The fish counter results are attached to this note and show that after the record October count on the Ettrick, November numbers were well down. November usually has a much lower total than October – peak spawning on most of the Ettrick is in the first week of November, so any fish coming in later are not part of the main population. As November totals go, however, this was lower than usual and, as there hasn't been much of a temperature barrier yet, there has probably been an impact from the high water levels. When flows are very high, the fish have difficulty in finding the fish pass entrance. It is going to take some time to identify all the fish counted in October, so the Salmon and trout totals for 2009 will not be available till February.
There may have been the same high-water problem on the Gala, where this November's count has been below that of the previous two Novembers.