Fishing the River Tweed at Boleside

Salmon fishing Scotland. Seatrout fly fishing River Tweed. Camper van fishing adventure. Boleside Tweed

[@thedoggedangler]

10/10 for perseverance!! Boleside is a lovely beat as you say. Yes we definitely are a perverse lot - sickness, travelling miles, downstream winds lol. Well done on that first fish - a wee Grilse not ST. Whilst it makes no sense to say but you 'deserved' a second fish. Great video! Thanks for producing and sharing! See you on the water.

[@Dressagevids]

yep looks like a wee grilse to me. I remember (years ago) somebody holding up "a 13lb seatrout from the Tyne" in a pic in Trout and Salmon. The next months letters to the editor had one from Falkus..."If that's a seatrout my cock's a lobster"

[@tomjones7593]

Well done-bad luck. Fished there many years ago when -as a beginner (still am !) I found it unwelcoming. Hey-ho. I lost a springer, too.

[@abakerslife]

Thanks, I'm happy to report that the current day welcome is much friendlier

[@johnglaister5851]

Bad luck with the salmon you lost. Boleside was the first Tweed beat I fished in May 2005. What a 3 days I had. First morning I had a 10lb bar of silver from the Meetings....the fish took alongside the old bridge foundation you can see in the tail. Next evening I had one from Glenmayne. The river was fairly low and the final afternoon I was on the pool you fished first , the one with the corrugated steel groyne on the far bank. The pool didn't look much in the low water, but there was a deep backwater downstream of the groyne, with a very fast flow down the left hand side. I waded right across the river so I was about 10 yards upstream of the groyne, and only about 10 yards off the left bank. I had a 15' type 6 very fast tip with a Templedog on a 1" copper tube. Casting almost straight downstream into the backwater, and letting the fly sink and the current bring the line around slowly, I caught 3 salmon from that spot. I was over the moon and the ghillie, Nigel Fell, was astounded. What an introduction to the Tweed!!

[@abakerslife]

That sounds like an epic first dance with the river. Just the type of experience that makes you come back time and time again. I will be back at Boleside one day I'm sure as it's my intention to go back and redeem that lost salmon.

[@johnglaister5851]

@@abakerslife Good luck if you go back. Dryburgh was my favourite beat, lovely pools.

[@norman5202]

Baker another excellent video. Perseverance is the word you are looking for. Tight lines from AUS

[@abakerslife]

Many thanks, you need an inordinate amount of perseverance these days. UK rivers are not exactly stuffed with fish at the moment. Still if you make enough casts...eventually every dog has his day.

[@chriswright2135]

Uncanny how yours and mine salmon careers are identical after Lambley me and my son started venturing further north , and have fished Boleside twice and both times I’ve lot a fish in garden back pool, your videos are superb Rob , hope there are a few more to come of your season 👍👍👍🍺

[@abakerslife]

If your career has mirrored mine then you must have blanked an awful lot (and I mean a lot)! Glad you're enjoying the videos it turns out they're just getting started. Working my way through all the footage makes me realise just how much fishing I did last year!

[@chriswright2135]

@@abakerslife I hardly fished this year Rob , back problems but hopefully next year , hoping to give Alston a try 👍

[@abakerslife]

Here's to a fishier 2024, Alston is a lovely day out.

[@davidolphert6053]

Yeah, it looked very grilsey for a sea trout!! Unlucky on losing the other one though! Great video again!! Well done!! 👏👏

[@abakerslife]

Thanks, losing that one hurt deeply!! I'm sticking with my original call on the seatrout though. I've been back and had a look at the original footage and there are a couple of shots showing plenty of spots below the lateral line and one of the fishes head that shows the lower jaw going well past the eye. I'd love it to be a salmon but for me alas it wasn't.

[@knoxie9408]

Think it's the upper jaw that is significant , plus concave tail ,slim wrist ,and shape of spots...congrats you caught a salmon😂😂... Great video whatever you caught!

[@philippendlebury4518]

Not sure but I think the first pool you fished off the right bank was the bottom pool - Hart Pool. I used to fish it off the opposite bank and a great taking place was at the head where two right and left streams merged. I packed up because I couldn't get on with the former keeper who has now retired. The new keeper seems a nice guy. Enjoyed your video - nice one. Best Phil

[@alexdayes2986]

Great to see another video, unlucky losing one, hopefully it will stick next time. Keep making the videos. 👍

[@abakerslife]

Cheers, will do

[@Gamefishing111]

Love the video Rob,,the sniper sight and noise on the kayaks made me chuckle ,they boil my piss!! My mate cracked a big toby off one last season on the Tay 😂😂

[@abakerslife]

Cheers, I understand they have a right to be on the river etc, etc but for God's sake do they always have to paddle over where the bloody fish lie?!

