesday evening we had had just 4 Salmon (two of which we kept) and one Sea-trout.

Wednesday night bought another heavy frost and Thursday more bright sun. And we managed just one stale Grilse to show for our efforts with very few fish seen. But, even though we were expecting more of the same with similar conditions on the following day, for some strange reason the fish decided to start to move again and we had a lovely day with Salmon of 6lbs, 6lbs, 10lbs, 12lbs, 14lbs and 15lbs and a lovely Seatrout of 5lbs. Although 3 of the fish were fresh we decided to return them all except the Sea-trout.

Saturday bought yet more drama with a return of gale force winds and difficult conditions and this report would not be complete if I didn`t report that I also managed to take my first ever swim on the river in Bishops! I was rewarded for not returning to the hut for a change of clothes though, when just a few casts later I got a lovely fresh 14 pounder.

So by the time I left, the score card showed Salmon of 9lbs, 10lbs, 10lbs, 14lbs and 15lbs, three of which were lovely fresh fish and only one of which was kept for the table.

That gave us a total of 17 Salmon and 2 Sea-trout for the week and a running total of 52 Salmon ans 13 Sea-trout for the season so far with 3 weeks and 4 days to go.

[dunbar]

Of course the Upper Tweed beats are not as prolific as the middle/lower beats, and that's reflected in the rental values, but the upper beats can usually be expected to produce good catches in the last month and a half of the season. For example, water did not arrive till mid October last year, my first day produced 4 fish, and subsequent visits produced at least one fish on almost every day, and this is on hard-fished association water. I've fished the Upper Tweed for over 20 years and it's not too unrealistic to expect catches approaching/exceeding double figures on some of the other Upper beats in late October and through November.

I do follow Mr Evans' reports and I'm interested by the amount of fresh fish reported at Caberston. Also, the phenomenon he reports about fish running quickly upstream when hooked and dropping off rung true with the fish I hooked. Whilst silver fish are caught occasionally at Cardrona, only a few miles upstream, they are noteworthy captures, although 'clean' fish are not too uncommon given good water. it's all relative I suppose, although one red fish carried back to the car by it's grinning captor the other day did leave a rather unpleasant taste in my mouth!

Still, if salmon fishing were predictable it would soon become boring.

[rennie]

Eh up Stoater,just got back from upper Tweed fished Holylee,Ashiesteil and Sunderland Hall,up to Thursday 2nd water was warm and fish were running through very hard(predominately grilse) had a great level of water all week from 2ft down to 1ft, very cold on thurs. fri.water down to 42 from 51f.Problem all week to all our party (8 rods) was fish would not turn on the fly,all you got by way of a take was at most a couple of clicks off the reel or more often than not the line just went tight then dropped slack.If you clamped up and lifted on the line tightening you would feel a fish and if you were lucky might land one.Best fly patter ens were black /yellow with gold body in sizes 1 1/2 inch to 1 inch depending on water height.Only one of our party had a fish turn on the fly and give a proper pull,we had one good fish to us all 16lb the rest were sparkling clean grilse down to 3lb.From speaking to other rods out n about most of the upper river was fishing the same very frustrating,below the Ettrick junction more true autumn fish were showing and offers were tending to be more positive.Sunderland Hall and Fairnilee seemed to have a few better fish about but not what you would expect at this time of year.To give you a clear clue hear I had 12 offers in two days and landed one fish,lost five and missed the rest.Others days were similar pulls? and no contact.Now just in case some of you think trout/grayling well no,a pull off one of these fish was a pull and a fish came to hand and the expected leaf problem didn't really occur. Never had a problem like this,although not a lot of fish about only had one day (the first )without contact and have never had this many offers in a week at the back end,tried the lot-fast -slow-deep-high-big -small-strike-wait,etc. etc. best set up was multi-tip (type 3 tip) 1" black/yellow tube and fish clamped up lifting steadily at any hesitation in the flys path.There make what you can of that although I enjoyed it I couldn't make sod all of it managed to land 3 fish keeping one out of 20 offers.Going off for brain surgery now yours very frustrated Pedro.

[tynetraveller]

Sounds frustrating, but better to be missing fish than not getting pulls.. In those circumstances maybe it is time to follow the scandinavians and Russians and strike.The conversion rate certainly couldn't get worse. I also imagine a stripped coliie or sunray on an intermediate would solve the problem- the fish don't need to turn if you are stripping the fly.

