23/03/2012 - Moorfoot Burn & South Esk

Moorfoot Burn - Above the road bridge

Time - 1645 - 1845
Where - MB - above & below road bridge. RR - foot of dam. SE - Carrington Bridge - Corner Pool
Weather - Nicest day of year so far, only 13 degrees on car thermometer, but really pleasant
Water - Summer levels
Method - Mepp no 2
Total - 1

First stop was the Moorfoot Burn. The foot of the big pool is straddled by a large fallen tree that was unshiftable. Although it cuts off the foot of the pool, it will provide really outstanding cover for any biggies that want to live here. I fished from the foot of the pool and had covered most of it without success. I half miscast to the head of the pool and induced an ambush by an exceptionally lovely and not so wee brownie.

10.5 inch

When I released it at the foot of the pool, it slowly made off downstream, so hopefully it finds its way back at some point. I fished upstream from here but with no further success, fishing further upstream than normal. There are some nice wee spots, but really on the borderline of being able to fish them with a rod. I did see one further half decent fish scoot downstream as I made my way up, but since the water hasn't been up for a while, there is already quite a lot of weed building up.

Vivid red markings

Next I made my way to Rosebery again. In the short journey betwixt locations I spotted a Curlew, which I've not seen any or any of recently, a Buzzard and (I'm 95% sure) a Kestrel. There were also a fair few Pheasants about looking nice but dumb and making the odd racket.

Red fin

I was able to get parked and set off to the foot of the dam. The 'left' overflow is a series of large steps and the pool at the bottom had hardly any depth and I couldn't see any fish which I'd contend was a fair assessment of the fish population there. There was almost no water entering here.

On the opposite right outflow, things looked much better. There is a long man-made channel with enough water in it to support some fish (see pic below). However I fished the length of it and didn't see squat. At the head of the run, just below the outflow itself I noticed 5 or 6 dead fish in the water. Once I got in amongst them, they turned out to be Perch of about 5 inches long. I assume they have simply been sooked into the outflow system and died in the process. It does show that they can physically escape from Rosebery but whether they can come through alive is another matter.

Rosebery Dam wall & Outflow

At the end of the right outflow it joins the left overflow and there is a slow pool which flows under a footbridge before becoming a wild burn again and heading down towards Temple. Under and just below this small bridge I noticed a good half dozen or so rises, all seemingly quite small. I couldn't see them and had a wee trawl but couldn't tempt anything. When I crossed the bridge I seen a seven (or so) incher dart down and away. Like Gladhouse the day before, I reckon this might be worth another try in higher water.

I rambled downstream a bit, but the 'path' was well above the river which was pretty overgrown in most places and there didn't appear to be any large enough pools to justify putting in the effort to scramble down (and then back up again). So with some time left in the bank I headed back to my car.

Next stop was the Temple stretch of the South Esk again. However I was unable to connect or even rouse anything other than spooking a deer and a couple of Pheasant.