Prawn or corn

Date fished 17/9/2026

7am until 2.30pm

The big perch I lost at Tilcon was still bugging me. I decided to try again, armed with prawns.

I gently lowered the ledgered prawn near a tree where I lost the big perch. I fed some maggots and pellets to attract little fish and sat back. I set up the float rod and float fished corn whilst the prawn did its job. 

After 20 minutes the line started to slowly get taught and the baitrunner turned very slowly. I thought this was a definite perch bite. I picked up the rod and that's when I realised something. The rod bent double and a huge bow wave swept across the lake. It was a big carp and my hoolink snapped like cotton in a mere few seconds. It was bitter sweet....

I had fun on the float rod, catching plenty of roach.

Then the unthinkable happened. A perch on sweetcorn! (Again).

It seems the perch here are vegetarian, the big one I lost was on sweetcorn. The prawn was NOT doing the business.

Eventually a better fish on the float and my second crucian ever came to the net. Bigger than the first from a few weeks ago, so technically another pb, although didn't weigh it. 

 I fished on and caught only more roach on the float. There was interest over in prawnsville but not a real take. I kept with the loose feed over both methods and fish swirled constantly. 

After some heavy rain, the sun came out and dried everything off. I decided that was a sign to head home. 

Whilst prawn and corn sound the same, they are very different and not just in spelling! Maybe the perch don't know this. Next time, I will try using cawn or prorn! 

Float Feeder Trotting

Date fished 13/9/2026

8am until 1.30pm

Autumn days on the river bank really are magic. The leaves were falling around me but it was still a pleasant, if not a tad warm 18-20 degrees. 

It's been a while since I fished the Tees, and more to the point trotted a float. I combined the two.

An eventful Aldi trip yesterday resulted in helping a 90 year old lady who had fallen to get home and then call her an ambulance. I was also without wheels, so had no way to get maggots. Fortunately, I was able to source some from a friend in Hexham, so it was operation go!! 

This club stretch, I have fished once before. The track down is steep and I am not sure it gets fished often. It's overgrown but looks great, I am sure a low presured section, at least from our bank is welcomed by the fish. 

I started float fishing with my new 11ft rod and the closed face reel. The rod was too short and I didn't need the closed faced reel as I was fishing in about 10ft of water with barely any flow!

Fish topped all over and two otter swam around the pool looking at me. One even swam right under my rods, I saw the air bubbles as it shot along the edge. It didn't worry the fish and I was son catching 'bits'.

A sleeper rod with meat was cast to likely spots. This was hoping for a big chub. This was not a Tees barbel mission. I repeat, not a Tees barbel mission!! 

Soon, I realised the float fishing was no good. I needed to be on the bottom. I turned the (only) rod I had into a ledger rod with a closed face reel!! 

It worked though as four perch in four casts, all expertly pulling the tip round. I even got the net wet for one! 

The clicker showed 13, and I decided to take a stroll. It's very overgrown and I hoped a big piece of meat under or near bushes on our side would tempt a chub. 

It didn't.

As I walked along and realised there was no swims up this way and I would have to hack through the jungle to even get to the river, I took the easy option and headed back North. 

I would like to say it was great to be back on flowing water, but it had very little flow. I enjoyed the few hours though, as the Tees has this affect on me that everytime I go, I feel I never know what I will catch. 

In the end, it was a few hours well spent on a quiet River Tees, proving that even a cobbled-together rig and a slow current are more than enough to keep the magic of the unknown alive.

Yorkshire Derwent

Date Fished 9/9/2026

8am until 4pm

Youtube teaches us lots of things - fixing leaky pipes, poaching eggs and more importantly where to fish on new rivers. Having watched a few video's recently and a side quest to my Tees barbel, I want to catch a barbel from a few other rivers. 

Yes, that is all the river barbel I have ever caught. I want to add more English rivers, but doing the "local" ones first on my Leeds ticket. 

Ellis and I hit the Yorkshire Derwent. He had fished this beat on Monday and had a bream and bits. 

Today, I was after barbel and bream and Ellis was after everything. He had brought his 17ft float rod as this is a very deep beat. 

Both starting with the bait dropper, we put some hemp in the abyss.

Ellis had one sleeper rod and expertly float fished in 15ft of water and caught 30 odd bleak, roach, chublets and perch. 

I had (in essence) two sleeper rods with pellet and boilies and the highlight was sitting on my chair with the legs folded up, so I just sat on the floor, very comfy!! 

It's a great beat and we will be back. Plenty of fish topping and Ellis saw some chub, bream and a pike on his brisk walk before we packed up. 

We chatted with a few anglers as we left and everyone quoted the YouTube video's. 

Seems the secret is out! 

