An Angling Open Day was held on Saturday 30th May by the Peeblesshire Trout Fishing Association and the Tweed Trout & Grayling Initiative (TTGI) on the Association’s water in and around Peebles. The aim of the day was to collect catch records which could be used to monitor the Association’s Brown Trout and Grayling populations. 26 anglers turned up on the day to be greeted with very poor fishing conditions (bright sunshine, high temperatures and low water). The anglers were assigned to different fishing beats and fished in the searing heat from 9.30am to 4pm. At 4pm the anglers returned to the morning meeting place and handed over a record of their day’s catches to the TTGI.



Some Japanese anglers joined in the Peebles Open Angling Day.
These delegates were in Scotland for the World Fly Fishing
Championships being held on the River Tay and its surrounding lochs the following week

The catch returns for the day were as follows :-
 
26 anglers fished for a total of 156 hours within the Peeblesshire TFA water in very bright, very warm weather conditions and in low water.
 
Catches:
101 Undersize trout (under 20cm)
30 Oversize Brown Trout (over 20cm or 8” – 13 of which were over 25cm or 10”),
11 Grayling
 


An angler into a fish on the Open Day at Walkerburn.
It may look idyllic, but the heat and clear blue skies made angling difficult

The biggest Brown Trout caught on the day was 47cms and the biggest Grayling 53cms. (Measured to the tip of the tail – this fish would have been close to 3lb and is what would be considered a “specimen” Grayling in most people's books!) The best catch was 28 fish (18 trout under 20cm, 7 Brown Trout over 20cm and 3 Grayling).
 
The average size of the oversize Brown Trout was 26cm (10 ½") and the average size of the oversize Grayling was 41cm (16").
 
The average catch was 0.9 trout (both under and oversize) per hour (or 9 trout per 10 hours fishing effort) and 0.2 oversize Brown Trout per hour (or 2 oversize Brown Trout per 10 hours fishing effort). The Grayling catch rate was 0.1 Grayling per hour (or 1 Grayling per 10 hours fishing effort).
 
Unfortunately the conditions were against the anglers on the day and they were always going to struggle. However the number of undersize trout was a surprise, given conditions, and there does seem to be quite a few around this year (anecdotal evidence from anglers). The Grayling catch was particularly poor given that the Tweed Foundation has carried out netting surveys in the area and we know that there are good shoals there. However they simply don’t like warm water/sun. Obviously the catch of larger Brown Trout was greatly affected by the heat/water temperature, as is always going to be the case in these conditions (these were caught in the netting surveys too).
 
Finally, the Peeblesshire Trout Fishing Association and the TTGI would like to thank all those anglers who participated (particularly those who had to share the water with swimmers and rafters). The catch records are of great use and provide vital information on the state of the Upper Tweed's Trout and Grayling stocks at present, which can be used for comparison in the future.

If you would like to take part in catch recording for the TTGI, further information is available from the website  - www.ttgi.org.uk - or from the Trout & Grayling Biologist, Kenny Galt:
Email: kgalt@tweedfoundation.org.uk
Tel: 01896 848271