Tweed at Boleside - April 5th

[tweedcast]

April 5th 2006 - Cold and windy.

Fished hard with two friends - one of us contacted a fish whilst trying the spinning rod for a change. Quite a few fish moving around - kelts and fresh fish.

Boleside has had 20 fresh fish so far this year - not fished too much either.

Nice beat - must try it later in the season.

M

[elwyman]

I'm on Boleside in 2 weeks time, for 3 days.

Water levels are dropping and some rain next week would be nice, but the forecast isn't promising much.

Lovely beat, as you say Tweedcast. I particularly like Glenmayne and Hart, although I have a soft spot for the Meetings pool as I caught my first Tweed salmon from there, last May.

It was low last May, about 4" from memory, so it would be nice to fish it with more water on - give me a chance to try some conehead tubes I've been tying up.

[tweedcast]

Why not post some snaps of your coneheads ?

M

[elwyman]

tweedcast said:

Why not post some snaps of your coneheads ?

M

I will tweedcast, when I've had some more practice. ;D

[tweedcast]

How did you fair with the ghillie - bit like living under marshall law I thought. Still it was good to feel organised and well instructed.

M

[elwyman]

I know what you mean - Nigel runs a tight ship, but to be fair he makes sure everybody gets a fair crack of the whip and he took the trouble to show me the pools and give a few tips.

He was happy for me to fish in the evenings, which was good because I had 2 from Glenmayne one evening after blanking in the day.

As you can see from this link, he knows how to fish and he's a big bloke, so I wouldn't argue with him!

www.angelfire.com/wa/salmonid/gallery57.html

[tweedcast]

Yes, I would not like to cross trebles with Nigel on a dark night. Altogether a very interesting contribution to the day and a great sense of humour. That angelfire site is quite nice to see traditional flies.

I must tie a Fell fly for my next visit - the green highlander shumakov bullet didn't impress very much. "Right so whose is the rod with the thing from outer space on it then ? well you'll be the one wading all morning, you can use what the h**l you like on the end".

Its good to know exactly where you stand.

M

[elwyman]

Just watched an episode of Jack Charlton's Salmon Run about Tweed.

Nigel Fell featured in a sequence in a boat, shot on Boleside, showing how Sir Walter Scott used to spear salmon by torch light at night.

I'll have to ask him about night fishing when I see him. ;D

[tweedcast]

elwynman,

Who did he shoot on Boleside and did they survive. I know the feeling.
I switched the Jackie Charlton programme off just as it started, thinking it was a repeat I'd seen. Sheisse - as they said after the war.


Malcolm

[elwyman]

My Boleside trip is next Thursday, so RAIN RAIN RAIN until Monday please!

[carrowmore]

Elwyman,
I have some fishing booked on Boleside in June. Never fished The Tweed so really looking forward to the trip. I hope you'll post a report.

[elwyman]

Carrowmore - I'll try to post a report next Sunday.

I don't think they've caught on Boleside for a week or 2 , so I'm hoping the rain forecast for tonight is enough to freshen things up.

[fenton]

I see there was a fish caught on Boleside today......
Hope it was to E-man!

[elwyman]

Alas Fenton, twas not I.

Another fish was caught on Friday, both fish were fresh and around the 6lb mark, Thursday's fish came from Hart and Friday's from the Meetings. I think the odd fish was moving up river overnight, but we didn't see many.

Very few fish about compared to last year. Rain is forecast for next week, so the fishing in late May and June could be good when the fish decide to move up from the lower beats.

As I was leaving, I mentioned to the gillie Nigel that I would probably stop off at the Border Chippy in Longtown, on the Border Esk.

"Ah", he said, "The chap who owns that caught 19 fish off Hart pool one day".

"Not this blo*dy week he didn't" I retorted! ;D

[carrowmore]

Elwyman,
Thanks for posting your report and hard lines with the conditions last week. I have just one day booked on Boleside on June 21st. Prior to that I'm going over to Mayo for the half term week with my 15yr old son. He's yet to catch a salmon but there's a decent chance on The Moy ( or trolling Lough Conn ) at this time of year so here's hoping. I'll report back.

[elwyman]

A friend has returned from fishing Ravenswood and Boleside this week. Like me, he blanked and hardly saw any fish, despite a small rise over the weekend.

The returns on Fishtweed for most middle beats are well down compared to 2005. Boleside has had 4 fish since mid-April, compared to 36 fish last May. The reason is obvious - no decent flood since early April.

Just wish I had a crystal ball and was booked on after the next flood!

[elwyman]

Hooray!
Just checked fishtweed again and Boleside had 1 fish today.

[sagefly]

WE NEED WATER!!!!

Not just the southeast.

The estuary is stuffed with fish, we will have huge seals soon if we dont get a good flood through.

[Yorkshire Esk]

River levels are on the rise according to the river level chart on fishtweed website. Which is good news for all those fish that are still waiting to enter the river.

www.fishtweed.co.uk

[Yorkshire Esk]

Boleside has another fish today.
Things are looking up for the weekend.

Y.E