Bottom feeders

Date fished 31/8/2026

6.30am until 11am

There are items of tackle that I like, I use because I always have and there are items that I love but have rarely, if ever used.

For example 

I LOVE the bait dropper, but I think it's only met the water once. It makes so much sense, put your bait on the bottom where the big tench and bream are feeding. Ignore the little silvers in the water column. That was the plan. 

I put three droppers of liquidised bread, corn and small pellets in the desired spot. As I got the float rod ready, I noted the fizzing. It was bubbles all morning! 

The float was maybe not the method though. I love to just sit and watch the float, but some days you have to do what you need to.

Time stamp 7.18am

No need to cast. I was fishing a rod length out and I just lowered it carefully in. 

Time stamp 7.22am

A nice 3lb tench.

The bailiff came around and I told him I had caught a tench, he asked how big and I said 3lb. I had not weighed it. 

I caught another one later, it looked the same size, so I gave it a weigh. 2lb 15oz. Phew, 1 oz out!! 

Two 6mm Robin Red durable hookers squished together on the hair doing the business for both the larger tench.

A smaller one on the float fished corn and some roach and rudd kept me entertained. The morning slipped away and I decided to do the same.

Not quite sure what the banks need the holiday for, but my morning on the bank was worth it. 

Tees Barbel Ten

Date fished 29/8/2026

5pm until 8pm

It was strange sitting at home during the day when I was going to be fishing later. It's normally an early morning thing for me. Today, I tried to join the night crew! 

Arriving, I went to the swim I wanted to fish. Someone was in it but he said he was not staying long, so I could fish it too. It's big enough for two, so was spot on. However, then the rain started. Light at first then torrential. It didn't stop for the next three hours. 

I tried to fish on, but the rain was annoying. I had a brolly but just a hand held golf one, I stayed mostly dry but couldn't really fish. 

Loads of bites and knocks but no captures. The Tees barbel eludes me further. 

In truth, I wanted to fish later than I did. The fear of fishing in to dark on my own was too great though. I packed up and walked to the car in the slight dark and slipped onto my knee to prove that I did the right thing. 

I lived on to blank another day! 

Southern Fried chicken wrap for my tea!! 

Not our final 'swan song'

Date fished 15/8/26

7.30am until 5pm

A long day and three swims fished. We gave ourselves 10/10 for effort. But not sure on our results.

Ledgered everything on the Ouse for the elusive, but Ellis guaranteed, chap! 

First swim was a walk, but in the early morning cool air, Ellis was jealous of my jumper. A bream came to see us in the shallows, but turned away before we could throw it some duck food. They ate plenty. 

X marks the spot

Nothing much going on here, so while Ellis lassoed a small skimmer, I spent the time tidying my tackle box.

A jungle walk to another swim. We sat here in the shelter and watched YouTube. The swim was alive with predators snapping at everything. Ellis swapped to a worm and a small tap turned into a heavy lump. A pike grabbing his perch. The former let go and the latter came in relatively unharmed. 

We watched a kingfisher show us up and catch a minnow right in front of us. 

Knocks galore on the spicy sausage, I fear it was pincers and not lips doing the damage. 

One more swim to try and this was again filled with pulls on the spicy sausage! 

Highlight was the pair of swans preening and rewaterproofing themselves for about 5 minutes a few feet in front of us. That even beat the raunchy dancing on board the party boat, but that video evidence is not available yet! 

If trips where you blank were always like this, I wouldn't mind. In fact, I didn't blank, I just ran out of time! 

Human dipsticks (TB9)

Date fished 14/8/26

7am until 2.30pm

The sun didn't dissappear behind the moon for very long this week and nor did thoughts about my Tees barbel quest. Nine attempts so far, although was it really one today? 

Ellis and I hit the Tees in the usual spot. Throughout the warm weather the level here remains constant due to the weir and I did read a reservoir upstream, not sure. Anyway, it was coolest and quiet at the start. It wasn't till later that people chucked rocks into our swim over our heads or people tested the depth with their dogs or themselves mere metres from us. 

Two 'fat' dace on pellet for me. Not really much fun on the big rod. 

Ellis doing much better when he realised the barbel rod was definitely the sleeper rod and lots more fun could be had on a lighter ledger with dead maggots or worms! 

Several gonks, two perch and some fat dace of his own making his tally 16 fish. I even got the clicker out (minnows included not as a half!? ).

A trio of kingfisher whizzing down the river just missing out on the best part of the session. That goes to me saying "there are loads of fry here,  that drop off into deep dark water must surely hold a big perch" 

Followed by Ellis dropping a worm in said deep dark hole and catching two perch instantly. 

"Perch by design!" He coined.

A great day as always, not even marred by dipsticks! 

Lost pb

Date fished 8/8/2026

11.30am until 2.30pm

I am too annoyed to:

Tell you about the new 11ft Map Generation Pro float rod I bought and wanted to try out today.

