Tees Happy Bream

Date fished 1/1/2020
8am until 3.45pm

A New Year meant new targets, so it was a trip to the Tees today to see if I could get off to a flyer.
Unfortunately the car thermometer said minus 4 degrees, a flyer this was not! So I settled for driving and headed to the Tees.
I was hoping to fish at Bowesfield with maggots and groundbait feeder to tempt a Tees Bream.
After parking up, a quick walk got me to my peg. This one was called "36". Getting my kit ready, I was thinking how positioning with a feeder rod was important. I was going to set it up properly, fish properly and catch probably, I mean properly!

I mixed my groundbait, added some maggots and set aside.

I got my chair level, positioned the rod and got the rests in place.

Arranged the net and was all set. I moved the bank stick with the camera holder on the top and crack. Snapped it. Not the best start, let's hope for no more breakages.

A few casts to a posittion marked by a bush on the far side with a large feeder got some groundbait down. I did not clip the line on the spool as I was not sure how the depth of water affected this. Surely if you clip up but you are fishing in 20ft plus of water that will have a big difference? I will look this up and practice another time.

I attached a hook link and cast out.
Where I was positioned, I found it hard to tighten the line and set up everything correctly. I thought about this and fished on. I reeled in and there was a wiggle on the line. There was a fish on. I will openly admit, I was not aware, saw no bite. It was a fluke.
A nice Roach to avoid a third blank in a row.

I had to change a few things with the positioning. The rig was fine,  but the rod was not. I moved the rest towards the river and changed the angle. Now, I cast and was able to tighten down and feel like I was fishing.

Several casts later and with the swim building nicely, I got a bite. A proper pull. I struck and missed the fish. The maggots were smashed and were just skins. I was happy the fish were there and I was actually getting it right.
I carried on.

A little while later, the rod trembled and pulled round. A proper bite, I struck and played my first Tees bream ( yes a skimmer) into the net. I had tried, adapted, persevered and succeeded! I was so Happy!

I was soon into a good routine, recasting to the same spot, letting the feeder settle, tightening up and putting the rod on the rests. I was enjoying the fishing.

I had several more bites, missed most of them but I did hook a few. I didn't land any though as they were only hooked for a short time. One fish that I played closer to the bank went under a snag. I was stuck but could feel the fish on. I let the line go slack and waited. After a while, I tried to pull free and changed the angle. Eventually it just came free, feeder attached, hook attached but no fish attached! Weird. All looked ok, so I cast it back out.

Still the bites came, so in what can be described as a "practice" I really was happy. 

Thinking about feeders, I had cage feeders and block end. I had a cage feeder on because I liked the look. Then it dawned on me, a cage feeder releases feed all the way down and a block end feeder keeps it in until the bottom!! I never realised. So I changed feeders to pretend I knew what I was doing. 

Still bites came, but still I missed the fish. Still Happy! 

It quickly got cold as the afternoon drew to a close. I had tried hard and caught a target. I am determined to catch some more, bigger bream. If I had hit all the bites today, I would have ended up with a dozen fish, but not to worry, I still left Happy!