A quiet week across the catchment with rain and strong winds affecting fishing. 

A quiet week across the catchment.  Rainfall from Tuesday afternoon onwards meant that Wednesday and Thursday was a washout for many beats on the river, with high and coloured water coming in from most of the tributaries.The river finished on around 200  fish. 

This week we caught up with Tom Davis,  head ghillie on Lower Birgham Beat and  angler Mary Deakin who was presented with the 2023 Malloch Trophy for her 31lb salmon caught on the beat.  Watch the video to find out more about the fish of a lifetime that won her the prestigious trophy.  

She becomes the fourth woman ever to win the Malloch Trophy. Her triumph shines a light on the growing presence and accomplishments of female anglers in what has traditionally been a male-dominated sport.

Lennel 

Quieter week for us with 5 fish with conditions were against us. Monday we caught three fish all from the Craw with two on a full floating line and a small hitch tube coming across the surface, whilst the other took a heavier black Francis. Tuesday produced two fish with one from the Craw and the other from the slap. The river started rising from Tuesday afternoon and didn't really stop all week. That’s 371 fish for the season so far.

Lower Birgham

A quiet week, Monday and Tuesday the water was unsettled and the wind was strong. Rainfall from Tuesday afternoon onwards meant that Wednesday and Thursday was a washout for many beats on the river, with high and coloured water coming in from most of the tributaries. Friday when the river settled to a fishable height rods were able to have a cast, by Saturday the river had risen and was coloured.  

Carham

Monday, we started the week with 6" on the gauge and 50f water temp. No fish were caught despite the good water conditions. Tuesday, we were at 6" and 50f water temp. Again no fish were caught. Wednesday, we were at 3'6" on the gauge. The river was unfishable due to the previous days rain. Thursday, we were at 3'7" and still very coloured, so we didn't fish. Friday, we were at 1'11" and 45f water temp. The river was still pretty coloured, but we did manage a fish of 15lb in the afternoon. Saturday, we were at 1'6" and 46f water temp. We managed 1 fish in the afternoon. Monday and Tuesday were challenging for the anglers due to the North Easterly winds, however we did see good numbers of fish showing, but they wouldn't take. On Friday and Saturday we had better conditions, South Westerly winds and a dropping river, however, we didn't see many fish showing which made me think the fish we had on the beat have now moved on. Skagit lines with 6 and 3 ips tips and monkey flies were the successful combination. Cheers Lee.

Hendersyde

Week commencing Monday 30th September. We started off the week with a great day on Monday with 11 fish, the biggest at 18 pounds. The water was clear and the fish were still keen to come for a dressed fly on a floating line. That changed as the week progressed and we found we had to go down to them a bit more. Still using floating lines with a conehead Frances about all they would look at apart from the odd one on a Willie Gun. Both rods had sport all week with one guest having his best days fishing with 7 to his rod on Friday and an 18 pounder amongst them. We ended the week with 35 fish,  a mixture of Salmon and grilse, mostly older fish but still the odd silver fish among them. 

Boleside 

A difficult week on the river for personal reasons this week after taking a fall onto some rocks and ending up in hospital. I would like to thank all those involved in my care and messages of support and hopefully I will be back on the river very soon. On the fishing side we had 13 for the week with low water dominating on Monday and Tuesday and then the rain on Wednesday giving us a much needed boost. A Special mention this week to  Jacob Posch from Austria who, having lost a couple of good fish earlier in the week, finally held onto a 10lber in the Boat Pool on a black and orange tube. Saturday was the most productive day of the week with 4 landed. Some rain this afternoon has seen the Ettrick rise and should ensure the water is a good height for Monday. As with previous weeks the rods that are prepared to mix and match their tactics will be the most successful.

Horsbrugh

With low water at the start of the week, only one sea trout was caught. Long needed rain midweek produced a modest rise in levels. Wednesday was a bit dirty with lots of debris early on. Not surprisingly nothing was caught but Thursday produced a couple of fish 17lb & 15lb. On Friday the water was dropping back quite quickly but there were still a few fish pushing forward. We ended up with 3. The largest 14lb was especially memorable, as it was a young angler (Jordy Renwick) second ever salmon. He then went on to lose a larger fish later in the day. Saturday the water had dropped back to 9”. Only one fish landed with a couple lost. The water rose again slightly on Saturday evening but it was only 11” on Sunday morning. We are back to doing rain dances again, as we really need a good lift to keep the fish moving forward. Although there are big numbers of fish spread throughout the whole system, with so many fish still in the lower river in mid October, it is looking likely that we will still be seeing good numbers of fish moving into the upper river in November this year.

Catches

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

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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