Around 650 salmon could be the whole river score

Tweed’s salmon catches continue to mount, last week being elevated towards the end by both a rise in water and a sudden drop in water temperature to 46F, the lowest so far this autumn. Of the online total of 447 salmon, 136 were caught on Saturday alone. Both numbers will be considerably under the real whole river catch, rule of thumb maybe a third understated, so that anything around 650 salmon could be the whole river score when non-reporters are included.

As for next week, it was originally proposed by the weather folk that there could be much rain tonight (Sunday) and Monday, but now they think it will all go south of us. If so, the river will continue to drop as a high pressure settles in midweek, until it is summarily removed by some deepening lows towards the weekend.

Lennel

Another good week at Lennel with 38 and yet again a lot more lost. Our 300th fish of the season was caught on Tuesday in the Slap - and what a fish it was at 21lb (weighed). Wednesday was the best day of the week with 11 fish. Friday, a rise with coloured water came through the beat, and once it settled back down, rods fishing Saturday landed another 9 fish and probably lost the same amount. 

Tillmouth 

We finished on 47 for the week taking our tally to 448 fish, which is our best in 5 years. There are plenty of fish in our beats, including some great big lumps. Wednesday, 3 rods had 21 fish up to 21lb. Stuart Maughan had his best ever day finishing with 13 salmon. 

The Lees 

Anglers fishing the beat caught 65 fish last week. Catches in September were 228 and August 178 which takes our total to 526 fish, our best season in the last 5 years.    

South Wark 

Sam and Sandy Datta fishing South Wark, sent in this report. “We have had a wonderful few days on the South Wark Beat. A massive thanks to Craig, Ian, Ginger and Brian. I have to say well done to hubby for catching six this afternoon up to 18 pounds under the expert guidance of Ian.  Lower North Wark is currently at 265 fish and South Wark 177 fish. To book fishing please visit TweedBeats or contact Wark Estate Office. 

Lower Birgham

A different week, with colder mornings and lack of heat in the sun. During the last few weeks we have been catching a few less fish. I think there’s a couple of things at play at the moment. The first is that the river is steadily dropping, it's currently quite low for us, so fish are not able to continue on their journey as easily. The second is that we have plenty of fish in some of our pools. We have named nearly all of them,  they jump in the same place, maybe at the same time. And in all honesty they have probably already got themselves in the catch book, So why would they be fooled again into taking our tempting flies. I don’t see this as a negative though! We have fish! Maybe not as many as we are used to, or as many as some other beats who have a lot more fish in their pools. But we shouldn’t complain seeing between 20,30, sometimes 40 fish in a day, even though it can be frustrating to see so many and not get a pull. There’s no doubt they are there! So last week we caught fish into their high teens, including an 18lber and some small, pretty fresh sea trout. Most of the salmon were in their full colourful attire, which might not be sparkling silver and dripping with sea lice, but they look like they have a tale to tell at least. A whole range of flies and sink tips were used. 

Carham

This was a challenging week for a number of reasons. We have a good number of fish on the beat, but due to some harsh weather conditions and the fish behaving in a fickle manner, we struggled at times.

Monday, with 5" on the gauge and 55F water temp we landed 6 salmon to 16lb, and lost as many. Tuesday, at 4" and 54F water temp only 1 fish was landed, the beat seemed unusually quiet for some reason despite the good conditions. Wednesday, we were at 4" and 52F water temp and 3 fish landed. On Thursday strong NE winds up to 40 mph made fishing incredibly difficult, we gave it a go, but we touched nothing, the river was a 6" on the gauge and 50F water temp. Friday, we were at 1'6" and 49F water temp, 1 salmon, 1 grilse and a sea trout were landed. Saturday, we were at 10" and 47F water temp. This was one of those days where nothing stuck with contact made with at least 8 fish, but nothing was landed. Floating or hover lines with sinking tips fished with 0.5" - 1.25" sized tubes have worked well for us again. 

Hendersyde 

We started the week with horrendous winds blowing upstream, which is never ideal. Fortunately, in the more sheltered pools, rods connected with resident fish. On Thursday evening, a small rise brought some colour to the river, and although conditions were tough, seeing fish inspired rods to keep going. Unfortunately, Friday remained a blank day despite our efforts—luck just wasn’t with us. Saturday turned things around. With clearing water and more willing fish, we managed to land 5. The highlight of the day was a young lad catching his first salmon. By the end of the week, we had landed a mixture of salmon and grilse—19 in total, with at least as many more hooked but lost. Cascade tubes and Frances patterns did the business. This year has been the best August/September since 2019, with 158 fish so far.

Boleside

The week started with low water, the river at -1 on the gauge, the lowest it had been all year. Despite the tough conditions, we still managed to land 2 salmon on Monday and 1 on Tuesday. Much-needed rain on Thursday raised the river by 11 inches, improving the flow and moving fish into the beat. We landed 3, with John Meldrum leading the action, taking 2 salmon from the Gardenback on a conehead Cascade. Saturday saw even more success, with 6 fish landed. Rob Parry had a good day, catching 3 salmon between 4lb and 12lb, while Kevin Jones was rewarded with a 7lb fish after persistent effort—all taken on a Red Francis Conehead paired with a T3 sink tip. This brought our total to 13 for the week. As the water has dropped again, anglers will need to vary their methods to continue catching in these changing conditions.

Catches

For a comprehensive view of catches, visit the River Tweed website, Fishing Section. If you are viewing the catches page on a mobile phone, please view the page in landscape mode for the best experience.

Become a Friend of the Tweed Foundation

Support the Foundation's work, from species monitoring to habitat enhancement across the Tweed District. Our education program promotes a better understanding of the ecosystem of the river and angling participation for all. Please get in touch with Anne to find out how you can become a Friend of the Tweed Foundation.

Newsletter

Don't forget to sign up for the River Tweed newsletter and follow our social media pages at River Tweed News for the latest updates from the River Tweed Commission, Tweed Foundation, TweedStart, and fishing news.

Tight lines

Anne Woodcock

Email anne@tweedfoundation.org.uk

Mobile 07540 834852

The Tweed Foundation Annual Auction will go live in November. If you would like to donate an auction lot to support the work of the foundation and education program, TweedStart, please email anne@tweedfoundation.org.uk