The bitterly cold north easterly winds did not dampen the enthusiasm of some 20 anglers who took part in our first outing of the season at The Watch Water Fishery on 9th April. The majority of members elected to fish from the bank, with the road shore and the north shore being the more popular locations. A suitably wrapped-up pair elected to use the boat.
Despite the conditions The Watch fished well throughout the day. A few of us also took a break at lunchtime to appreciate the heat from the wood burning stove in the fishing lodge. Thank you to Jimmy Laing from the Watch Fishery for coming along to help out and to fire-up the stove! He will have no doubt overheard the craic between some of the members on the more successful fly patterns!
Most anglers caught fish with 9 achieving their four fish bag limit. The winner of the heaviest 4 fish basket was Nicky Bell, weighing in with 9lb 13oz. He was closely followed by Robbie Bell (9lb 7oz) and John Haswell (9lb 2oz). John netted his first fish at 4pm, so had a very productive final hour. The heaviest fish was caught by George Wood (4lb 8oz). Top rod for the day was Allan Cook (12). A total of 64 fish were netted.
After the weigh-in, we all made our way to the Swan Inn in Duns for an enjoyable meal and a final reflection on the day’s successful fishing.