The River Tweed is renowned as a top Trout, Grayling and Salmon river throughout Scotland, the UK and probably the World.
I was fishing the Peebleshire Trout Fishing Association waters at Walkerburn, and I never had a lot of success. The section is easy to access and you can park adjacent to the bridge on the North bank. The water was crystal clear and not too cold and I really thought I was in for a chance. There were a couple of Herons about and the lower part of the run I fished was moving with Salmon. Weather was fair initially but a sharp downstream wind got up at the back of lunchtime which made casting a bit difficult with heavy bugs, and then the rain came on for a good wee while too.
Top of the section fished
The photo above shows the top of the section fished looking downstream. This is taken from just below the bridge at Walkerburn. The water was really pushing hard from about level with the bridge supports working out from the South Bank. Its worth bearing in mind that the upstream sid eof the bridge is only fishable from the South bank according to the PTAA regulations. I have fairly dodgy knees and in the current was finding it very hard to keep my balance once about half way out. So prudence became the better part of valour and I did not try to venture out further.
Just down on the left of this image where the bank appear to change to undercut looking there was a promising strech behind the remains of a fallen tree but it was too far out for bugging on a short line. I had a go with a big Klinkhammer NZ style, hanging a couple of tiny PTNs beneath but I never had any obvious takes. it was very difficult to keep a decent dead drift here as the midcurrent water was so fast the line was half way down stream before you could mend it back up again! A better angler than me may have fared better exploring this.
I ventured further down stream on the south bank- mainly because I am right handed and short lining with bugs is easier with the River running left to right in front of you. Well it is for me!
Looking downstream on South bank at Walkerburn
A bit further down, the water slows and evens out a bit and this whole section is really one long pool. There are two small burns that enter the river here and I started this section just about 20 yards upstream of the burn. There was a Heron here I disturbed and I was sort of hopeful that this was a sign there might be fish in the area. About second cast I was into a fish and it put up a decent fight. It wasn’t a large fish and at first, I thought it was a Grayling as it turned on the surface- the flash of colour I seen I thought was the dorsal fin. However, it soon became evident as I got close to netting it that it was a Brown Trout, probably wild, of about 3/4 a pound. It looked like it had been a little in the wars- may be the Heron or breeding injuries, but was a fit fish and strong for the size. I let it rest in the net, unhooked it and it swam off upstream with no further ado. This was a landmark fish for me as it was the very first brown trout I have caught and netted on the Tweed- ever! Considering how often I used to fish here that’s quite special!
This was a landmark fish for me as it was the very first brown trout I have caught and netted on the Tweed- ever! Considering how often I used to fish here thats quite special!
Looking back upstream towards Walkerburn Bridge
Venturing downstream the force was still too strong for me about 2/3s the way out and as I worked back to the bank trying to checkerboard the river covering as much as I could the water became deeper towards the bank- so much so I was worried about getting too deep in my waders. I did manage to find a way out and back into the water a little further downstream. However, it was pretty deep and it appears that the bank of the river has been underpinned by large rocks and railway rails ( OS Map says its a disused railway line) so the bottom shelved off very quickly and was too deep to wade for a good length. I still fished it as best I could though managed to get snagged up a few times leading to some lengthy untangling sessions. Sometimes I totally hate heavy bugs!
Sometimes I totally hate heavy bugs!
During one such “session” as my feet dangled over the bank, I looked down and a very coloured up Salmon swam right beneath my feet, closely followed by another slightly smaller one. Salmon were rolling all over the tail of the pool and you could see them in the clear water
Once at the tail of the pool, the bottom evens out and the whole river can be waded right across. I fished across the tail of the pool searching out all possible lies I could see in the clear water before going back for my rucksack and wading the water to the North Bank.
It was starting to get towards dusk by now- around 15:30 so about another hour of decent light left. I decided to try my luck down the interesting looking sections out of reach to me from the South bank. I fished right down about 100 or so yards, checkerboarding in and out but still nothing- but still plenty of Salmon about.
As it got darker there were one or two specific isolated lies I decided to try and gave these a go too but not so much as a tap.
I reckon that if there were Grayling here on the day and they were spread out I would have touched one or two. If they were here but shoaling they would have been visible- I could certainly see the salmon in places from the bank.
So an interesting if a difficult day out at times. Next time down there would try the North bank first albeit it’s a bit awkward being right handed.
