If I only fished to catch fish. I'd of given up ages ago....

Date fished 29/09/2024

7am until 3pm

A new river today. Jason invited me to fish the Wear at Durham. He has had some success, so decided to share it. Well, try! 

Lots of rain across the whole country this week, flooding down south but the North was relatively unaffected. The river was up but certainly fishable. It did have quite a bit of colour, which Jason seems to think may of been "the issue". 

However, meeting Jason in the car park, he greeted me with the colloquial "now then?" 

We walked to the river. 

Float rod, ledger rod with swim feeders. Maggots, worms, pellets, meat and cheesepaste. We had it all! 

The chocolate river looked good enough to drink. I started with the float in a swim I thought looked good. Jason went to investigate swims he had fished before, although he wondered if the conditions were right for them.

After a few casts, I was in. A small trout, there would be lots of these! 

Next a lovely grayling, there would be two of these. The first (biggest) jumped back in before a picture was taken. 

A chublet, there was one of these. 

A minnow, again, just one of these. 

Because I wanted to see the areas to fish, we left this swim and went for a walk. We fished lots of perfectly looking swims, although these didn't produce fish. Back to the original swim and more of the same! 

We ended up trying several swims over a few miles up and downstream. Apart from me seeing a huge salmon, we didn't get amongst the fish. Its such a good experience to fish a new river and I thoroughly enjoyed my day. 

I usually fish the same places in the same way, but days like this make me really happy. I feel I am a proper angler now, trying and working out swims, rivers and techniques across my fishing. 

In truth, I love my fishing! 

The title says it all.

 

Small perch gear, Big perch gear

Date fished 21/9/2024

7.30 am until 12pm

Leaves turning brown means perch fishing to me. Leaves of any colour or no Leaves means perch fishing to Tom. We headed to the Tees in search of some. (Perch not leaves) 

Me armed with some vegetables (not really) and the float rod, we waded out below a weir. I fired in some maggots and started to trot. One white and one red on the hook, only the white was sucked dry. Two whites on the hook, my first perch. I shouted at Tom and showed him, he thought I was taking his picture! Bless him. Nothing interrupts his lure fishing! 

I felt bad after my second perch, which he thought was my blank saver. He took a picture for me, but has not shared with me. So, I took his picture! 

I switched to worm and soon had another. This prompted Tom to head off upstream. His lures didn't have the desired effect in this turbulent water. He wanted to find some calmer water. He made the right choice! 

I fished on, feeding some groundbait into a slack and realising I could trot upstream in this eddy.  This fished seemed to like it in here too, a quick few fish all on worm and I was soon on 12 perch. Nothing big, but a nice few hours in drizzle and a slight chill.  

Tom found his slack and when he was not throwing lures up the far bank managed to catch two perch of his own. A pb of 1lb 8oz quickly followed by one of 1lb 5oz. Cracking session all round! 

1lb 8oz

1lb 5oz

Some good chat on the way home, albeit behind some slow drivers and us chomping on some lava rolls from Greggs. 

Tom wanted to call the blog "show me the perch", then he suggested "Dirty dozen".  When he dropped me home and I playfully announced "let me take my small perch gear", it was not lost on me when he quickly responded with "be careful of my big perch gear". I saw him drive off with a wry smile! 

Great fishing trip matey. 

Lost float 😥

Date fished 14/9/2024

6.30am until 2pm

Driving to the river this morning, heavy rain greeted me in North Yorkshire. I had checked the forecast, 0% chance of rain. I had taken this at face value and brought no coat. It reminded me of a 'joke' a brother told to, and about his sister on Christmas day when I was in Australia. Its not funny or pc, so I won't relay. But it's strange what things go through your (my) head. 

I put my waders on as waterproof and set off towards the Swale. It was still early, a 4am alarm had its effect. I settled in a familiar swim, but I don't recall having much luck in it before. I know it can be good, but not often to me. 

First cast was with a boilie that was still on the rig from the Wye. It was not a proper 'first cast', I just did it to get settled and put some feed in. Rarely for the Swale, I had a feeder with groundbait on. Usually, the hookbait alone is enough for Mr chub to find. 

Now, my proper first cast, with meat on. It had been in the water five minutes, and the rod hooped over. A 3lb chub finding my bait quickly enough.

I continued to ledger for an hour, by then I wanted to be more active. I set the float rod up. Catapulting a few pouches of maggots had the desired effect as after a few casts my float disappeared. I wanted it to be a barbel or a chub. It was a grayling! 

An hour of float fishing was enough exercise for the arms but the legs needed some, so I headed off upstream. I found, in my opinion, the best looking peg on the stretch. It looks so fishy, but no one has told the fish!! Not a touch. They just don't live here. I know where they do or did, so I headed there. 

I wish I hadn't. I decided to change rigs and float fished small cubes of meat, as I was pretty sure some chub would be on the far bank. Disaster struck when I got snagged in a tree, not just hook caught, but more. Pulling for a break, it happened. I lost my favourite bolo float. It has been prominent for so many years. I think that's why, I am writing this in such a sad mood and my usual flair is missing. 

It was now about 11am, so time for lunch.  

I walked back downstream to check what changes had occurred. The fields now had no fences and some swims looked very different. I tried a few but with no luck. I stopped in a swim one up from where I started this morning.  

A very recognisable chub soon in the net. Just over 4lb. A large lump on its head. 

As usual, this got me thinking. I wonder who has caught this before, let me know! 

Ellis and I have chatted a while ago, I think I have mentioned this before. All the chub should be numbered, so we can tick off each one individually. Trying to catch them all, or actually knowing how many chub there are?! I realise I am trying to turn a wild river into a commercial. 

I will just give up there. Off for a beer. 

Oh, I walked firther downstream and  found some fish feeding on the surface too, but didn't manage to catch them either.