Following news that the Tyne had a small lift on Saturday, we packed our gear and headed up the M6.
We didn’t have any solid plans and would play it by ear once we got up to the river.
The sun was out and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky – not ideal!
We made the decision to try our upper most beat, hoping some fish had moved up after the rain. Whitchester is a lovely beat that ideally needs water. A pig to wade.
My pal started further down while I decided to fish from the uppermost shingle all the way through.
The heat on the water makes a nice picture but it’s not ideal for fishing!
I started with a small orange shrimp pattern and then changed to a smaller silver stoat with a slow sink tip, working in and around the nooks and crannies.
The fish, if they are here, usually show themselves on the far bank. But we didn’t see any movement.
It’s not the easiest water to navigate in waders especially given the heat of the sun. I fished hard all the way down to within 40 yards of the end of the run. My fly got nailed a couple of times by small parr.
At this point I came out of the water, watched the world go by and to dried off some of the sweat (it’s September for God’s sake!).
I met up with Dave my fishing pal who had the same success as me and a mild sun tan!
The river had fallen off quite quickly after the rain and in the sunny conditions we decided to give the rest of the South Tyne beats a miss and head over to the main river above Dilston.
We drove the 11 miles or so through Hexham, stopping off at the weir. There were a lot of fish still waiting to come up the weir but none of them were attempting it.
Walking to the beat it became apparent that the river was on it’s bones. The beat at Widehaugh always has fish in it and they show themselves constantly.
We met some of the lads from the club who were contemplating what to do. After a brief chat we decided to walk further up the beat through the ‘jungle’ to a lesser fished spot. We had no expectations of catching sadly.
The beat itself is a course fisherman’s dream!
There were fish showing throughout, potted and frustrated at the lack of rain in their quest to get up and out of the river.
We fished through the beat with a shrimp rig a few times but it seemed almost futile. The highlight was a Salmon leaping and then landing on the float!
Things aren’t looking good at the moment and we need some rain. Sadly there is nothing forecast for at least 10 days!
Tight lines
Dave
onthedangle 