I don’t know what anglers in the rest of the country think of thecoarse fishing potential of the North East. If they get theirinformation from the angling press I don’t suppose they’ll think muchof it, as the coverage we receive is scant at best. If it weren’tfor the efforts of dedicated individuals reporting match results itwould be almost non-existent. Even in a certain well-respectedpublication, I sometimes think they consider coarse fishing to stopnorth of the Trent.
I’d like to take an opportunity to put the record straight, andshow the region has a bright future. To save space I’ll concentrateon my local river, the Tees. The wonderful work of the River SwalePreservation Society in putting that river back on track will have towait for another time, as will the well-kept secret of the Wear.
The River Tees was once a by-word for open sewer, even if that wasonly ever true of the very lowest reaches and down to the estuary. However, the building of the Tees Barrage has done much to dispelthis, and transformed the once tidal stretch. The water quality hasimproved, and with steady levels there’s no more splodging up anddown thick muddy banks as the tide ebbs and flows. This makesfishing much easier, especially for the young and the disabled. Ithas also made angling possible further downstream than everbefore.
The fishing itself has been transformed too – the once dominantdace, unsuited to the now slow deep water have been largely replacedby roach. However the biggest change has been the success of breamand pike. There have already been some impressive catches of bream,and as the water would seem to suit them down to the ground I can seethe species going from strength to strength.
The same can be said about the pike, once unheard of on the lowerstretches. EA sampling has come up with specimens into themid-double range, and there are plenty of jacks. However, theirappearance has not been welcomed by some, and they’ve embarked ontheir own private culls, but hopefully sense will prevail. I wouldlike to think with the abundance of prey fish it won’t be long beforewe see twenties, and I daresay, even bigger.
Although the barrage has been in place for something like sevenyears, the river is still sorting itself out. The venue has beenmuted to hold national or even international events. I don’t know ifit will ever happen, but if it did it would be a great boost to thearea.
Upstream of the tidal stretch unaffected by the barrage, chub anddace still thrive. Chub fishing has improved immensely in numbersand size since I started fishing the river over twenty-five yearsago, and of course the river holds the British chub record. Theriver here is wild, and wood-lined with plenty of willows andfeatures to fish to. There have been stockings of barbel in recentyears, but only time will tell if this species will take off, as inthe neighbouring River Wear. There are barbel in the Tees, withspecimens of over 8lb taken, but they’re few and hard to locate. Further upstream past the Skerne mouth where game fishing starts totake over there are still opportunities for the coarse angler, withsome very big chub, grayling and even some ide.
Perhaps the best indicator of the river’s improvement is thenumber of salmon and sea-trout recorded coming through the barrage. The EA’s figures are impressive, and on the increase, this at a timewhen the Atlantic salmon is on the decline throughout its range. TheTees figures may not yet quite be up to those of the Wear and Tyne,but when you consider that as recently as the early 80’s the figurewould have been almost zero, this must be considered a triumph.
I’m not just trying to blow the region’s own trumpet here. I knowit will never match more southerly areas. I don’t expect anglersfrom other areas to come flocking here either, but it is important inthese days of falling numbers of anglers that we appreciate whatwe’ve got, promote it, and make the most of it. The North East isn’tthe angling wilderness many people might think. Quite the opposite,and the future looks better than ever. It would be nice to get atleast some recognition on a national scale.
