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MAGAZINE Running the numbers on the king of salmon rivers

As the new season gets under way on Tweed, still Britain’s most prolific fishery, Colin Bradshaw looks forward and back, analysing catch returns and revealing the top-ranking beats month by month

SALMON fishing is always a they move upstream. During the gamble and the fisher should dry season of 2003, Ladykirk never be short of an excuse to fishers more than doubled their soften the anxiety of a blank day. normal tally for a season, catch- But where can a fisher go to in- ing over 1,000 salmon. crease the odds in his favour? Let During August the prolific us study the form books. runs of autumn salmon on Tweed Catch statistics have never been begin. It is time to return to Hen- more accessible because of the ex- dersyde, where you can expect cellent websites produced by Fish- 21 fish per rod. For a slightly . They include FishTay, greater challenge try Sprouston FishDee, FishSpey,FishEsks, Fish- or West Learmouth, which aver- Hebrides and FishAnnan—but as age 16 fish,or Ladykirk,which may Tweed continues to be the most give 11 (but more in low water). prolific fishery in the British Isles, If you are fishing Hendersyde it is to FishTweed that we turn. or Sprouston in August,then stay Tweed is a wonderful river and where you are for September. a fine example of how a salmon Hendersyde is top with 37 salmon, fishery should be run.Great river- followed by Sprouston,West Lear- basin management, superb beats mouth, Dub and Lees, with every facility, knowledge- which all expect catches of a fish able ghillies and fishing opportu- per rod per day during the month. nities at all income levels com- In October,Tweed hits seasonal bine to make it the star of highs and the best monthly return Britain’s salmon rivers, shining on the whole river is recorded. as brightly as its crystal-clear West Learmouth, near Cold- waters.And by analysing Tweed stream, yields on average 44 fish catch returns data we can list the per rod during this month. This beats which,on average,offer the short single-bank beat is prolific greatest chance of catching a and is said to give off more salmon, month by month. salmon per yard of bank than any If Tweed is the king of salmon other on Tweed (and probably in rivers, the beats in and around Scotland). Other generous beats Kelso are the jewels in the crown. in October are Birgham Dub,Hen- These waters consistently offer dersyde,Sprouston and Lees,each the best chance of hooking a Into an autumn producing nearly 40 fish per rod. salmon. Indeed Sprouston (right salmon at Upper With few rivers open in No- bank) and Hendersyde (left Hendersyde, one vember,Tweed continues to reign bank, opposite), which alternate of the jewels in supreme.This month is of course with one another to provide dou- Tweed’s crown. when Upper Tweed comes into

ble-bank fishing for their rods, WILLIAM B CURRIE play, with the best beats of Sun- are the top performing beats in derland Hall and Fairnlee eight of the season’s 10 months. Sprouston is second with yielding some 10 fish per Sprouston is generous in spring 14, and the lovely fly water In 100 miles of river, less than rod. But again those Tweed and claims top spot throughout of Upper Floors starts to beats around Kelso give the February, March and April. Its show its form with 12. three miles take the prize for greatest chance of hooking two rods can each expect to catch In June even Tweed being most generous. Why? a salmon.Hendersyde is top eight, 19 and 18 fish respectively takes a downturn, but Hen- with 40 fish per rod, fol- during these months. Hender- dersyde continues to lead lowed by Upper Mertoun syde comes a close second in the way with nine. Boleside, a Ladykirk,near the foot of Tweed, (39), Sprouston (38),West Lear- February and April, but is pip- fine beat at the junction with the and Tillmouth share top spot mouth (35) and South Wark (32). ped for second place by the fa- Ettrick, comes joint second with with nine fish per rod, followed When one considers the ‘9 till mous Junction in March. Upper Mertoun, both with six by Tweedhill with seven. 5’ and ‘fly only’ approach taken In the glorious month of May, fish. In July the grilse arrive but In a hot, dry July, Ladykirk by most Tweed beats, these fig- considered by many to offer the the low river levels of summer can be prolific as grilse and ures are excellent. Furthermore, very pinnacle of sport, Hender- generally keep them in the lower salmon come in on the tide and they clearly show that in 100 1 syde is our choice with an aver- Tweed below Coldstream and gather in great numbers, waiting miles of river, just 2 /2 miles in- age catch of 19 salmon per rod. the catch statistics reflect this. for higher river levels before cluding Sprouston and Hender-

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MAGAZINE

The ’s lovely fly water at Upper Floors begins to show its form in May.

syde stand out as the most gener- Lowering the odds:Tweed, month by month those fish that, for reasons of ous,per rod,on the river.But why? their own, remain in the pool for Sprouston’s owner, Michael Month Top performing beat Fish per rod, per month longer periods. Perhaps many of Miller, considers that many fac- these fish are destined for the tors are at work, each playing its Feb Sprouston 8 Teviot—which joins Tweed a lit- part as the season progresses and Mar Sprouston 19 tle way upstream—and hold here conditions change. First, there Apr Sprouston 18 while they wait for their final au- must be fish to catch.This stretch May Hendersyde 19 tumn dash. Others have reached of water is a natural resting place Jun Hendersyde 9 their destination:they are here to for salmon,so fish are in the beat Jul Ladykirk 9 spawn on the big reaches of grav- from the first day of the season Aug Hendersyde 21 el on the beat, a welcome annual to the last. Its pools are many Sep Hendersyde 37 spectacle for Sprouston’s head and varied and provide natural Oct West Learmouth 44 ghillie, David Carnegie. holding areas in all heights and Nov Hendersyde 40 Of prime importance to catch temperatures of water. statistics is of course the amount Salmon pause when they reach Tweed beat performance for the season as a whole of fishing,and the water available a steep gradient, and rest after Rank Beat Fish per rod, per season to each rod. On Sprouston, two running this gauntlet. Sprous- rods share more than a mile of ton’s two best holding pools are 1 Hendersyde 203 double-bank water and each rod classic examples of how this can 2 Sprouston 197 fishes from a boat handled by an work. The Sprouston Dub is a 3West Learmouth 153 experienced and knowledgeable large expanse of water that can 4 Birgham Dub 150 ghillie. Thus they can cover the hold many fish after they have as- 5Junction 135 likely water very effectively. cended the long series of fast- 6The Lees 130 Not surprisingly, there is no water steps below. This steep, 7 Upper Mertoun 112 shortage of rods keen to fish narrow sequence of caulds, fast 8 Upper Floors 111 Sprouston or Hendersyde,and as water and small pools makes in- 9Tillmouth 111 most of these fishers are regular teresting fishing—but it is where 10 100 tenants they are familiar with the the river levels off and fans out to water and eager to fish it. With form the glorious and prolific fly weekly lets booked years in ad- water of the Cottage Pool that ¶ The ‘fish per rod’ value is calculated from the beat’s salmon catch average vance, maximum fishing activity many salmon are caught. over the last five years, divided by the number of rods that can fish the beat is assured, and with all the natur- This pool is also a natural rest- at one time. It assumes maximum effort by available rods—although some al advantages (and perhaps some ing place for fish that have run beats may not have been fished to full capacity.Method of fishing and length friendly opposite-bank rivalry) the the fast water at Birgham Dub of fishing day have not been taken into consideration within this analysis; result is that these two beats form downstream. These running fish neither have catches on Tweed beats not represented by FishTweed. the top-ranking stretch of Britain’s share the beat with ‘residents’— top-ranking salmon river. ■

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