[@jerryglover5435]

Top angling dude. It’s tragic when you lose em and you remember every second of it arghhhhhhhh (forever!). Can’t wait for next season to start. Def gonna do boleside looks cracking.

[@abakerslife]

I really wanted that fish. I knew one would take eventually and I kept flogging the same lie thinking I would get one chance eventually. I lost a few fish at that time and it turned out to be partly down to bad hooks. The fish that I actually landed always had the hook fall out in the net so I changed to kamasan b990 trebles and it made a huge difference. I hooked a lot more and lost a lot less fish.

[@knoxie9408]

Yes , I also thought you caught a salmon grilse!

[@abakerslife]

After a review of the original footage I'm sticking with sea trout

[@Salmonaddicts]

Enjoyed that well done😊

[@abakerslife]

Cheers, we all need more fishing vids during the dark nights.

[@50Squirrel]

I felt your pain! Nice sea trout! I hope you have better luck on your next outing! All the best!

[@abakerslife]

I didn't exactly take it like a man! I was properly sickened and then had to drive home for three hours in the dark with it playing over and over in my head. Oh the delicious torture that is salmon fishing! Take it easy

[@magnetchi]

O yes another great video, nice sea trout. Hope you get the salamon next time 👊

[@abakerslife]

Thanks, getting closer

[@philippendlebury4518]

Bad luck losing that fish off. The bottom of Garden Back on the corner where it runs into the Boat Pool used to be a good taking place. I like your Hardy rig. In summer I fish a 12ft 9in Demon #8/9 with an AFS head. It's brilliant! Keep it up pal you'll get one. Cheers Phil

[@abakerslife]

I suppose losing a few only adds to the excitement. Boleside is a place I could happily spend a week and I reckon with another 6" of water it would fish its socks off. I will be back in the future hopefully for round two. The rod is turning out to be pretty versatile which is kind of what I wanted. It does me for most occasions and even was able to manage fishing the Tay.

[@Hardlinesangling]

Unlucky on loosing that one. I've never known as many lost as we had this year on the club. Seemed to be that they had softer mouths this year. The Tweed is a lovely river to fish some monsters in that river. I'll definitely be back on the Tweed next year.

[@abakerslife]

For some reason that one was hard to take! I thought I'd earned it after flogging the same lie for hours into the dark and then for it to come off was a kick in the teeth. I used Kamasan b990 trebles for the backend of the season and it improved my hookups no end.

[@Hardlinesangling]

@abakerslife most of the rivers I fish only allow doubles. It certainly is sickening when you flog the water for hours and have a tug then it comes off after having it on. Got the 2024 season to look forward to now.

[@abakerslife]

Not long now... Tbh though I'm enjoying the close season. It's relaxing not waking up every day and looking at river levels and weather forecasts!

[@muzza6047]

Better luck next time , looked like a cracking day out regardless of no Salmons.

[@abakerslife]

Many thanks, it was a lovely place to fish. I could've done without the sun that day but hopefully I will make it back one day for round two.

[@simongill8344]

Think your videos are great. As a fairly newbie to Salmon fishing, could you recommend a beat on the Tyne that is both good water and easy wading that can be booked for a day? Thanks

[@abakerslife]

Many thanks, I'm not familiar with all of the Tyne beats but most of them have a mix of good and bad wading. I'd say that both Styford and Dilston have at least 2 pools each that are an easy wade. If you want to go further up the North Tyne then a couple of the Riverdale Hall beats around Bellingham are a lovely wade. You'd have as much chance as anywhere of a fish from May onwards.

[@user-ee2eg9kp6o]

Pretty sure that was a grille.

[@StevenBakerDive]

This is why I checked the comments, I thought so as well...

[@abakerslife]

Hi, I'm sticking with sea trout after checking the original footage. I'd rather it have been a grilse but there are shots that show spots below the lateral line and the lower jaw extending well back past the eye.

[@user-ee2eg9kp6o]

Still positive it’s a grilse. Hope that you enjoyed Boleside have fished it every year for nearly 40 years,never had the money to go in the autumn but it was great in the late spring as well. It’s sad how the catches have declined.@@abakerslife