On Wednesday 24th October Jim Reid the owner of a syndicate rod on the Bemersyde Estate caught a massive Salmon on the river Tweed. It was at first conservatively estimated at 37lb however later and after careful consideration by the Tweed Foundation entered into the record books at 43lbs.
Mr Jim Reid is from Edinburgh, he was fishing from a boat with Ian Farr, head Ghillie. Jim is a regular fisherman at Bemersyde, having held a syndicate rod since 2008. After a 40 minute battle he found it difficult to lift this leviathan. After checking measuring charts it was decided the fish was more likely to weigh 42-45 lbs making it the biggest Salmon caught on the Tweed for a long long time.
The fish was hooked at aproximately 9:30am on a Gold Bodied Willie Gunn tube fly, in a pool known as the Top Corbies, which is at the start of a fast flowing stretch of water. It took Jim and Ian some time to realize just how big the fish was as even smaller fish can put up a good account of themselves in the streamy water. After a while, the fish decided to head back towards Berwick, and tore off 150 yards down the river into another pool known as "The Dish". Ian had to quickly steer the boat down the river to catch up with it. Jim said "At this point, an enormous tail appeared out of the water and expletives were expressed as we realised what we had a hold of!" The fish continued down the river to another pool, The Copper Beech, where Jim was finally able to steer it into Ian's net. All in all it had taken 40 minutes to land. Jim said "This was by far the biggest salmon I have ever caught. It was an amazing experience and I can't thank Ian enough for his skill, encouragement and moral support. There was no way I was going to land that fish if he hadn't been there!"
The salmon was measured then released to the river. It was 50 inches long with a 25 inch girth.