Tell you how I float fished sweetcorn under a pellet waggler, probably not correctly but it was Davey's float and I wanted to use it.

Mention that  a carp grabbed my single corn on a size 14 and sped across the lake, under an island and I lost the hook and the float. All the weights were still on the line. Odd.

Show you the seven small roach that did christen the rod.

I will tell you what annoyed me though.

My float dipped, I struck and it stayed low. Pulling back. Carp, I thought. Then it popped to the surface like a bream. It didn't know it was hooked. It had stripes though and red fins. A massive perch had fancied my corn. It was hooked square in the lip. 

I played it carefully as now it realised and dived under the weeds. The new rod did well, lunges and runs absorbed. I got the net ready and started to bring the two together. I wondered what it would weigh!?

Disaster, the hook hold gave way. No line break, no rubbish knot. A good old fashioned hook pull. I was gutted, I actually swore. 

As my daughter has just pointed out, how did I know it was a pb? I have seen many big perch and this was well over two, if not three pounds. 

It was a bream sized perch.

Actually annoyed typing. Bye. 😃 

Am not after carp

Date fished 2/8/2026

6.30am until 10am 

The best decisions are made at silly o'clock. 4.48am and I decided I would go fishing. 

Float rod, sweetcorn, Tilcon.

In truth, I was after carp. Well, crucian carp. I have wanted to catch one for ages as I have never caught one. 

I set up in a swim I have never fished before. I fed some bait and cast out the float. It wasn't long and it sailed away. Striking into what I thought would be an ide. It was not. It headed for the far bank! A proper carp had picked up my single grain of corn on a size 18 and was heading out of Gateshead. I played it around in the open water, fortunately I was not fishing close up to the bushes and soon it was in the net.

7lb 1oz

More feed and it was a bite a chuck. Have caught many bream from the lake but not many smaller, skimmer sized bream. 

Mostly roach followed and a few ide and tench. Playing one fish, I saw a flash of gold. Was this it? 

My first ever crucian. I was buzzing.

I stopped the clicker on 24 as my wrist was sore and I needed to rest. I am sure I would of caught a good few more fish, but sometimes you have to settle with what you have! 

A perfect morning. 

Tees Barbel (8)

Date fished 25/07/2026

6:45am until 2:45pm

persistence

/pəˈsɪst(ə)n(t)s/

Persistence is the quality of continuing to do something even when it is hard, and it means keeping going, lasting a long time, or saving computer data.

Not sure about the "saving computer data" stuff, but I am certainly saving a few blogs! 

I arrived and walked to the area I wanted to fish. There was another angler in a nearby peg so I asked him if it was OK if I fished upstream of him. He said yes, so I started. 

Link ledger meat for an hour produced nothing. Not wanting to roll meat out of my swim and disrupt the other angler, I moved off down stream. 

I played around in a few new areas, not really settling and only got snagged lots and got a wet foot! I had the waders but was carrying them by now. 

A warm wind soon turned into dark skies and water started falling, I think its called rain. Its been a while!

Still feeling discombobulated   I went back to where I started. The angler was just leaving and he offered me the swim. I said thanks and we chatted as he packed up. 

Not wanting to wade anymore  I decided to sit on the bank and ledger paste wrapped pellet in the flow on the far side. It's where the barbel live!!

I ended with six of these, I think dace.

The second one was big and I would of weighed it had it not jumped off my hand when I unhooked it. They would be amazing to catch on the float trotting, but on the barbel rod they were just reeled in. 

I was glad of the blank savers and the kindness of the other angler. I enjoyed my day, but the quest goes on!! 

Clickbait

Date fished 22/07/2026

13.30 until 16.30

Flexi in the bank, I decided to take some and go to the bank. 

I drove to Tilcon as it's less than 10 mins from the office. Quickly chatted to another member, then set up the feeder and cast in, soft robin red hooker on the hair. Fourth cast and the tip spun around. An ide.

Plenty of taps and knocks, but I was getting bored of the feeder. I switched to float fishing sweetcorn and feeding my corn and hemp mix.

It worked and was a wonder bait. For the next two hours it was great fishing. The lake really is fishing well at the moment. 

I caught at least 15 ide, maybe 20. I wish I had my clicker as I lost count. A tench, a bream and several good roach.

A double figure mirror carp with a distinctive scale pattern swam right in front of me. I hoped he didn't show an interest in my sweetcorn. 

I was fishing fairly close in, one rod, sweetcorn. It could not be simpler. It really was a great few hours. 

Eventually the promise of fish and chips for tea was too much and I headed home. 

Always time for one more ide though.

I really was glad my bait mixture worked, but I was annoyed I forgot my clicker.