Prior to my arrival, I had read up on the beat and had heard consistently that Duke's Pool was the one to head for. Arriving slightly later than planned, I made a quick stop at the fishing lodge at Hoddom Bridge to check in for the day and pick up a beat map before unadventurously setting off for Duke's, on the lower of the two beats, as was recommended. The pool is a vast and deep holding pool which could probably justify a boat. The approach to the pool from the car park nearby provides a perfect vantage point for planning one's approach, a fact which is reflected by the positioning of one of the beat's shelters just above the pool. Starting from the faster water in the neck of the pool, I waded firstly across a convenient rocky platform (a recurring feature of the Annan's pools) and then down the silty bank alongside the dub of the pool. A couple of fish had jumped right at the tail of the flow (centre of the below picture), but neither appeared interested in my size 12 Cascade, or indeed a similarly sized Black Frances after that.
After Duke's - and with seeing as many of the beat's pools as possible at the forefront of my mind - I moved on downstream past Hoddom Bank to Culvert's, my next stop. Culvert's is a streamy, near/left-bank pool, formed as a result of a cauld, angled slightly towards the left bank. Again, the wading was particularly easy as a result of further convenient rocky platforms just under the surface. I moved down the pool relatively quickly as a result of this and made another quick move back upstream, past Duke's, to see Churchyard and The Bridge Pool, two more contrasting types of water to add to Hoddom's range.
Pictured: the streamy but deep glides of Culvert's.
Churchyard, rather than being a single pool, is better described as a section of water comprised of various sub-pools, each looking like likely spots in the low water. I decided to carry on further upstream though to take a look at The Bridge Pool, which I suspected might be too low. My suspicions proving correct, I took a couple of photos and went back to try a couple of spots in Churchyard instead. It is testament to Hoddom's variety that, as a result of a self-imposed change-over time of 1pm, I didn't have time to fish all of the spots in Churchyard that I would have liked, never mind the whole lower beat.
Pictured: A likely spot in Churchyard.
After some quick lunch in the car park for the upper beat, I went exploring the pools at the upstream limits of Hoddom's water. The pool at the top of the beat - known as Milk Foot - is the junction pool where the Water of Milk joins the main River Annan. On arrival, the lack of flow coming from the tributary was particularly noticeable and this would have affected the line of the main flow in this pool on the day, which was close to the right bank, making it a difficult cast over slack water. Restricted slightly to a relative few casts at the tail of the pool, I moved on down to Cables, another far bank pool. This one was looking in much better nick and so a few carefully-placed casts in between the overhanging branches resulted in what was probably the highest level of anticipation during my time on the the upper beat.
Pictured: Some of the sheltered lies in Cables.
After this, I continued on down through the upper beat, taking in Jimmy's Stream and a smaller pool above Hallguard's, but passing Castle Stream, Horse Pool and Goats and missing out Hallguard's and Sewer also, before calling it a day to head back up to the Tweed for a few hours in The Meetings at Sunderland Hall.
No fish on the day, but the range of pools on Hoddom is something I will take note of for later in the season. Duke's Pool will fish in all conditions, such is its size. Add to this sections like Churchyard and Cables, which look like they will offer casts in low water, and Hoddom Bank, Bridge Pool, Milk Foot and Horse Pool for higher water, plus a number of other main pools and everything in-between, and there's not likely to be a problem with regards to finding somewhere to go. In the spirit of making this blog insightful, I will say that I did prefer the lower beat's pools to those of the upper beat, but I did run out of time a little to take in Hallguard's and Sewer, which both looked useful.
Pictured: Rather obviously, the Bridge Pool - out of action for the time being.
So, I'm not sure if this can add much in the way of evidence for the purpose of assessing Spring fishing on the Annan these days, although my thoughts on this would be as follows: the lower down the river one fishes in Spring, the fewer variables one has to take into account in order to speculate with any accuracy as to where any of the, for now, relatively few Spring fish might be. Even if the Spring runs are relatively sparse, though, Newbie can be confident that in low, cold conditions the Cauld Stream and Pat's Bridge will fish well. Likewise, Hoddom - only 6 or 7 miles upstream - can be confident that, once conditions allow fish to go over the cauld at Newbie, Duke's and the other main holding spots of the beat will come into action. For these reasons, the degree of anticipation and confidence necessary to enjoy a day's fishing has been there on both of my visits to the Annan, at a total cost of £30 for two days. Not bad.
Tight lines.
Calum
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