More recently, however, the flame has returned, and suddenly I’m back dreaming of tees monsters and getting out again. As I write this, I have maps out and marked up, traces ties, gear set up and I’ve even managed a few trips in search of something special.
To bring the blog more up to date and start afresh, however, here’s a few highlights of the last six months......
15/06/19
Suffering from a bout of insomnia, I decided I might as well struggle to sleep sat next to a gravel pit, and I duly arrived at 4am wearing t shirt. The worm tactics used on my previous trip were deployed again, however this time there was a long wait until finally in late morning the alarm started purring to the joy of a 6lb 5oz fish. For you southern boys, that’s a very good tench up here in the north and I was over the moon! Packing up, I got home and slept the afternoon away!
20/06/19
An after dark trip to the tees ended up with a decent bend in the rod, even if it wasn’t the intended barbel. A 4lb 3oz chub being the culprit. I think I’m future seasons I’ll try to leave the rivers alone until August onwards as the post spawn fish really don’t compare to a solid fish in its annual prime. With the tench still yet to spawn. I should have continued in that vein but one to remember for 2020
23/06/19
A chance of tactics, this time an attempt to try get a shoal of tees chub feeding on casters. The issue here is that the tees, unlike the swale, is solid with other species such as perch and dace, and try as I might I couldn’t feed them off. I did end up with a nice mixed bag however
With the above in mind, a trip to the swale seemed in order. Whilst still trotting a float, I had the idea of using feed pellets with a small pellet banded to a size 16 hook. After regular and consistent feeding, I initially found it difficult to trot the swim effectively due to wind and tight space. A change of float however and suddenly it buried into a solid chub, this being a float caught pb of 5lb 8oz. It was quickly followed by a few chublets before the swim died a death and I left home happy with the chunk.
14/08/19
Failing to catch a tees barbel so far, I decided a quick trip to the swale was in order to scratch the itch. Conditions were ideal, so I was confident of a fish and it didn’t take long for the rod to buckle with a small barbel. Happy with the result...
September / October
With the north winds blowing, a few relatively unsuccessful cod trips were in order. There’s something about sea fishing on the north east coast, wild, untamed and you never know what’s going to happen. I did manage a small cod, released back as undersized. Will get back out soon once conditions prove fruitful...
22/12/19
With the rivers seemingly in constant flood for weeks on end, I decided to travel further afield and hit a Yorkshire canal. First time fishing one, a few casts with the quiver tip quickly had me half a dozen roach, and I’d noticed that pike were striking fish near the surface so decided to trot livebaits shallow near the far bank boats. It took a while, but eventually the float bobbed a few times and disappeared. I hit it straight away and after a dogged fight slid the net under this low double, a solid fish and pleasing for first from the canal. Something I’ll be trying again....
27-28/12/19
A couple of short morning trips to the river tees with pike and chub in mind. I didn’t connect with the former but did the latter on critically balanced cheese paste and bread crust. Fun, but really my mind is on pike and moving forward I think the chub rod will be staying at home so I can focus my attentions....
And this brings me on to now! I’m really keen again, wanting to go fishing and with targets and plans afoot. Can’t wait
