Although a hot start to July and the water clearing and dropping with clear skies, the fishing for trout and grayling was actually very good, even with the water temperature approaching twenty degrees. There were some specimen grayling caught with one or two over the magical two pound mark and the majority around one and a half pounds. Nymphs as simple as pheasant tail and gold ribbed hates ear along with klinkhammers for dries doing the damage.
The brown trout were tending to be a little on the elusive side during the daytime, into the dark they were suddenly appearing with some bruisers along with sea trout taking exception to flies entering their territory.
Occasionally the pools would erupt with salmon, not necessarily around tide times either, some well into double figures showing themselves before moving on. One or two grilse among them at last, they are a little late this year compared to last season.
Then on the 15th, the heavens opened and a severe downpour which lasted all day put river levels up over two foot and dirty but cooling temperatures down.
The last week of July the river has cleared of colour and back to summer level, quite a few sea trout coming in, some nice brown trout and grayling about. I was on the Tweed for a week and like the Eden and everywhere else, the grilse have not arrived in any sort of numbers yet. Last year at the beginning of the month we were well into double figures with the grilse and salmon, it just isn’t predictable any more.
