Fishing Report for week Beginning 29th April
It was good to see the river settled for a full week meaning fishers could fish all week the river just below the Teviot rose on Aaturday approx. 1’ this morning it is getting lowand in need of a top up the water temperature dropped last week due to the colder winds and is now around the mid forties, still floating line water maybe an intermediate tip will be the answer with dressed flies making for pleasant fishing rather than the sinking lines with copper tubes needed earlier in the season, Junction produced a 34lbs’er the week before last on a black flying C a great fish and the largest this season it will take beating, forecast for today is rain in the west so we may get that rise in water we could so do with the weather generally is far more spring like, making fishing more pleasurable, there have been some good fly hatches, olives and march browns, in the Coldstream area, generally the Spring fishing been very good between Kelso and Coldstream.
Fishing Report for Week Beginning 22nd April
The river has settled down from all the high waters a couple of weeks ago both rain and snow melt brought the levels well up. Thankfully the weather has also changed dramatically it is now much warmer and more settled the water temperature has finally risen over that magic 40 figure and is now hovering around 48, many beats between Kelso and Coldstream have fished well all Spring and in this last week catches have soared ,catches have been thin on the ground above Kelso and the bottom river, this week is looking very promising most fish are being caught on the fly favourite patterns being franken snaelda and thunder snaelda also the auroa cascade has scored well this week at Hendersyde, the new auroa with feelers will be a great catcher in these conditions
Fishing Report for Week Begining 15th March 2013
Monday 15th April
The wind turned around yesterday from the bitterly cold east that we have had nearly all season to the wet west and was it wet the Ettrick guage yesterday was reading 6’ 1” rising and the Teviot guage at Hawick was 6’ 9” rising so we have the much needed water the Sprouston guage is reading 4’ this morning, with this lift in water levels the temperature should rise aswell especially as it is rain water not snow melt, I think the fishing will be very tough for the next few days but should be spot on for next Monday, last week proved to be a good week for catches with the following catches being reported on the old system Monday 21 Tuesday 16 Wednesday 19 Thursday 15 and Friday 14
By far the best week so fat this season, nany of the fish were sealiced and excellent condition, Sprouston recorded 11 for the week with Brian Lalor catching 9 of those 11 to his own rod great week, Tillmouth recorded 12 with the majority of those fish coming from the longstream including their largest a 16lbs’er which was covered in sealice and in perfect condition. The Lees had a good week reporting 18 with their best day Thursday 11th with 6 fish and South Wark had 17, the catches should really start to rise next week with all this fresh water and signs of more fresh fish at the bottom of the river last week
Fishing report for week beginning 18th March
Well we needed some rain and we got it the river is up today and still rising on most gauges, oxtail soup springs to mind to describe the colour it is totally filthy hopefully this will warm the water some, speaking to Brian Palmer Tweedhill last he was saying the water temperature was 32 which is still colder than the sea. At least there have been a few, fresh sealiced fish around the Coldstream area to keep everyone going, the river reached its peak yesterday breaking the 3 foot barrier at Sprouston, it is still totally filthy today and falling very slowly, but needs to clear dramatically for fishers.
Friday 22nd March
The river has settled down very well and is now looking rather good clear and running at a good height, hopefully the rise in water and the rise in temperature brought more fish into the river, sadly today we are back to Arctic conditions, freezing cold strong winds, which will really hinder fishers today, it’s a stay indoors next to a roaring log fire day! Hopefully those brave enough to venture out today will be rewarded with plenty of fresh fish! the water temperature had risen on Wednesday it had reached the tropical heights of 39 up from 32 last week, best fly patterns in these conditions will be 1” copper tubes black/yellow and willie gunn snaelda, we have some new patterns of snaelda coming in soon which are very exciting and look like they will be real fish catchers, watch this space as quantities will be strictly limited per angler. Good to see the rubber legs snaelda did the trick again for Tom at Lower Birgham another cracking sealiced springer fell to one again this week at 12lbs the first was 14lbs the other week its proving to be a killer fly!
Fishing Report for Week Beginning 4th March
When the wind is in the east, ‘tis no good to man nor beast’ – or angler.
The river now need a shift of wind, water and higher temperatures to move in some new fish, but there is little in the weather forecast until the end of the coming week to give the angler some cheer – but – ‘when winter comes can shining be far behind’
The catch on the river fell back to around thirty total for the week, the best return comes from Birgham Dub with 5 (for the third week running) withUpper Hendersydenext with four including the largest at 22lb
Flies bringing success were black and yellow and willie gunn variants, while spinners were picking up one or two on blue and silver rapalas. A good number of well mended kelts were being caught in the Wark beats where the wheelyboat had its first outing of the season and its angler bravely enduring the cold was happy to catch a few of them
The spring flowers and buds suffered a set back in the cold and the insect hatches of the warm afternoons of the previous week disappeared. The last 10 days of March normally bring better numbers of new salmon but anglers will not be hoping for a repeat of the March heat wave of 2012 when temperatures increased to 80ºF – just a ‘normal’ spring will do nicely!
