Early July 2026

Well, just when we thought it couldn’t get any hotter, we have just had two days of scorching hot sunshine and virtually no wind. Just last week the Tweed Commission issued a notice to all river anglers advising them to take extra care when catching and releasing fish on the river in these extreme conditions. They even go as far as to say that if water temperatures exceed 20 degrees C, people should consider not fishing the river. It goes without saying that it’s a similar picture for still water fisheries too and we would ask all our anglers to play and handle the fish with extra care just now and make sure that they are clearly revived before releasing them back. Also please keep the fish in the net and in the water at all times to cause least distress to the fish.

As you might imagine, the current conditions have made catching quite patchy, however someone always seems to find the answer and method. There are fish in all areas of the loch but there is a concentration of fish around the aerator area and we would ask all anglers not to hold one spot for too long. Swing Gate Bay seems to have finally switched on and it is definitely worth a shot in there on your next outing. Dries have certainly worked best and at the expense of sounding like a stuck record, the black flat daddy is still the most effective pattern of recent times. Whilst we thought that the caenis hatches had finished we were wrong. The last two evenings have seen quite large hatches resulting in superb evening rises, but yes you’ve guessed it, very tricky fishing. Still, it’s always nice to see.

I’ve been busy with the weed cutter over the last week or so and have managed to clear a good quantity of the weed that had grown in the narrows and towards the top end of the loch. Whilst I do my best to clear as much as I can, I will invariably miss small patches here and there, so I would ask that you remain observant when motoring around in those areas. I have also managed to clear most, if not all, of the weed in the boat house bay area, but again apologies for any small patches that might still remain.

Given the weather conditions it is highly likely that I will have to continue to trim the weed back as necessary but will always try to do it at a time when it is least disruptive to any anglers. However apologies in advance if you are here when I am out cutting. I was out yesterday (8^th July) for quite some time and it was really encouraging to see so many healthy trout swimming in front of and around the weed cutter. There was also a good number of sticklebacks and perch fry which is good news for the trout as the year moves towards autumn and winter. I have trimmed back the bistort weed (the one with the small pink flowers on a thin stem which grows mainly in the start of the narrows)  as that seemed to be growing further into the loch this year.

Upcoming competitions for members only:

• Coldingham Loch Cup (Boat Competition) on Saturday 18^th We are now taking bookings for this and there are just 20 places available. All rules T’s & C’s are on the members portal – click on the Fishery Info button on the right hand of your home page and then scroll down to the boxes which are titles with the various topics that can be found including competition days. Please note that payment needs to be made at the time of booking and is non- refundable.

Charity Day open to members and non- members:

• This is being held on Sunday 27th September. It is £30 to enter with all proceeds going to our chosen charity, St Abbs Independent Life Boat.
• We will also be holding our annual raffle to support the day. Tickets can be bought from us any time now and we would be grateful for any donations of prizes towards the raffle.

We look forward to seeing you all in the coming weeks and if you are going away on your summer holidays, hope that you come back refreshed and raring to go!

Tight lines,   Carmel and Gareth.