9am till 5pm
Ellis and I wanted to fish just into dark as we noted that is when many of the Tees Chub are being caught. I was targeting perch, no chub, no perch, no, definitely chub, I mean perch. I didn't know and maybe that was my issue.
Ellis was targeting Chub, minnow, dace, perch, bullhead, gudgeon and blue whale!
As with all our trips, we plan beforehand. We had planned a streamlined tackle approach including bait and about 8 layers of clothing each! I even had my thermal onesie on.
All the kit was packed, Ellis sporting a new bag with attaching unhooking mat that was very clean at 9am but not by 5pm.
We had planned on a new stretch on the Tees, at Fardeanside. It's very easy to get complacent and go back to the same venue. This has benefits of learning the venue, but it is also nice to find new areas, and this was one of those days.
The stretch looked fantastic and as usual we noted swims for other species on other days. We will be back.
In terms of fishing, I sat behind ledgered steak, worm or cheese paste either mid river or under bushes and I don't think I was ever within 6 ft of any fish! We fished into dark, and with my torch beanie (Christmas present from my sister) providing excellent light, it brought a different if not eerie experience to the trip.
Ellis alternated between ledger and float trotting in various swims. He had repeated knocks on cheese paste and steak but no fish, even when he changed to smaller baits.
We tried an approach that we had not done too much of before. We fed a few swims, left them for 30 mins or so then dropped into them to tempt a now confident feeding chub. Unfortunately this did not happen and we ended up leaving with a blank a piece.
The highlight for me came when Ellis rescued a pike float from the bushes, sadly it wasn't the one I lost on the Swale ( I know it wouldn't be!!) But he handed it to me in a float giving ceremony and I was happy.
The banks were very steep and wet and there were moments in the dark that I thought I would be slipping over with a bang. But that did not happen, so where did the bang from the title come from?
It came from the guns in the field on the opposite bank, it was either a large shoot or a war going on. We were serenaded with a constant boom, shouts and pheasants flying over head. It was almost hypnotising until the wayward shot started raining down on me and the river. Assume it's lead too?
The day was enjoyable, even with the bad navigating by me across the fields in the dark, that nearly got us lost! Shown by the loop below, oops!
As I said, the stretch will be fished again. It just wasn't happening today, my luck resembling that of the poor pheasant that got shot and then fell into the river. At least I had a better day than her!
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