River Tweed- Haystoun beat
When I was still at school, I was very lucky as my Dad would regularly take me on fishing holidays. We would fish a variety of locations all over Scotland. In the autumn we would often fish the River Tweed. For three years in succession we fished the Haystoun beat on the upper River Tweed near Peebles. During our first year, I saw one of the most amazing sights a young boy could hope to see. We had a walk along the river, the day before our fishing was due to commence, when we met the ghillie. He was very knowledgeable and had fished the beat for a number of years. In his understated way, he said that he had caught a fish, which was in the boot of his car. I asked excitedly whether I could see it. He took us up to the layby where his car was parked and opened the boot. The entire boot was filled with a huge silver salmon. I could not believe my eyes as I had never seen anything so big in my life. I had read in books of salmon being this size, but had never actually seen one. To this day, I can still picture the fish filling the boot of his car. Over our three seasons fishing the beat, my father and I had a great time. We would usually fish for three days. We caught fish most years and would always see fish. Unfortunately soon after our last trip the beat was sold and the fishing was no longer available. That was the last I heard about the beat until around a month ago when I again saw rods advertised. I contacted the proprietor and managed to book the entire four rod beat for the day. I was really looking forward to my trip down memory lane and being the middle of November, there was a good chance of getting the rod bent.I phoned my good friend Gary Harkin, the head ghillie on the Kercock beat on the River Tay, to see if he would like to join me. Gary had done very little fishing all year. As the Tay season had come to an end he was delighted to come for a cast. They day before our fishing the heavens opened over the borders. There was heavy rain for a good ten hours and this was very likely to affect the river levels. However, we did not mind as if nothing else, it would be a good day out.
Looking upstream on the Haystouns beat
The first thing I did when I got up on Saturday morning was to check the river levels. The Tweed was running high but dropping fast. After all the rain we had the day before, conditions could have been a lot worse. The forecast for the day ahead was set to be misty with low cloud, but dry. So conditions would gradually improve through the day. Gary met me at my house and we headed for the borders. It was a very cool foggy morning. The lights on the Forth Road Bridge looked eerie through the gloom as we headed towards Edinburgh. We stopped at a service station to get a coffee and I picked up some lunch, which consisted of a chicken, basil and tomato pasta salad. I had been looking forward to this salad all week, but every time I had gone to the service station on my way to work it had sold out. Not this time though. It was really interesting listening to Gary’s views on why it had been such a difficult season for many this year. We both agreed that things could only get better for next season. As we drove into the borders the temperature steadily dropped. When we got to Peebles the temperature was at zero and there was a hint of frost in the air.
Gary casting a nice line
We decide to park at the bottom end of the beat in a layby which is situated on the main road coming out of Peebles. We walked down the steps leading to the river. The river was high and tea stained. We knew that conditions could only improve. We decided to build up our rods and then walk the entire length of the beat to get an idea of what the pools had to offer. We both felt after looking at the river that we would need use a fast sinking lines and heavy tubes to get down to the fish. After tackling up, we took a walk up the beat towards Peebles. The banks were well maintained with a good path along the river. Casting also appeared to be easy as there were very few trees, especially in the lower half of the beat. After scouting the whole beat we felt that the bottom half of the beat would fish best in the high water, There were some slower stretches and a couple of really good looking pools. We both fished down the Kerfield pool. Although it was high the fly swung around nicely. We saw a number fishing moving which seemed to be older fish. Surprisingly they were jumping in the faster water which meant they could have been running. The water was definitely dropping and clearing fast. Neither of us managed to get a pull. Obviously these fish were playing hard to get!
The Stobs pool
Gary then went and fished the Blackthroat pool. The water was just slightly too high, but it fished well nonetheless. The final pool we fished in the morning was the Stobs pool. It really looked good. The current ran along the deeper far side. However, towards our bank the pool was much slower and it looked very fishy. We saw a number of fish in the pool and one of the fish jumping appeared to be clean. By the time we had both fished the pool down, it was lunch time. Conditions were definitely improving and with a few fish showing in the pools, we were quite optimistic about the afternoon’s prospects. While walking back to the car I became dismayed as I realised that I would not be able to have my lunch. I had forgotten to pick up a plastic fork at the service station. Gary was not very sympathetic, saying that he would lend me his pen knife for cutlery. He was looking forward to a very entertaining lunch, watch me eating my pasta salad with his knife. I avoided this ignominy by popping into to Peebles to get a sandwich. As the days are short in mid-November we decided to have a quick lunch and start fishing again. We walked back up to the Kerfield pool. The water was much cleaner now and had dropped significantly. Gary fished the Kerfield pool hard, without even as much as a sniff. We then went down and fished the Blackthroat. The water by now had dropped around six inches since the morning. The pool was fishing much better than it did in the morning. We saw a couple of fish in the pool, but again they appeared to be running fish. We decided to spend the final hour of the day back in the Stobs pool. The pool really fished well. A number of fish were showing in the pool as the light began to fade. I was just waiting for the line to tighten. It was one of those afternoons when you just wished there had been another extra couple of hours of day light. We both fished the Stobs pool hard, but to no avail. I decided to have a cast in the Wire Bridge pool. This is a lovely wide deep pool and the last pool on the beat. It had been too high for most of the day. As soon as I started fishing, I saw a fish move close to my bank. I covered it a number of times but did not get a reaction.
The Wire bridge pool
We walked up the steps to where the car was parked in the dusky autumn light satisfied that we had done everything that we could do. On reflection the water was just a bit high, but this did not detract from our enjoyment of the day. Haystoun is a lovely upper Tweed beat with some great pools. We could not complain as we saw plenty of fish. We are looking forward to fishing the beat again in the future. Maybe then, I will be able to take that trip down memory lane again and catch a salmon, which would fill a car boot!