Heavy rainfall has disrupted angling across the Tweed catchment for salmon and trout during March and April. 

Andrew Douglas Home reported on TweedBeats “Without the benefit of March‘s precise rainfall figure, the 6 months since October have produced more rain here than some whole years. Thanks to McGregor Farms’ excellent records for Coldstream, we know that the annual average here is just shy of 28 inches, a figure likely to be exceeded by the time we get to the end of April”

Last week anglers were faced with limited opportunities to fish due to rising river levels, fast currents and water clarity. 

Lower North Wark rods caught 2 fish last week taking their season-to-date to 13, which equals last year and is better than the previous 3 years. Lower North Wark is located approximately 2 miles upstream of Coldstream Bridge on the Scottish side of the Tweed between Birgham and Coldstream.

Lower Birgham below Carham beat have reported 9 fish, with 6 of them caught in March. 

Carham Beat, approximately halfway between Kelso and Coldstream, caught their 7th fish on the 2nd week of March, since then the river has been extremely unsettled. 

Birghan Dub has reported 12 fish so far and Sprouston is on 23 fish. 

Anglers and boatmen have endured a frustrating month as persistent rain continues to hamper fishing activities. 

John Kitchingham of Hendersyde beat noted an above-average presence of double-figure fish despite the challenging conditions.

So far this season Junction rods have caught 50 fish. March highlights include a fish of a lifetime for Wendy Dawson at 27lb on Monday 18th March, under the guidance of boatman Ryan Morison. 

2nd boatman Gavin Brown said “Fishing has been hard with high winds and levels fluctuating. Today 12th April, the river is coloured and currently 3 feet on the Junction gauge. Heavy showers are forecast and wind speeds up to 45mph”. 

Beats upstream of Kelso have reported 29 reported fish. Considering those beats not reporting on FishPal or TweedBeats, the actual count might be closer to 50 plus fish.

Bemersyde, Tweedswood and Lower Pavilion have caught their first fish. Rachel Leyshon fishing Boleside Beat caught their first salmon at 8lb and Craig Hood their first sea trout. 

Anglers fishing the Whiteadder enjoyed relatively favourable fishing conditions, resulting in four fish, taking their season to date to 17 fish. 

River Tweed Conditions on 12th April: Upper Tweed Peebles 3 feet and rising. Ettrick is rising. The river is rising on the Teviot, Junction is 3 foot on the gauge. After falling Sprouston and Norham are both on the rise. 

Photograph TweedStart Young Ambassador Cam Hogarth on the Upper Tweed with his mum and dad trying out his new fishing equipment - read more.

Photograph. The river was in flood yesterday and Tweed Boatman, Gavin Brown, joined John Hood to teach young people fly tying at Chatton Trout Fishery on a TweedStart Introduction to Fishing Day, in conjunction with Coldstream & District Angling Association. Ben McCallum, TweedStart Education Officer is pictured outside Chatton Trout Fishery with the young people. 

This year's Ladies Charity Fishing Days will be raising money for the Tweed Foundation and TweedStart. 

Scheduled dates include May 31st at Tweedswood and June 1st at Carham Beat. Additionally, the Boathouse & Canny Beat will host events on July 12th and 13th.

Please contact Anne for more information and to book a place.

With the first contested election for the Chief Commissioner position in the history of The River Tweed Commission, Jonathan Reddin was elected by Tweed Commissioners, taking over from the previous chairman, Peter Straker-Smith. 

Originating from Lancashire, Jonathan is a passionate salmon angler and regularly fishes on the Lower and Middle Tweed. Ted Innes Ker joins Jonathan as deputy

Based on a manifesto paper for a 21st-century global salmon ‘stronghold’, Jonathan promises to lead a governance and management review of the RTC, Tweed Foundation and the working relationship with other organisations.

After his first month, Jonathan commented:-

“Ted and I were elected on the mandate of an alternative way forward and the status quo was not the answer. It’s less than four weeks since the election and work has started on implementing our manifesto. A significant part of this is much closer alignment and re-engagement across all areas of Salmon Conservation both locally and across the rest of Scotland and the UK.

In my first month, our new committee held its first meeting, I have met with The Tweed Forum to discuss stronger working relations, met counterparts at the FMS conference and started a review of the Tweed management structure. 

We are seeking deeper engagement with all Tweed stakeholders and there will be more to come on this front. There are no easy answers or quick fixes. Salmon are classed as endangered. The same classification as Gorillas. All we can do is work as hard and effectively as possible to mitigate the factors causing the issues. I am encouraged by what I have heard from other organisations. Lots can be done to help alleviate the situation.

We have a great team at Drygrange and are fortunate to have the expertise and work of the Tweed Forum which is already doing great things in the catchment.

Without a doubt, greater engagement and sharing of knowledge, as well as leveraging the lobbying power of one of the greatest Salmon Rivers in the world, will make a difference.

I am mindful of something Machiavelli said, “where the willingness is great the difficulties cannot be great”.