I arrived at the Lower Pavilion hut, on the banks of the river at Gattonside, near Melrose, at 9am. Scott, the ghillie, fixed me up with a coffee and we had a quick chat with the other rods - acknowledging that it was a bit bright to be good fishing weather - before kitting-up for the day. The river was at about 8" on the beat gauge, so we were in need of a little top-up. The beat has a good bit of depth, though, so there are a few main points of focus even though it is otherwise a high-water beat. A 15ft intermediate tip on my floating scandi versitip would be just about right for the conditions.
I was to fish Beat 2 - the middle of the beat - in the morning, starting on the North bank in the Cauld Pool before moving downstream to Island Stream below the chain bridge and would fish the bottom of the beat in the afternoon. The North bank is the deeper of the two banks of the Cauld Pool and the main flow of the current is around one-third of the way across to the South bank at 8", so a bit of adjustment and care was required to present the fly well. I focussed mainly on trying to slow my Black and Yellow Ally's Shrimp down as it passed over the main depth, which I thought would present the best chance in the bright conditions. The water temperature was up on recent weeks, at 53f, and so if given enough of a look at the fly the fish should come off its lie for it in these conditions. I wasn't trying to achieve any great distance in this pool, so I moved down fairly quickly. The tail of the pool has the best fly-water and has a few boils to focus on, but there was no interest in my fly and so I moved down the the Island Stream which I hadn't fished on my previous visit.
Pictured: The Cauld Pool, looking downstream from the North Bank.
I crossed over the chain bridge and sat on the South bank grass at the croy at the top of the pool and considered a change of fly whilst I watched the pool for a while. It was one of those days where you don't feel in any hurry to get a fly in the water, due to the unfavourable conditions. I've got a few favourites for bright conditions - mainly various small, black shrimps - but Scott appeared for a chat during the selection process and by decision time I had a fair-sized dressed Cascade on. In certain pools - especially those with some depth - the water had a slight dusty, murky character and so I was grateful for the extra presence, despite the low water and bright conditions; the river will probably need a bit of a clear out soon.
Pictured: Island Stream, from the chain bridge. The lie behind the top croy seemed a good spot, with a good bit of depth.
I enjoyed fishing down Island Stream, with its strong, forgiving flow and broken surface, which always gives me confidence that fish will feel safe enough to hold in a stream even when the sunshine might suggest otherwise. I moved down through the pool fairly slowly to carefully cover the boils and lies spread through the pool, before I reached the getting-out point. There was only 20 minutes left until lunch and so I headed back to the hut instead of fishing the next croy down, which I had fished the previous Spring.
Pictured: Beat 2, with Island Stream in the foreground and the cauld in the background.
Lunchtimes spent in fishing huts are often very educational experiences and it was nice to hear that the other rods on the beat were very clued-up and experienced in Salmon fishing in Wester Ross, a Raine family favourite and a place I hope to do some more fishing in future, should the fish farms not get them all in the meantime. The fact that lunchtime approached an hour and half gives an indication on our thoughts on our chances in the afternoon, but I eventually headed off downstream with Scott and another rod before tossing a coin, winning and ending up in Cowie's, at the downstream march with the Tweedswood beat.
Pictured: The hut (lodge!) at Lower Pavilion.
I'd fished Cowie's once before in 2014 and so had an idea of what I was trying to do. It's not a 'textbook' pool to fish as the stream into the pool is wide but converges into a stronger, main flow almost under your feet as you wade down the left bank on the outside of the bend. There must be lies on the inside of the bend at the top of the pool on the right bank, but I was later informed by Scott that fishing the left bank allows the fly to spend enough time over the fish to improve your chances by fishing this side of the pool. I started off casting the floating head of my line so that only the running line was over the main flow, therefore avoiding any drag on the floating head. By the time I'd moved a few yards downstream, this wasn't necessary as the main flow and therefore the likely lies were focussed along the left bank. I worked my way down before a couple of fairly coloured looking fish rose just upstream from me - one of which appeared to be running - and I wondered if I'd perhaps fished the best of the pool.
Pictured: Cowie's.
There was a deeper pot that I hadn't seen last April, which was evident as a result of the sunshine penetrating down into the pool. This looked like a useful spot in the sunshine and low water and so I rolled out a few more short range casts, aware that I was nearing the Tweedswood boundary and would have to get out shortly, when there was a real snatch of a take, following by a couple of firm tugs on the line and a flick of a tail on the surface - fish on!
I gathered up my running line onto the reel and held fast for a minute or so to see what sort of hook-hold I had. Although the fish had a fair bit of depth to use, it held at a fairly shallow depth for a while, taking a few yards of line here and there before conceding them again. After maybe two or three minutes, the fish seemed to have got used to the idea that it had been hooked and decided to fight back. It turned and ran hard downstream on the left bank, fairly close into a sharp rocky ledge at the edge of the flow, all the while my Marquis was screaming. While it was closer in, I could keep the leader clear of any sharp rocks by keeping the rod tip high, but at the end of its run I was concerned that the rocks would give the fish its escape. I moved slowly down the bank and managed to collect some line and - more confident in my hook-hold - applied a bit of pressure to take some energy from the fish before it decided it fancied heading further towards Tweedswood.
Pictured: Fish on in Cowie's.
Before I landed it, the fish had head and tailed, come into the shallows and run again and tried to unhook itself by going for the bottom of the deep pot mentioned above. Eventually, though, it was played out. The unhooking was straight-forward, so I got a nice picture of it with my rod before recovering it and watching it swim quietly down into the depths of Cowie's.
Pictured: 10lbs springer - not a 'bar of silver' but a strong, well-formed fish with a lot of fight.
It was roughly 4pm by this stage and, having left my fly box in the car at lunchtime, I thought that giving Cowie's another run was probably not worthwhile with the Cascade still on the business end. I made my way back up the bank of Cowie's and set off back up to the hut to catch up with Scott and the other rods. On measuring my rod to the nose of the fish in my photograph, it was recorded at 30 inches in length and 10lbs in weight - I was glad just to get off the mark for the season, but it was also nice to get into double-figures with the fish. It wasn't sparkling fresh - maybe it had been in a few weeks - but it fought well and I hadn't been expecting much in the conditions, so this was very welcome after two lost fish in the last month or so and even more last Summer and back-end.
I'm yet to make my plans for the next few weeks, but I will factor in a trip to Pol Dornie, River Garry, and if we get some rain I'll be out on the Ettrick. With the fairly major exceptions of the Dee and Esks, both of which I've fished a fair bit this season already, it seems that a few rivers are - in the short term at least - having a deserved improved period and it will certainly be interesting to see what materialises as we move into the Summer months.
Best of luck for the final days of the Spring period.
Calum
PS - On a sad note, my fishing buddy Russell is moving to New Zealand this week and so will be M.I.A. from the Scottish Salmon 'scene' for now. Here's a nice fish of his from the Fairnilee syndicate period, last season. Best of luck pal!
Well done, nice read too! The Eden is doing v well this year
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