As a boy, I used to get on the green SMT bus at Joppa and go to fish the Tyne at either Haddington or Pencaitland. The permit was 5/- a season from Robertsons Tackle Shop in North St Andrews Street, Edinburgh.

It must now be coming up for 50 years since I last fished that river. Is it still as good (or do memories improve with age)?

Oh yes it's still very good!

Last year, as a cheap student, it was still one of the best (and overall cheapest) places to go to from Edinburgh. Bus from the city centre to Haddington, and then walk downstream to that old bridge whose name i've forgotten, or upstream to those nice pools... The season tickets are now £25 but as you know, it's still excellent value for money!

I've also heard quite a few guys who were going there for sewin. I don't fish it myself but I saw several nice ones caught!

I think the topic is meant to say River Tyne instead of Tiver Tyne


I have not fished it but i have heard it is quite good from a mate of mine

Tight lines....Martin

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Try the Esk in Musselburgh.

The bus fare's cheaper from Joppa!

I used to fish as the Esk as a boy too. Just below the Roman Bridge at the end of Market Street. Only flooks and eels though! It was much too polluted by the paper mills to have any trout or salmon in it.

Not in Joppa any more. The house I lived in back then is now the "Rockville Hotel", backing on to Joppa Rocks. At that time it was next door to the Salt Pans.

I cycle past the rockville hotel on the way to work in Dalkeith. I cut up along the river Esk to Cowpits and beyond Whitecraig and see the early morning flyfishers casting for a trout.

The path from Musselburgh up to Cowpits has now been surfaced in Tarmac so is more popular than ever.

I slowed on the way past yesterday to watch an angler cast a good line across - 50 metres downstream though I saw a submerged baby hopper in the middle of the river. Despite the usual detritous I have seen good trout caught on that 800metre stretch above the weir.

Is this stocked? I recall reading a thread on the previous forum about this.

It is stocked yes.

Being in the centre of a busy town the river has its usual problems.

Cormorants - fat ones.
Idiots who refuse to buy permits, catch loads of trout then bin them

The difference is? You can shoot the cormorants when no-ones looking!

I jest!

There are lots of fishy lies and its great fun. The early season stockies have fattened up nicely and are only too obliging to rise for a dry fly.

There should be some sea trout in the river if we get some higher levels.

Yesterday, I fished the South Esk from Dalkeith Park right the way down past the meeting of the North and South rivers and on down to the Weir in Musselburgh. Only saw/caught fish once I got past the railway bridge.

The day before I fished up the South Esk towards the source near the wind turbines. Caught some and missed more wild (livid?) fish of about three inches long!

Great fun, hard walking but I'll stick to my home stretch even with the abandoned pram - I'll bin that the next time I'm down - and the 'fuds'.

Cheers.

I will endorse that. Whilst the river does not have a run of sewin, it has a very good run of large sea trout! - though catching them is another matter indeed.

Thanks for the correction dunbar. And I ingenuously thought sea trout and sewin were the same...

Just to check, sewin is sea trout going up the river for the first time, isn't it?

Cheers,

Flo

Your are right Flodeg, I am just being very pedantic in that 'sewin' is the welsh term for a sea trout. 'Finnock' is the Scottish term used to describe sea trout which return to the river the same year as they left. Funnily enough, the Tyne does not get many finnock or small sea trout, most return as quite sizeable fish.