Difficult week

The river has slowly fined down from well over 2 feet at the start of the week to about 1' 6" this weekend. On the face of it, we have had perfect conditions, plenty of water, good clarity and generally good weather. Most importantly there are lots of fish about, ranging from spanking clean fish to older coloured fish.

However, despite this, we have only had 6 fish banked this week. Most other upper beats have fared no better, with our lower neighbours Glenormiston and Traquair taking 6 fish also. Well down river, the reports are similar. The Lees report extremely high numbers of fish around, but that they are proving poor takers and hard to catch.

We have had some very good fishers out towards the end of this week and they have struggled - very frustrating, but the fish will undoubtedly 'switch' back on again. Water and air temperatures are still relatively mild for mid October, so perhaps when the temperatures drop a few degrees, the fish may come back on the take.

Water prospects are good for the coming week, sitting at around 1' 5", a slow sink tip is all that is required with a small bottle tube or dressed double.