GRAYLING FISHING COMPETITION 2009 REPORT

Bill Braithwaite pips Jake Harvey for top place!

On Saturday 12^th December Jedburgh Rotary Club ran their 5^th Scottish Rotary National Grayling Fishing Competition on the River Teviot. The day was a huge success, the quality of fish and fishing was said by many locals to be the best in 30 years, and, the event raised over £550 for Rotary Charity. All the fish caught are returned unharmed, quickly and carefully after being measured. 

The day started cold and frosty at the Monteviot Fishing hut where Jedburgh Rotarians ran a very efficient registration office and provided hot bacon rolls and coffee or tea. By 9 o’clock the draw was made and the intrepid anglers set off in pairs for a day on the river with conditions, for once, looking good.

The event runs two categories, fly fishermen (the ‘fluff chuckers’) and bait fishermen (the wagglers). Two groups that entered as individuals, worthy of note, were the Scottish National Fly-fishing team for the World Championships and, the Scottish National Fly-fishing team for the European Championships (By the end of the day we knew why they were in their respective teams and we wish them further successes in 2010!)

By ten o’clock first reports of catches were being phoned in to the control centre, so already it looked as though a good catch was in prospect. The story continued through the day, the beat observers witnessing good numbers with impressive reports of big fish being caught.

It was interesting to find that many more fish were being caught on the fly than bait, also, it was good to hear that fish were being caught all along the river, not just in isolated pockets.

The different beats along the Teviot were provided at no charge by the following: Hawick Angling Club, Jedforest Angling Club, Lothian Estate and Nisbet Syndicate.

Fishing continued until 4.00 pm when anglers reeled in and made their way to the Hawick Angling Club headquarters where a warm welcome was waiting for them including a hot pie (best in the Borders!) provided by Rotarian butcher George Miller from his son’s shop in Melrose.

While the competitors enjoyed some liquid refreshment with their pies, the results team realised they had a proper job on their hands with lots of return sheets and lots of fish recorded. (Last year they had an easy time as only two fish were caught!)

The final count saw a fantastic days catch totalling 172 fish, the most ever recorded for the event. It was also equally significant that there were 26 fish over 40 centimetres (about 16 inches in old money!) which would be 2½ lbs and upwards. The biggest fish was 50 cms.  which would have been about 3 lbs and likely close to the Scottish record.  

Hardy and Greys limited have a strapline which says ‘Inspiring people to fish’. Their generosity in donating the top prize of £250 certainly helped to inspire a lot of fishing that day!

The trophies and prizes were awarded as follows:

1^st Overall:                 Bob Braithwaite          62 points

Best Fly fisher             Jake Harvey                60 points

2^nd Fly fisher               Grant Gibson              50 points

3^rd Fly fisher               George Herd               45 points

Best Bait fisher           Chris Hosker               43 points

2^nd Bait fisher              David Deane               35 points

3^rd Bait fisher              Alan Ayre                   21 points

Biggest fish                 Jake Harvey                50 cms

Winning Team Jake Harvey                (Total scores 110 points.)

                                    David Chalmers

                                    Donald Forbes  

Kenny Galt, who runs the Trout and Grayling Initiative from the Tweed Foundation, will be using the results as part of his ongoing studies into the habits and populations of Trout and Grayling on our rivers (funds permitting). It appears that the stocks of Grayling on the river Teviot are in better shape this year than has been seen for several years, so this work does have a pay back, as advice and measures taken are showing. 

If you want to catch some quality Grayling, then please contact the clubs mentioned above as they all have day tickets available on their waters for about £10 per day.

Jedburgh Rotary Club are very grateful to all the companies and anglers who supported this worthwhile charity event. Planning for next year has already started, so don’t miss it, the date will be Saturday 11^th December 2010!

 Ian Davis

Last modified: 21-Oct-2009