About the Tweed

History of the Tweed

The Tweed has a deserved reputation as one of the world's great salmon fisheries. Since the 17th century, anglers have been sport fishing the river for its famous run of salmon. Victorian salmon anglers enjoyed some of the finest fishing in the Tweed's angling history and their innovative approach to tackle design is still reflected in present day tackle.

With the advent of Victorian fly fishing tackle, the evolution of modern rods and reels had begun. No longer were salmon played on a 'tight line' or line tied to the rod tip, but rather a 'loose line' which ran through the rod rings. This allowed greater opportunity to land big Tweed salmon, which the 'tight line' method was simply no match for the greenheart, ash and hickory rods, which often exceeded 20ft, were complemented with heavy brass reels, weighing up to 2lbs in weight. This period of the Tweed's angling history was superbly documented and immortalised in print by some of the finest piscatorial writers such as Scrope, Younger and Thomas Stoddart.

Let ither angler choose their ain
An' either waters tak' the lead
O'Wielan streams we covet nane
But gi'e to us the bonnie Tweed
An' gi'e to us the cheerfu burn
That steals into its valley fair
The streamlets that at ilka turn
Sae softly meet an' mingle there

Thomas Stoddart, 1866

River Tweed

Looking downstream towards Coldstream Bridge

River facts and figures

The Tweed is the second longest river in Scotland and takes great pride in the fact that it produces more fish caught to the fly than any other river in Britain. It is 98 miles long and gains life from a staggering 1500 sq miles (4000 sq km) of border catchment area.

Although regarded as a Scottish river, the first 75 miles are indeed Scottish but for the next 19 miles from Carham to Paxton, the south bank of the river is English. For its final 4 miles journey to the sea from Paxton to Berwick-upon-Tweed the river flows entirely through England.

Who looks after the river

The river is governed by the River Tweed Commissioners (RTC) who were set up by the Tweed Fisheries Act in 1857. This organisation comprises representatives from both the public and private sector including estate owners, angling assiociatons and commercial fisheries.

The RTC has broad and comprehensive range of responsibilities including administration of the river, regulating angling methods and policing the Tweed system. The scientific arm of the RTC is the Tweed Foundation. The Tweed Foundation is a charitable trust which was set up in 1983 to enhance and maintain all species of fish in the Tweed's catchment area. The invaluable work that the Foundation are involved with is often praised for its forward-thinking approach to fishery conservation.