Wednesday 27th October

 We were slow to start today. We should have started at 6 because in about an hour the river was unfishable.

I managed to catch a wee trout on a big weighted tube.

Mike returned home to repair his waders. Franca had a few chucks at the streams early on and when it became unfishable she had some time at the bench pool. I had a look at the borders of the widening river and was amazed how fast the water rose. At some places I could cast a heavy fly with a short leader and 15 foot extra fast sinking tip, mainly stripping the fly parallel and close to the bank. Nothing happened.

Did some work on the river by removing branches and clearing paths. Also filmed the racing water in the various places we normally can fish.

At about four o'clock Franca decided to have a walk home. We checked for the best route to avoid the busy A698. This is the normal route we take by car since Kalemouth bridge is still closed.

She made the following pictures en route.

More rain is falling in our catchment area and the gauges at Teviothead and Hawick indicate the water is rising again.
No prospect of fishing tomorrow, alas.