Fishing Reports for Week Beginning 25th February
Week 25th FEB – 2nd March
A week of difficult for the angler and for the fish, summing up, the sun was out and shinning on a cold clear water, the barometric pressure was very high and winds generally from the east. The river level ended the week at 10” the lowest level since Aril last year! Some 55 Spring salmon were caught in the system mainly in the beats between Kelso and Coldstream and with Birgham Dub coming out best for the second week running with 8 fish also including the weeks largest an 18 pounder the most successful flies were lightly dressed 11/2” to 2” tubes of Willie Gunn, eternal optimist, black and yellow and in particular silver sheep all fished slow and deep in the 35 – 37 degree water, for spinners the successful baits were Blair spoons, zebra tobies and even black fly C’s and X raps
Although the conditions were difficult, anglers did have a fishable river for the entire week and could enjoy the sun and the approach of Spring, the first hatch of olives were feeding the black headed and common gulls, aconites and snowdrops were in full bloom and the first daffodils appeared at Rutherford Dub, willow catkins are swelling and mallard and oyster catchers starting to pair up
Water is now required to bring in some more new fish and move on the older ones, the barometer is now falling and some light rain and snow forecast , for Thursday, when the angler will be pleased with cloudy skies, but the wind will be an easterly and ‘taking’ conditions may not see much improvement
Fishing Reports Week Beginning 18th Feb
Feb 21st
After a few lovely sunny days last weekend, we thought it was the start of some good Spring weather, sadly it only lasted for 3 or 4 days, we are now back to cold over cast windy weather, the river is in very good order and there are fish being caught most days generally on fly, even though spinning has started now. The majority of fish are coming from beats around the Kelso area, no big fish yet so far this year but there is plenty of time for some of those bigger Springers we saw last year to arrive. Most popular fly patterns are black and yellow on 1” copper tubes either piglets or Roxburgh castle or tosh
River Reports for Week beginning 11th February
Feb 14th
After a few good days fishing with steady conditions the first this season, the river is playing up again this morning with the main river rising the Teviot rising and bringing lots of colour, making it very difficult for all beats below Teviot, at least spinning starts tomorrow so fishers will the chance of a cast, there seem to be a few fish around in the river with best chances between Coldstream and Kelso. Once again we just need some steady water and reasonable fishing conditions for catches to rise again.
River Reports Week beginning 5th Feb
Feb 5TH
Season started off on Friday 1st river was approx 6foot at Sprouston and filthy so only a few fishers ventured out, sadly for no returns, by Saturday the river had dropped and cleared and was a fishable colour by still high, we had a very heavy frost Saturday morning and bright sunny day, so a pleasant fishing day, the first fish and winner of our trophy was caught by Magnus Klintheim from the coach wynd on Lower Floors his first cast of the day fishing with head boatman Jim Smail, there were another two fish off Lower Floors later in the day caught by Magnuse’s colleagu’es from Sweden, the winning fish was caught on a garry dog fly
Feb 7th
The river was barely fishable yesterday due to higher coloured water and strong winds
The winds have died down a little today, not sure exactly what condition the river is in, I’m sure it will still be fairly high and carrying some colour, suitable flies will be 1” copper tubes black and yellow and German flag Snaelda thunder and lightning
Feb 8th
The river was just fishable yesterday, with semi gale force winds, Tweed regular Dr Phil Fairchild got Carham off the mark with a lovely 10lbs springer, a great achievement in not ideal conditions, the river is still dropping and clearing today and the wind has dropped so fingers crossed we should see a few more fish caught in the next few days, depending on the conditions. The forecast for Sunday and Monday is heavy snow showers, so keep an eye on weather conditions.
Feb 9th
Good day yesterday with 17 fish reported on fishtweed and others on tweedbeats, Sprouston was the top beat with 6 caught by messrs Bright and Watson, Upper North Walk had 4 and various others from other beats, it really was the first good fishable day so far this season, just goes to show what can happen when its fishable, good sign, Today is looking good so hopefully we will see some good numbers today and catches start to increase, it is still bitterly cold so remember to wrap up warm before venturing onto the bank
River Report Opening Week 2013
Jan 28th
Its amazing what a difference a few days can make we had the best part of a foot of snow at the end of last week and after a warmer weekend any trace of snow has totally disappeared, the river will be alot colder now and has already started to rise a little with snow melt water, we could really do with a dry week or so as the ground is totally saturated to keep the river at a fishable height and colour, the way its looking at the moment it will be medium sinkers for the off on Friday and smallish copper tubes black and yellow being the most popular choice.
Jan 29th
We have certainly been hit by the wind and rain predicted the river is well up again today hopefully it has peaked and will fall and clear in the next few days, giving fishers a bit more of a chance on Friday’s opening, it will certainly wet II and copper tubes on Friday, if the river stays coloured a bright fly may be the answer something like a thunder and lightning pot belly snaelda or a flame thrower
Fly of the month this month will be the Gaula howler on a 1.5” copper tube because of the high eater conditions this fly is mainly black and yellow with an under wing of white fox hair and a chartreuse hackle at the front and finished off with a jc cheek, the silver body adds a little something to this fly in coloured water. Very successful for Spring fish in Norway and will doubt become a classic here