[rennie]

Fished the lot Tynetraveller,and the pulled collie on an intermediate proved no more effective than any other technique,in fact any fish having a chew was maybe a wing length away from the hook in fact most offers came to a presentation fished on a long downstream cast with the fly crept through slowly,got the impression a fast fished fly was ignored whereas a slower presentation generated at least a little curiosity.Oh well maybe next time eh?. Pedro.

[stoater]

Cheers Rennie, at least I know the black and yellow smallish tubes are still attracting attention this season!
As the season progresses surely fish will begin to slow up around Tweed/Ettrick junction, then I may yet have sport, who knows? In the last 4 yrs I have always landed an 18lb+ fish in the 4 November days I take....now that has almost certainly put an end to that, but all the same, I will report back around 18 Nov., barring computer failure!
"All it takes is one cast....."

[Cp]

Need advice on where to fish on the Tweed over the next couple of weeks.........

Bemersyde / Boleside / Ravenswood / Drygrange

What would the Tweed boys choose in order of preference assuming the current weather and water conditions stay as is ?

[Yorkshire Esk]

Check out fishtweed at
www.fishtweed.co.uk

It will tell you what beats are available in the next week or so.

[stoater]

CP, your question though well intentioned is, as Springer points out, sadly irrelevant...even more so in a year like 2006 when catghes in this part of the River seem reasonably consistent, and at times good.
Tweed afficianadoes will be well aware it is not a case of being able to just book up a day or three "as and when" if the prospects look good. I would say 80%+ of Tweed fishings- even in spring and summertime- are repeat bookings as the form is that once you are offered and take a week (sometimes a part-week), you will be offered the same fishings the following season.
Personally I would baulk at paying in advance (and thats how it is, often months in advance) some of the rents charged at peak times. As we all know there is always a chance of being washed off, particularly in autumn with the fly-only law!
If you are prepared to do research (not all Beats use the excellent FishTweed service), you can still find good, sometimes extremely good, Tweed fishings at a price nothing like the well-known lower/middle beats.
I think it's important that folk know that acquiring the chance to fish Tweed for Salmon is not a foregone consumer decision, whatever one's pocket.
The plus side to what some may see as "exclusivity", is that this old way of "tenancies" undeniably fosters an ongoing interest, dedication and feeling of attachment to the River system. Such fishers are more likely to voluntarily help in a way (financial or otherwise) that benefits the resources' sustainability. And this may be one of the reasons that Tweed is doing so well.
And, if people like what they get in terms of a fishing trip, they often want to repeat it!
All of which may be a little away from my present thoughts! Are there any proper silver autumn fish around the Tweed-Ettrick meetings yet? I see Boleside is still having a big time and Fairnilee is good too. any up-to-the-day info appreciated, My bags are packed!

[Cp]

Springer..................

I do know something you don't..........


I'm fishing Ravenswood this week and Bemersyde next week,by personal invitation.......

What tactics I need to optimise my chances on both?

[Cp]

Springer,
Many thanks,both of my Thomas and Thomas 16 foot "big guns" rigged to the nines it is then !!
Cp

[munro]

Cp - Tony the Ghillie on Ravenswood almost always advocates a floater with tips. Fifteen footers (+) are used throughout the season even in summer. If you play your cards right he might even give you one of his home tied flies ( to which his spaniel is a major contibutor!)
Graham is correct about the Bemersyde boatmen - the two beats although on opposite banks for part of each beat seem to be fished quite differently.

[stoater]

CP- you are indeed a lucky man, and as Springer says fortunate to be invited to enjoy a cast on such waters in the autumn. I have fished a fair amount on Boleside, and a little on Bemersyde. I would dearly love an Autumn day on these Beats, the gorge that surrounds Bemersyde/Ravenswood is a stunning place to be and at this time of year will be special, oh yes. Ian Farr will make your day as good as he can once you have managed the climb down to the hut at Bemersyde. Beware.... rain is on the way so don't forget a fast sinker (such as a Teeny 3/400 line) and a spool of 23lb Seaguar, and 2-3" plastic tubes.
If the River is steady (as she has been this week) a sink-tip line and a 1-1.5" aluminium tube will do, in all but the very fastest water.
Drygrange is a very short beat- one long pool really- that suddenly seems to be catching as much as the much longer and very beautiful Tweedswood beat immediately upstream. I also notice (unless I am mistaken!) that Dryrange's rents have suddenly shot up..... frankly £350 plus a day on short upper/middle beat seems ridiculous, or am I missing something?
Anyway I trust you will let us Forum members aware of how you get on? Tightlines!

