I had fished 3 days at Glenormiston in early November with my dad (which I'll write about soon), the last afternoon of which saw the beginning of a big rise in water levels which have remained high since. Not a lot has been caught following this rise, by the standards of a Tweed November, and, with the river probably a bit high and the day being very wet and windy, the conditions weren't the best. A number of beats appeared unfished on the basis of a bit of surveying from the Peebles-Selkirk road through the bare, late-November trees.
I rodded up with a floating shooting head with 15ft sink 3 tip and a big Snaelda tube in Willie Gunn colours and with a red cone-head and headed for the Birkie, which I'd fished from Holylee in even higher levels last season. The top of the pool was moving through a bit fast for the fly, so I only fished a sheltered lie behind an island on the Scrogbank side, before moving down fairly quickly to a long stretch of better resting water at the tail of the pool. I saw a fish splashing about under some trees in the distance, presumably past the march for the for sale Elibank beat, downstream.
I was working my way down, concentrating on the sheltered water, towards the near bank, when I had a tug on the line as the fly came round onto the dangle, which didn't stick. The fly continued swinging for a couple more seconds when, just as I began a couple of yards of retrieve before casting, I had another take and the line went tight.
The fish surfaced early on in the fight and I could see that it was of a decent size. For those that know the Birkie, from the Scrogbank side, it is a difficult place to land a fish on your own with no net(!). I gathered in my line and began to adjust to a better position where, once the fish had tired, I could draw it onto a patch of grass only just submerged by the river. The fight continued for around 10 minutes, with plenty of rolling and splashing, before the fish was brought under control and I managed to bank it.
On inspection, it was a moderately coloured hen (later measured via reference to my rod at 32' - roughly 13lbs), with a little damage (perhaps claw marks) on its left flank. I got a couple of nice photos, which will help me remember the season more fondly(!), and held the fish in the current until it recovered - which was fairly quickly - and returned to the pool.
Pictured: Managed a fish 'selfie' before returning it!
Pictured: 32 inches.
This was a really great sign-off to another fairly difficult season for most. I seem to have had most of my luck in November, having managed a couple on Glenormiston a few weeks before. Hopefully, those fishing the last day tomorrow get a bit of a break in the weather although, looking out the window as I am writing this in Edinburgh on Sunday 29th, I would suspect this won't be the case!
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, when they come.
Calum
