Early Sept 2026

Cautiously optimistic! That’s how I would describe how I’m feeling right now. Why?. Because the last week or two have been far better in terms of the number of the weather, the water temperature and, as a result, the number of fish being caught.

Two recent stockings have also probably helped to push things along a little and when I hear stories of how other venues are performing, I’d like to think that we are somewhat ahead of the curve.

There are good numbers of rainbows and browns being caught and the blues are also starting to put in an appearance, which is great to see. Swing-gate Bay has been particularly fruitful with tactics ranging from midge tip to intermediate lines with apps bloodworm and pink lures being amongst the best of the fly choices. Dries are also having their moments and just now there are plentiful numbers of daddies, sedges and today, even black beetles on and around the loch.

Of course it is always around this time when we start to see a return to normal following the heat of the summer months and generally speaking, things should get better and better as we move in to the final quarter of our fishing season so please come along and give it a go.

• Not long now until our annual Charity day which this year is on the 26^th Sept. There are still two boats available and this event is open to non-members as well as members so please get in touch asap if you’d like the opportunity to take part in the very special fund raising day. Also, a reminder about the raffle … tickets can be bought at any time from Carmel and I. There are some cracking prizes on offer and we also have some great items for the auction at the end of the charity day. Please dig deep for the very worthy cause which is St Abbs Independent Lifeboat
• Inter-club day ….. for those of you that this will involve, please note that we have had to put the date of the event back. Originally it was planned for Tuesday 6^th October but please note that the new date is now Tuesday 27th Oct. We will be in touch with all of you who might be involved in due course
• The weed cutting has almost certainly finished for this year and all areas are clear to fish. I will however leave the cutter on the water for a little while longer, just in case.
• Les Lockey’s fly of the month. This has once again been posted and apologies for the slightly late listing. Things have been slightly hectic for us over the last couple of months and we’re finally just starting to draw breath.

Other News:

• In the past we have had visits from single, little egrets but just a couple of days ago we had five on the loch at the same time ….. something that we have never seen before.
• There are also reports of sightings of hump-backed whales near St Abbs to go with the sightings of the Orcas that have been around for a number of months now. Proof, as if we need it that things are definitely changing and perhaps a consequence of the hottest UK summer on record and the rising temperature of the seas around us.

That’s it for now folks. We hope to see you all again over the coming weeks / months and hope that the end of the season can match the start that we had, which was phenomenal.

Regards, Carmel and Gareth.