I always try and get a few days salmon fishing on the Tweed towards the end of the season and this year managed to convince my friend Andy to join me. We booked three days fishing on a beat at Traquair for the Thursday, Friday and Saturday – though Andy unfortunately couldn’t get on Traquair on the Saturday so fished Glenormiston instead.
As is usual for a fishing trip, we watched the fishing reports and river levels on the fishtweed web-site prior to our visit and also kept a careful eye on the weather forecast. It was with mixed feelings we set off on Thursday morning as, although two fish had been caught from the beat on Monday, nothing else was reported and heavy wind and rain was forecast for Friday and Saturday.
Now, as a salmon fisherman(!) the one thing you want at the back-end is water in the river – especially after such a long dry spell. However, the forecast was for Biblical proportions of the wet and windy stuff – certainly not good for spey casting and not good for water conditions!
We arrived late due to a road closure but were informed by Rufus the ghillie that conditions were good with a foot of steady water on. The Traquair fishery is split into three approx one mile long beats with the top beat being beat one (single bank, right) and the other 2 beats both being double bank. We were instructed to fish beat one until lunch and then swap to beat two after. As we only had 2 hours due to our late arrival it was a toss of a coin so Andy fished the lower part and I the upper part. I thought I was just going through the motions, exploring the river and getting my spey casting out of rust and cobwebs before getting into the fishing in the afternoon – and so it proved to be ……… for me!
At lunch-time I wandered down to meet Andy so we could drive to the middle (2) beat for the afternoon session. I was both amazed and excited to learn that not only had Andy caught a salmon, but he had lost one as well – on a new fishery (to us) within 2 hours of starting.
Andy then stated matter of factly that he was “only here for the beer” and that the fish were a bonus. I was to hear this statement several more times during the trip. My confidence was now greatly elevated and I couldn’t wait for the afternoon and beat 2. Beat 2 was also the best beat in terms of fish returns, scenery and water (number of and quality of pools).
Andy continued to fish brilliantly through Thursday and soon after starting on beat 2 had his second fish of the day – at 9.5lbs a personal best as well. I was still struggling with my fishing, and especially my casting, but I fished on following Andy down beat 2. At the end of the beat Andy circled back to start at the top of the beat and I continued down.
Later in the afternoon I phoned Andy who informed me he had caught another fish and lost a much larger one! I was incredibly pleased for Andy but was getting increasingly frustrated with my own fishing – especially knowing that today’s conditions were possibly the best we were going to encounter – and the fact that he continued to state “I’m only here for the beer!!”.
Eventually at last light and following some advice from the salmon fishing forum members, I decided to fish the top of the “riffly” water between 2 pools with a “white wing” fly. My perseverance paid off and I duly landed a lightly coloured cock salmon of about 9 pounds. I wasn’t “only here for the beer” but now I was going to have some!
We both celebrated that night with more beer and more malt than we should have but what the hell – to both catch on day one of a salmon trip on a new beat was a great result and I would have gone home happy. Andy caught three and lost two – I’ve only ever managed one fish in a day whilst salmon fishing.
Day 2 dawned with hangovers and bright sunny conditions. Where was the rain? A few checks on BBC and Metcheck showed the rain wouldn’t reach us until 3pm and the river level checks showed the river had dropped 3″ to +9″. We were to fish beat 3 (bottom beat) until lunch on day 2 and then start again on beat 1 in the afternoon.
We both really struggled on day 2 and the conditions were not in our favour. The river continued to slowly fall and the skies were clear and bright. Beat 3 especially needed water as the pools were long, deep and slow and full of leaves. The forecast rain never materialised and we both went back to the hotel fishes. I wasn’t too down-hearted as I only expected (hoped) to catch 1 fish during the trip but we were both incredibly tired and after a meal and only a few pints we retired to bed.
All night we kept checking the forecast and looking out of the windows but no rain was forthcoming. The early week forecasts had the rain coming in on Thursday night/Friday morning – Thursday’s forecast suggested mid-afternoon Friday. Friday’s forecast suggested late Saturday and the reality was ……… about 9pm Saturday! But even this was not as heavy as expected and the river levels were only slightly increased on Sunday morning. It wasn’t until Sunday night that the levels reached those Biblical proportions – but even then Noah might have struggled to sail far. As I write now the levels are about perfect at 1.5 to 2 foot above.
So Saturday morning was dry, bright and mild – again! Andy dropped me off on beat 2 and he drove off to fish Glenmoriston. I decided (as I was first there) to fish the bridge pool on the bottom of the beat first as 2 fish had been caught there previously. The pool was full of fish but I couldn’t get a pull. By this time I was fishing well with my fly presented properly at the right level and swinging around nicely. This all adds to the enjoyment of salmon fishing and it also raises the confidence.
After fishing the bridge pool I was able to make my way right to the top of the beat where Andy had landed one and lost one on Thursday. This water was beautiful and from what I could tell not fished that much. I assume as it was quite a walk and you had to wade across to fish it that some people didn’t bother.
It was probably about 11am when I had a strong pull that just kept going and going. I had the fish on for about 10 minutes and clearly saw it when it went past me – at speed! It was obviously a good fish and you can imagine my despair when the hook pulled and all I saw was a disappearing vortex! Gutted is not the word. I have never lost a salmon like that before – I have had salmon pulls that have taken some line and shed the hook after a few seconds but never one that was firmly hooked for a good few minutes.
Assuming that was it for the day (and the visit) I fished on, more in hope than expectation. I was hooking leaves on almost every second cast and, although fishing well was not expecting more action. About an hour later that all changed when I hooked another fish that led me a merry dance. You can imagine how nervously and cautiously I played that fish. The river had somehow risen by an inch or two by now and the leaves were becoming a nightmare. Every time I lifted the rod, the line between rod and fish looked like a washing line. As I lifted higher, the debris would slide down towards the fish and put my heart in my mouth.
Eventually I got the fish into the bank and was able to tail it onto the grassy bank-side. I was elated. Not a massive salmon but definitely a personal best. I was desperate to weigh and photograph the fish as quickly as possible so it could go on it’s merry way to complete it’s spawning ritual, as my first fish had taken fully 20 minutes to recover. I lay my rod parallel to the bank behind the fish and pulled my self up onto the grass to do the necessary. As I reached for the camera the fish flipped, slipped down the bank and into the water. As I tried to turn and grab the fish, with my back to the water, my footing gave way and I literally back-flipped into the river with the fish! Fortunately I quickly righted myself and only managed a pint or two down the back of my waders – the fish was lying still and I was able to man-handle her back to the bank.
Weighing and photographing were duly accomplished and a new personal best of 11lb exactly was recorded. The fish swam off strongly after only a few minutes and I lay on the grass with a big smile on my face. I might still be there had Andy not phoned at that moment – he had caught nothing but was very happy for me and we both shared a laugh and a joke – after all he was “only here for the beer”!
The rest of the trip passed without incident although I did get another strong pull in the afternoon. I still have a smile on my face and am busy planning my next trip.
Phil Houghton
