AS you were – Tees anglers will be able to keep salmon this year if they wish, after the Environment Agency delayed, until next season, the introduction of compulsory catch and release.
However, the delay in implementing the new bylaws means that this season net fishing at sea will be permitted, so commercial netting will means that about 20,000 salmon are likely to be killed.
Anglers are encouraged to return any Tees salmon they catch, and as most do, the delay will not have a major impact on angling.
Meanwhile, the trout season has got off to a slow start, even though warm weather for most of the last month has created ideal conditions.
There does not appear to be the number of trout around that there was a few years ago, though it is too early to say whether numbers are down, or whether fish are keeping their heads down until the summer months.
At the time of writing I have fished four times. The first session produced just one trout, the second two, then seven, then ten.
That sounds a reasonable return considering that the tally was boosted by four grayling and a salmon parr. But it’s more than a third fewer than came my way in the first four sessions of last season – and the first half of last season was distinctly average.
Concerns are not just based on catch returns, but the number of fish seen rising. And there haven’t been many – though days have mainly been bright and the river low and clear, not the ideal conditions.
Experienced Tees anglers know where fish ought to be lying. Years – even decades – of fishing have taught us that a cast behind a certain rock, or into the head or tail of certain pools, will invariable bring a response from a trout.
Whether that fish is hooked or landed is another matter, but at least it will be there.
But this season I have fished through many of the usual hotspots with no response at all. In early May I fished methodically through the spa streams, and saw only one fish rise. That’s not so much unusual as unheard of.
It’s not unheard of for me to struggle. I remember days when fish have been rising all over, yet I’ve failed to hook one.
On one memorable occasion a few years ago, there were so many fish splashing at a hatch of sedges that the river surface appeared to be boiling. I had no sedge imitations with me, and no matter what I cast at those fish, they didn’t want to know.
Frustrating as it was, at least there was no doubt that the fish were there. But this season apart from brief spells when three or four fish were taking olives, or small black gnats, I haven’t seen a consistent rise of wild brown trout.
The fish I have caught have been one here, maybe a couple there, but with no consistency.
There was, in a stretch near Cotherstone, a lot of good sized trout taking small black flies. I caught one of about 1lb 5oz, and the following week they were still there in the same pool.
Another of just under a pound and a half took my small black dry, and a good look at the fish confirmed my suspicion that it was a stock fish. It appears that a number of brown trout of about the same size have been stocked.
They provide good sport, but do not help explain where the native trout are.
Maybe signal crayfish, which have been in the Tees a few years now, are making an impact by eating fish eggs. Or maybe it’s just a short term issue and within a year or two fish numbers will increase.
After all, populations of wildlife do vary. There were a few seasons of a noticeable lack of minnows in the Tees – but now they are back.
The same is true of birds. I’ve see more dippers this season, but as yet no kingfishers. Harsh weather, poor breeding seasons, and sometimes a lack of food leads to fluctuations in numbers of certain species.
The trout that have been caught are in fine conditions, despite the cold winter. In years past when winters were often harsh, early season trout had big heads and tails, yet their bodies were thin – until the warm weather brought good feeding and they fattened up.
We’ll see how things progress over the coming weeks before reaching more informed answers.
One thing’s for certain – insect life is good so far. Turn over stones in the shallows and they are teeming with life, while dark and light olives, gnats, hawthorn flies and even the occasional Mayfly have been spotted on the Tees.
One of the joys of trout fishing is being on the bank and in the water, checking out the wildlife. My obsession with all things aquatic has already been noted by my three-year-old granddaughter Imogen.
We were wildlife spotting in a small lake, and I was pointing out birds, insects and fish. Before setting off for home, I was making too much of a fuss of her as I fastened her into her car seat.
“Grandad,” she said. “Just go and look at the fish!”
THE Teesdale reservoirs are fishing well. Latest weekly figures reveal that Grassholme yielded 509 trout to 9lb 8oz, for 165 anglers.
On fly-only Hury 45 anglers caught 112 trout to 3lb. Small black Hoppers and bushy wet flies have caught consistently. Both reservoirs are regularly stocked with rainbows, while a few wild browns have been caught.
