Angling Diary

a wee writeup in the Southern this week ...

http://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/news/local-headlines/fishing-for-trout-information-1-2283894

A high river means fishing probably only possible on the Upper Tweed above Lynefoot and some of the Upper Tributaries

Good hatches now through the afternoon and into the evening. This is the best month for Trout fishing on the Tweed, so best make the most of it! Less March Browns and Dark Olives, more Iron Blues and the start of Olive Uprights, which are one of the common flies on the river.  Trout can now be caught in the evening, even when it is quite cold.  Good results from the Kelso competition last weekend, with the winning catch of 11 Trout over 8" by a certain Mr Glass.

Looks like difficult fishing conditions this weekend. High, dirty water on the middle and lower beats of the Tweed + a fair bit of wind. Large Trout still being caught and fly hatches should start to drift into the late afternoon in the next few weeks to allow fishing after work. Annan fishing day tomorrow for quality Trout fishing (see previous post for details).

A wee Trout from the Tweed. 71 cm, around 6 lbs, caught by one of the resident experts. This is the best time of year to catch these fish before they start feeding on Minnows and stop coming to surface

The Tweed Trout season has got off to a flier with some exceptional catches. One well known angler had 19 takeable fish on the first day of the season at Boswells and there have been a number of other reports of catches greater than 10 fish.  My only trip out amounted to two takeable Trout but i lost quite a number as well and with more skill I would have caught more.  There are also some very large Trout over 60 cm being caught as well. I've included several very interesting pictures of a Trout caught in the Tweed District, first in 2010 at 20" and then again in 2012 at 24" in almost the same spot. The identical marking prove it is the same fish.  It has put on about 2lbs in this time.

The Riverfly Partnership is carrying out a National March Brown Survey and needs records of March Brown hatches from anglers. The March Brown Rhithrogena germanica is one of the UK's most iconic Upwinged flies and is of great interest and importance to anglers. It is in decline and is under threat across Europe, however the UK may be a stronghold. Please help the Riverfly partnership understand our March Browns better by recording your sightings at www.riverflies.org

March Brown nymphs live in freestone rivers and streams and hatches mostly take place in March and April, mostly concentrated around midday. The adults, seen in the pictures above and below, can be distinguished from similar Upwinged flies by their mottled wings and most significantly by the presence of a dark spot on the femur of all legs which can be just about seen on the picture below. Two similar, but slightly larger, Upwinged flies, the Large Brook and False March Brown, which also hatch at similar times do not have this spot on their legs.

Not the most convenient starts to the Tweed Trout season, being a Sunday.  Daily hatches are in full swing now and Anglers that have fished the club waters that open in mid March have done well, despite the bright sunshine. Don't forget the Annan Trout day on Saturday - with overcast skies, some big Brownies should get caught on the dry fly.

The Trout season has started on Tweed, in parts. Kenny has already picked up a few good Trout on the Whiteadder, which seems to be benefit from milder, lowland conditions. There were quite a few fish rising, but very spooky indeed.  We were out on the river on Saturday and Sunday on the main Tweed and despite the mild conditions all week, not a single rise was seen. Perhaps another week needed before we see better hatches and slightly warmer water.

Saturday (10/03/2012) saw me fishing for Grayling on the River Annan with Trooter as part of a catch record collection day organised by River Annan District Salmon Fishery Board Director Nick Chisholm. I always look forward to fishing the Annan and for those of us who mainly fish rivers for non-migratory fish it is without doubt one of the the best Brown Trout and Grayling waters in Scotland and punches well above its weight with some huge Brown Trout and Grayling recorded each year (although I hear it's pretty good for migratory fish as well). Trooter and I were given the St Mungo's beat for the day and on arrival the fishing conditions were pretty good.

We both started off on a czech. nymph set up fished with a French Nymph leader (for extra reach). However we both struggled to get the weight right and although we both lost fish we ended the morning fishless.

Around lunchtime we took a walk down towards the bottom of the beat and found a nice run on a corner which produced instant results (in fact most of the fish we caught on the day came from this one run). By now I had changed to fishing tungsten nymphs under a "bung" fly while Trooter continued on the Czech. Nymph type set up.

The run produced nine Grayling and Brown Trout in total, five to Trooter and four for myself.

Trooter took four Grayling (40cm, 40cm, 32cm & 11cm) and one out of season trout parr (16.5cm), whilst I took two Grayling (24cm & 13cm) and two out of season trout (32cm & 23cm). We also lost three fish as well (two for Trooter and one for me).

Scale samples were taken from the Brown Trout as part of the Celtic Sea Trout project which the River Annan is participating in.

We moved again after the productive run had been fished out but only one more fish was caught (a 22cm out of season trout caught by myself).

We finished the day with 10 fish between us, six Grayling and four out of season trout (five fish each, although Trooter's were bigger and he did catch more Grayling which was the target species after all). All in all a pretty decent day (although the Annan can produce a lot more if you get a really good day) and I can't wait to get back to fish the Annan again at some point.

Finally, as mentioned at the start this was a day set up to provide catch records for the river and as such there were a number of other anglers participating as well, some of whom caught very large out of season Brown Trout including one at 57cm and one at 58cm (both probably well over 4lb).

Not quite a 'viral' site yet, but we're plugging away! Please let me know how you're getting on with the site as we will use your feedback for making future improvements (you can use the contacts page). It would be nice to see a few more circles on the map in different parts of the country. I will add my circles to the Outer Hebrides in June when i'm on holiday. And remember, you can add your fishing trips abroad as well.

1 month now to the Trout season. I've tied all of 1 fly in preparation - the Tweed gingler - a simple dry fly of grey partridge & cock hackle and a thread body. The more tattered and beaten up, the better. Let's hope for good conditions this Spring as last year there was hardly a day in 2 months without bright sunshine and strong winds. i'm getting the excuses in early!