Desmond

Date fished 19/6/2026

7.30am until 11.30am

Ellis owns the Tees. Well, not really. But it's in his blood, his heritage. Today he smashed it. A pb perch and a cracking chub on the float. I, well, I have a sore thumb/wrist. 

A great evening of chat, football, not too spicy chicken wings and a few drinks and we headed to bed about 11pm. I slept like a log and woke up ready to fish again.

After a hearty and healthy breakfast, we headed to the Tees at Sockburn. Two days this week of sitting watching the rod tips, we fancied some trotting. 

The usual June jungle warfare was inevitable but our chosen swim is not too far upstream. We often fish here, its fairly non descript from a features point of view, but always seems to deliver.

As we started, two other anglers started fishing downstream of us. Three of the four of us did well, (we asked when we left and they had caught a 2lb perch, 1lb 14oz perch and lost a chub) and one angler ........ has a bad thumb!! 

Ellis and I started feeding and casting, it was slow going. We usually start to catch little silvers straight away but not today. I had a few bites but missed them. We were starting to think today was not right. 

Suddenly Ellis hooked into something decent, I grabbed the net to help and saw the tell tale dorsal of a big perch. Nightmare as the hook pulled and the perch got away. Remember the dorsal. 

Ellis started catching chublets and I soon got a few too. Sadly, my thumb and wrist was hurting too much for trotting, so I was not doing it with my usual vigor. Ellis  however, stood and fed the line and soon when his float buried a much bigger fish pulled back. Not the perch we were expecting but a chub. 3lb 8oz of Tees magic, a beauty (chub not Ellis) on the float rod.

A few fish later, I had tapped out and was a spectator at best. I saw a good sized perch swimming to my right where Ellis was just about to fish. I enjoyed the best seat (stood mid river) while Ellis hooked, played and landed a different perch, this one had no dorsal. At 2lb 2oz, or two two (Tutu) it was a new pb.

Worth a second pic!!

We have both been after a 2lb plus perch for a while now, and while that still eludes me, it's great to be with, and see a mate catch one! 

Ellis fished on and caught more fish, but again my discomfort was apparent. We decided to call it a day and head home for a bath or rosè or whatever a pb catcher deserves!! 

On a separate note, I had a perch with no dorsal on June 19th 2024 from that same swim. It weighed 1lb 6oz. I wonder......