I decided to get my 2011 year off to a flier by heading off down Crawford way a couple of days before Hogmanay! ( just of the M74 for non locals, south of Abington) to fish the stretch from the very upper limit of UCAPA water at the Telford Bridge.

Telford Bridge for those who don’t know- and I have to say I count myself in that group until recently, is the old bridge that crosses the river on the old A74 about 2 miles or so South of Crawford.

You can park in a sort of layby come quarry entrance. It’s a bit of a crap hole of a place as it looks likeloads of HGVs park up their and the driver dump all their waste ( and bodily waste!-really!) over the barrier at the side of the road. There is a narrow track/gully that leads down to the river from here.

A revelation here is at the bottom where there is a small very old cemetery for workers  I am led to believe mainly Irish navvies) killed in the construction of the road or railway in the 19th Century. A very interesting spot and worthy of a little respect. Each grave is marked by a small stone. The whole plot is surrounded by a chain link fence and a plaque in the wall.

This Google Map shows the location:
View Telford Bridge, Crawford in a larger map
The weather has been pretty cold for the last month and sections of the river have been totally frozen, but I was hoping for the recent thaw to have helped a bit. On a previous visit, I had failed to get a fish but had had one or two possible knocks.

My visit to the Clyde was eventful really for the large icebergs that kept appearing or breaking off some of the surface ice in this section.

I don’t mean small icebergs- we are talking seriously large- ie. the length of a small coach and probably as heavy. You really would not want to be hit by one of these- and so I spent a lot of time watching my back.

The water was quite coloured- almost like dark tea, you could not see the bottom in 2 feet or more of water. Add to this I stupidly left my wading stick in the house- I thought I had it then found I never on opening my wading kit bag. Duh.

I figured it was going to be a dead loss but decided it was a day out and to persevere anyway. The river was running at a good pace for Grayling I felt and the depth of the river was not bad at all, albeit a bit dodgy wading without a staff. I did manage to locate a nice “ledge mid water and worked my way right down to roughly where the water became a bit rocky and rougher- you can see this on the map.

There were one or two features that look to be possibly worth exploring when the trout season is upon us and the dry fly is working- or at least conventional longline techniques. On this day I was bugging (Czech Nymphing), never touched a fish but the weather while a bit grey and dank stayed dry and no wind to speak of so other than a little cold feet- resolved by getting out and having a cuppa, it was fine for the time I spent there. I tried a few different “bugs” but never touched a fish the whole time- probably too cold, fast and not deep enough here given the conditions.