Report from 12-25th October

We have again been plagued by low water since the last report, the guage barely managed above 7" from 12th October to 22nd October. A welcome rise of about 1' 6" freshened things up on Saturday 23rd October, although the rise rather spoiled fishing that day. Despite the good numbers of fish about, I still maintain that we need a 'proper' flood, ie one of at least 3-4' and sustained over a day or two, to clear things out and get some of those big, fresher, true autumn fish up from the middle/lower river.

Despite the conditions, fish still keep coming. Phil Howard was delighted to catch his first ever fish, a 4lb grilse, yesterday. Phil was fishing with Drew Bain, who also had a 10lb fish as did his father Iain who had a 12 pounder. Iain has had 4 fish in the last 10 days, and one day hooked 6 fish, but none were banked!

Phil with his first ever salmon


Other successes include 2 fish of 10lb and 6lb taken by Graeme Sutherland,a 10lb fish to regular Charlie McGhee, Graeme Dea with a fish of 12lb and Iain Bain's friend Andy taking a fish of 7lb.

Graeme Sutherland's 6lb fish


Hopefully we will have more successes to report this coming week.

Riverbank grub

It has been a quiet week since Monday 4 October. Water levels have been inching down by the day making conditions more challenging, although fish are there. John Goold and his son won the AST auction bid for 3 days fishing on Cardrona. They also had the option of fishing Horsbrugh (the opposite bank) and were ably guided by Kenny Annand. We heard that they ended up with one salmon and one sea trout, off Horsbrugh, so congratulations to them both, as we believe the salmon was a 'first'.

Iain Bain managed to save the week with a 12 pounder off Cardrona on Friday evening.

Of course, there is more to fishing than catching fish, we spotted this strange caterpillar munching on some riparian leaves, doing its bit for bank maintenance. A quick email to our moth specialist identified it as Deilephila elpenor, or a large elephant hawkmoth to you and me......

Week summary report

An average to good week, with 8 salmon and 5 sea trout reported since Monday - best salmon was 12lb and best sea trout 5lb. We've had two rises in water this week which has kept new fish coming in, and prospects seem excellent at the moment. There are a fair mix of fish around, from grilse through to fish well into double figures. Some with various autumnal hues, and a few fresher ones.With no major rain due this week, an intermediate tip will get the fly down to the right depth.