The Tweed is the most popular of the large Scottish salmon rivers and its advantages over others are many:

• It catches more salmon on the fly than any other river in Britain.
• It is the closest to London (under 4 hours on the train)
• It has the longest season (1st February to 30th November)
• Its prolific autumn run is noted for the large average size of its fish.

Unlike most other rivers, salmon catches on the Tweed have held up well over the last few years. This is principally because the tendency for fish to run later in the autumn has benefited the Tweed with its late season, but has adversely affected other rivers, most of which have closed by mid October. Most of the nets have been bought off and, through their hard work, both the River Tweed Commissioners and the Tweed Foundation have established a leading reputation for river management in Scotland.

Whilst the Tweed is noted primarily for its autumn run of large salmon, it also has a reasonable run of spring fish and a grilse run in late summer. Its tributaries are also worth fishing although they may not have the same name as the Tweed. The Till in particular is a good sea trout river and the Ettrick and Teviot are useful in the autumn. In addition there is some excellent trout fishing, mostly administered by angling clubs, who sell very reasonably priced permits.

As the peak salmon fishing times are outside the main tourist season, there is usually a plentiful supply of accommodation to be had, even at short notice, whether it be in country house hotels, village inns or holiday cottages. Many specialise in looking after salmon fishermen and have deep freezes and drying rooms etc. laid on.


 © - James Leeming