[elwyman]

Fished Upper Caberston Mon -Wed this week. Nice beat, but we could have done with more water to get some fish moving through.

I caught a 12 lb coloured cock from the Cauld Hole on Monday, on a small Temple Dog tube. It took in the tail of the pool and then it ran 300 yards downstream through v fast water, until I could find a suitable place to beach it. It had a large seal bite in its belly.

7 fish, biggest a fresh 17lber, were landed over the 3 days, and one was lost at the net.

The wind was howling down the valley most of the time, which made casting very difficult. 4 of us manged to hook our breathable waders, but some Aquasure saved the day.

[dunbar]

'Challenging' conditions at Cardrona today. High winds, rising dirty river, and loads of leaves - great! Got one small fish, about 6lbs, on a large plastic tube fished on a fast sink line. It was a hen, so it went back. Friend got one too, a coloured fish, also returned. lots of running fish, and at last some of the bigger autumn fish seem to present.

[dunbar]

Another visit yesterday - conditions a carbon copy as above. Ended up with a sea trout about 6-7lbs and lost another fish. The constant rises of around 1' at a time are doing the fishing no good - all they seem to do is colour the water up and draw the leaves from the margins. A proper flood is still required on the Tweed this year!

[peter]

And i am meant to be fishing tomorrow !!!!!

[stoater]

Yes it looked like "flood of the year" this morning, so I drove home. The Whiteadder sounded possible at 2', but I know what a couple of hours can do and man did it rain. Lucky those on the River over the next week.
My slightly abbreviated visit to Sunderland Hall was odd, but still very enjoyable.
Monday was a wild day, I fished hard and saw the grand total of 4 salmon show themselves, and I had not a sign of interest. Tuesday was almost the same. Serious showers kept the River on the higher levels for practical flyfishing. Not so much the height, but the wind washed all sorts downstream, and the constant up-down-up of the water level did little to help. I did however briefly connect with something weighty whilst inopporortunely engaged in mid-river conversation with the owner's son, Smyly jnr., who for those who fish regularly there will verify the fun and distracting nature of his excellent conversation!
Tuesday evening I was worrying about what I had heard about fish not holding in the Beat. I mean, I had seen 6 fish show in a week when often it is not unusual to see 600, not that you ever seem to catch them, mind.
Wednesday started wet, and got wetter, but the water level only seemed to rise in late afternoon. Lucky that, as it was all but dark at 4pm. A real November day.
At 10a.m I landed a bright blue/chrome cock fish of 10lb, I'd imagine not far off shedding it's sealice. It took a 1.25" black+yellow ally tube on a fast sink line. I stuck with this set-up, in the same Howden Pool (top of the beat), it was deep and possibly risky wading at 2' of extra water, but I had a lucky couple of hours. I landed a cock (8lb) and a hen (12lb), and still I saw barely a fish show!
I have never seen such fresh November fish, these were the ones Tweed stays open for. I kept the 8lb cock. Must get a digital camera to share these days!
At 3pm, I left the wooded top part of the beat. I had thought it was about 4.30pm till I saw the clock in the car. Just time for a run through the Tweed/Ettrick Meetings pool. 5 or 6 casts with a version of the "Junction Shrimp" on a 2" plastic tube and wham, into a big coloured salmon of 15-20lb. He shed the hook just as assistance arrived with a net ( I shouldn't have waited).
Had another go in the pouring rain. Just as I was into my "3 last casts" routine ,a 6lb cock seatrout made my day. And I hope his....as he looked ready for the spawning beds, he too went away safely. Not a usual Upper Tweed November, but special all the same!

[macsalmo]

Well done Stoater,that was a terrific day .

I just hope you let one or two run on through to Glenormiston for the last day

Gary

Ps; do get yourself a digi camera, so we can see your happy days

[stoater]

Macsalmo, Father Xmas has been told what I want, a "digi"! Sounds like fun! Seriously I have convinced the better half that it will add a whole new dimension, etc.etc.,.......
I can assure you that Glenormiston will have plenty of Salmon swimming through on St.Andrews Day, even if they choose not to jump about. Funny how some days you see fish showing non-stop, and struggle for a pull.........and then on a day that you see nothing show, you catch a brace or more! This latest really proper flood will have pulled up some proper big fish into the Upper River, so don't go undergunned, you need your "heavy brigade" tackle.
Good luck to you and Springer