Fishing Report by Les Lockey.

28^th Sept – 3rd Oct. 2025.

For my last trip of the year, I was once again accompanied by my pal Mike Warburton who was to fish the Lads and Dads competition for the first time, and although he was still to meet David, his boat partner for the day, Mike was full of enthusiasm for the day ahead. Thankfully the weather gods smiled kindly on us yet again, and as has become the norm for this excellently organised charity event, the day was thoroughly enjoyed by all those present, with a substantial amount raised for the St. Abbs independent lifeboat being the icing on the cake. Considering the weather was sunny and the winds light, the fishing was not easy and at lunch, my boat partner John Dow and I were level with one rainbow each. In the afternoon, the wind increased, making anchoring a necessity for those without a drogue. Reverting to fishing a single dry fly, I managed to net another rainbow and a lovely brown while John didn’t add to his morning score, although he did excel at the long distance release, something many of the regular anglers have experienced at Coldingham during this difficult year. Mike and David both finished with one fish each, although David’s fish was a magnificent brown trout estimated at over 10lb. which took the yellow cormorant and modesty forbids me to say who devised the successful fly.

The weather for the next couple of days remained very similar with sunshine and light southerly or south westerly winds which allowed Mike and I to drift a single tan flat daddy or a green beetle along the edge of the lilies in boathouse bay, or back and forth across the narrows where most takes came close to shore. I ended Monday with a total of 10 fish to the net while Mike landed 2. On Tuesday, I again made double figures with 11 to the net after changing to a black flat daddy, but unfortunately Mike blanked. How two competent anglers sitting just feet apart in an anchored boat and fishing with the same rods, lines and flies can have such wildly different fortunes, remains one of fly fishing’s great unanswered questions.

After a night of much needed rain that lingered through till Wednesday lunchtime, we decided to have a leisurely morning and focus our efforts on the afternoon session. However, by this time, the wind had strengthened, and it was also noticeably cooler and as a result, the rising fish of the previous couple of days had all but disappeared. Anchored halfway down the narrows close to the west bank, we both struggled to get any interest at all. I did however have a good take to the tan flat daddy just as I lifted off which got me wondering if the fish might be willing to chase a pulled fly through the top of the waves. I removed the daddy and replaced it with a white cutthroat booby left on my fly patch from Sunday’s competition and on my very first cast, as soon as the fly hit the water, it was engulfed by a lovely brown trout of about 4lb. Safely netted and returned, my next cast produced a bow wave follow as I stripped the fly back to the boat but ran out of water without a solid hook up. Previous experience told me to flick the fly back out into the area and gently lift the rod tip in one continuous motion to dribble the fly back at a steady pace and sure enough, the water exploded just a couple of feet from the boat as another good brown grabbed the fly. Three more fish succumbed to this tactic before we called it a day, but sadly no matter how hard Mike tried, he remained fishless.

On Thursday morning, the wind gusted from the north and was significantly colder and by lunchtime our net remained stubbornly dry. With the threat of storm Amy due to arrive on Friday we decided to return to the jetty and start to pack up ready for an early return home. However, having sorted the boat and stored the engine, I suggested to Mike that we should try an hour or two from the bank before finally packing up for the week. Mike agreed and was soon ensconced just to the right of the jetty while I made my way round the corner and further down into Swing Gate Bay. I replaced the booby with a black flat daddy and had two tentative offers and then a solid take which unfortunately snapped me, but at least I was getting some action. A little further down the bank I at last managed to hook and land my first fish of the day, a rainbow of about 3lb. Two more rainbows quickly followed so I though I better nip back and tell Mike to have a try in my newfound hot spot, but I soon realised that my altruism was completely unnecessary when I turned into Boathouse Bay and saw Mike land a fish, who then told me with great glee that this was his fifth fish using a variety of flies that included a dry sedge, a black Klinkhammer and a black Shipman’s buzzer. Reputations duly restored we called it a day and headed back to the cottage to start our packing, ready to make an early morning getaway to avoid the worst of storm Amy.

Photos from Les of some of the fish caught on this trip. Thanks to Les for sending in this report.