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Summer Fishing (Part Two): Coarse Angling in the North East & North Yorkshire
While Game, and to a lesser extent Sea Fishing, still rule the roost in this north easternmost corner of England, there is no doubt that Coarse Angling is deserving of the far higher profile it’s earned in recent years. And this isn’t just thanks to the huge interest that’s been gained through commercial enterprises like The Angel of the North Lakes, excellent though these fisheries are. Right across the region, angling clubs and associations have made their own contributions, with County Durham in particular now dotted with an array of ponds and small lakes that can be fished by members for a modest yearly subscription. Rivers too are on the up. While the North Yorkshire rivers Swale and Ure, and their half-blood cousin, the Tees, have for many years all held a strong association with coarse fishing, species such as barbel, pike, chub, perch, roach, dace and grayling are all now regularly caught by anglers on the River Wear also, and with the exception of just one or two of these species, the Tyne.
In fact there’s something for everyone, provided the angler can accept that the geographical positioning of the reason means that bag weights and specimen fish sizes won’t often compare to those splashed across the front pages of the popular angling press. Still, gargantuan match winning hauls of silver fish aren’t totally unheard of on North East waters and the weights of the biggest carp on many of the more well-established ponds in the area are creeping ever closer to 30lb. Big pike, too, are found in a number of the region’s stillwaters – and in some of its rivers – double-figure barbel are a realistic prospect on any of the rivers Swale, Ure, Tees and Wear and chub, perch and grayling are all caught on these waters too to specimen sizes. Even roach are now taken to 2lb in the region and a British Record dace was caught on the River Wear within the last decade.
Even so, there are still parts of the region where coarse fishing venues are harder to find, usually corresponding to those parts where the population is sparsest. Northumberland is one such area, although the main River Tyne (between Hexham and Newburn) has coarse fishing, and two local clubs, Big Waters and Wansbeck & Cramlington, each possess several excellent stillwaters. There is also Bolam Lake for the pike angler and the Tyne Anglers Alliance is another association that provides quality coarse fishing (with several stillwaters and a stretch of the Tyne at Newburn) to members of its affiliate clubs, which include those two already mentioned and several others based in Tyne & Wear and Co. Durham. There are no true coarse species found in any of the rivers in Northumberland, however, (the grayling found in the Blyth and the Derwent are regarded – and fished for – as a game fish), except for the Tweed, which contains dace, grayling and roach in its lower reaches.
A barbel from the River Wear
Indeed the river fishing in the area does tend to improve the further south you go – for the most part, the rivers Tees, Swale and Ure are more reliable coarse fisheries than the Wear and the Tyne. This corresponds to the less harsh winter temperatures and the warmer summer days that are generally experienced in the Vale of York, but even so, their more northerly counterparts are still worthy of consideration. The Wear and the Tees each boast several clubs with significant coarse angling contingents, and the Annual Ghurkha And Tyne Championship matches on the Tyne are major events on the local angling calendar.
There are too many individual stillwater fisheries and stretches of rivers to list here, so instead here are the names (with links where appropriate) of a some of the clubs in the region that offer coarse fishing to their members, and in some cases also issue day tickets:
*Big Waters Angling Club . Several stillwater fisheries in North Tyneside and Northumberland
*Wansbeck and Cramlington Angling Club . Several stillwater fisheries in South East Northumberland.
*Leazes Park Angling Club . Big Carp and mixed coarse at Leazes Park Lake in Newcastle city centre, as well mixed coarse fishing at Forresters Pond in Durham, and Thornbrough Lake near Corbridge.
*The Tyne Anglers Alliance. Several stillwaters in the Tyne Valley and a stretch of the Tyne at Newburn. Members of the asterisked clubs on this list are automatically affiliated and can fish Alliance waters.
*Blyth Freshwater Angling Club . Two ponds near Blyth.
*Durham City Angling Club . Several stretches of the River Wear and stillwater angling available by contacting the club directly.
Chester-le-Street Angling Club. Several stretches of the River Wear.
Silksworth Angling Club . Big carp and mixed coarse fishing at Silksworth Lakes in Sunderland.
Middlesbrough Angling Club (permits from Redcar Angling Centre, 159 High Street, Redcar, or Anglers Choice, 98 Cumberland Road, Middlesbrough): Several stillwaters in the Teesside area as well as a stretch of the Tees at Over Dinsdale.
Yarm Angling Club. Several miles of the lower Tees around Yarm, a stretch of the middle Tees at Low Middleton and two stillwaters.
Richmond & District Angling Society . Several Miles of fishing on the River Swale and a couple of ponds in North Yorkshire.
*Member Clubs of the Tyne Anglers Alliance.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that there are two stretches of the River Wear in Durham, and several further locations on the River Tees that are ‘free water’ to any angler in possession of a valid EA rod licence. This means neither club membership nor day tickets are required to fish on these sections. Look here for more details.
©The Fishing Archives 2011. All Rights Reserved.
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There is much more detailed information on Coarse Fishing in the North East and North Yorkshire (as well as all other angling disciplines in the region) in the newly published book, The Lambton Worm: The Definitive Guide to Angling in North East England by Pete McParlin, which is out now, published by Amberley :
The sport of angling has a rich tradition in the North East of England. From the fabled salmon fishing of the Tweed and the Tyne, to the fine spate river and reservoir trout angling found throughout the area’s valleys and hills, taking in the beaches, rocks and piers of the Northumbrian coastline, and not forgetting North Yorkshire and some of the finest coarse angling the UK has to offer – this region is unsurpassed.
The Lambton Worm is both angling guide and handbook, while at the same time giving an insight into the very essence of the sport in this most northerly corner of England. Discover not only the best places to try for almost every kind of fish found in the area, but delve deep into the history and folklore of each angling discipline in turn. Find out how salmon returned to the Tyne after almost half a century away, how stillwater trout fishing became so popular and how some fish appeared in rivers and lakes in quite mysterious circumstances! If that’s not enough, there is also a look at the fishing from a seasonal perspective – for whatever the weather, the sport up here is only ever on your doorstep.
192 Pages
50 Photographs
28 Diagrams
Published by Amberley Publishing on 1st August 2011 and available from all good bookshops throughout the North East and at Amazon.co.uk
I have enjoyed reading this article, I will have to stop working so much and get back into fishing
Thanks guys
Alex
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