top pegs

[The Traveler]

well with nearly thirty years behind me as a fisherman (game mostly) ive been around a bit so to speak so here  a few good shots for the angler who hasnt branched out to much.

The 1st section is foir rivers.

1, The River wharfe for amounts of barbel unbeatable in my eyes.
2,the swale cos it s very local
3 the tees for a variety of species including salmon and trout.
4 the wear for unusual sized barbel massive jus very hard to target and catch.and not in great quantitys
5 the tyne(and all tribrutries) cos of the incredable runs of salmon and trout
6 the greta for nice brownies


lakes and ponds carp pools

1 comercial fishery woodlands willow garth pond sh#t hot.
2 grafton mere for better carp and cats
3 farmire trout fisheries for his carp to hell with his rainbows
4 stonebridge lakes for the trouty ppl
5 cassop pond near coxhoe for tench and crucians free water
6 eden meadows cos me and the owner go back a long way + he s got some super sized roach in there
7 our natural lakes in cumbria for a diverse fish population wild arctic char and true breeding rainbows as well as white fishes like the skelly and vendace
8 semerwater for mad amounts of bream
 

plus they are numerous amounts of places for the spcialist angler ie heavy carp men and pike men

personally i like small rivers and streams

[The Traveler]

barbel from the river wear can be caught from:the end of the sands in durham city centre,thats where the fair and the circus goes to,to the begining of the kepeir farm private road well sighn posted,from the end of the sands where the pipe crosses thee water, near where the life jacket right is, where the bt green box thing is,from their downover is only a few hundred yards this is where most of the barbel from the free section come from on the wear at durham,ive heard of 14lb fish coming from there from reliable ppl,ive seen several fish over the years cruising about well over 15lbs,after that the next best pegs are at bishop aukland,the old weir pools (the batts) also from kepeir woods felling fly fishers have jus opened a course section,they most productive pool being "ban the bomb"yer can miss it from kepeir side which is private look for cnd graffiiti symbol painted on the rocks opposite, some hippy from the 60s done it whiles under the influence,but ive seen the river wear record barbel in there and seen several over 15lbs mark,again on the wear for barbel try the baths section loads of smaller ones but stil they must be the odd big one lurking about there somewhere,chester le street holds barbel below the weir in the park section so to does fichale abbey,and the via duct near frankland prison,a e/a fisheries officer who i know well told me they seen barbel up at wolsingham whilst observing salmon and sea trout on the reds spawning,so they get about even behind whitton castle on that part of the fly only section,they get everywhere,or and the confluence between the river browney and the river wear they only go up to where the weir is on the browney near croxdale,the wear is impassable even in major floods,or the barbel dont like the streamy water one of the two,so their you go some hard earned knowlagde shared for all

[The Traveler]

Cassop
 easy to find
  full to the brim with tench and crucians
   Directions are as follows coming from stockton takle the A177 past the horse and jockey,upto the little chef at sedgefeild take a left at the roundabout carry straight on for about a mile or so take a right at the next roundabout,go past hardwick hall for about 4-5 miles,take a right for coxhoe after turning right carry on for about 600 yards then turn right at the lights where the bank is,carry on through  quarrington hill till you come to cassop,when in cassop look for the post office (blink youl miss it) opposite the post office is a public right of way through a gate way drive down to the bottom of the bank and thier you go cassop.good methods are maggot feeder fished close to the edge or fished jus a few feet away from the weed beds,fish in to the middle and youl end up with loads of small roach and perch.species include tench,roach,perch,crucians,bream,chub and a few carp including a few kois and ghost as well as common and mirror

[The Traveler]

castle loch

just out  not far from moffat near dumfries,offers some of the best bream fishing ive ever had 100lb+ bags are not uncommon but be prepared to put a quantity of feed in as the shoals of bream are huge,a pint of maggots or a few tins of swetcorn just isnt going to do,try a gallon of maggots and about 30 tins of corn at least,but the rewards are- rewarding.
They is a good head of pike there to for the predator fisherman,also roach a small trout polulation and the lake was once home to the,vendace now extinct in scotland,scotish vendace are extict but restocking from cumbrian lakes has proven positive in other lakes in scotland

[The Traveler]

ministeracres

off the A68
 
TAKE  the A68 head for corbridge follow the road for miles on end go past castleside bank towards corbridge still when yer traveling down the road and yer come to a section of raod down a big bank not castleside after that,you will know it cos the forestry commision have been tree felling there look for stock piles of trees stacked up and bare forestry,when yer naerly at the bottom of the bank you should see a left turning saying ministeracreas monestry,thats where the pond is,its let to langley park ac durham but i beleive day tickets are available not sure,it only sem to have perch in but millions of them mostly 2-7 o/zs but if yer use live minnows its a whole new ball game,perch being about two lbs being the amin sort of size but me freinds who fish it have had em up to four lbs,a few very large eels reside in the pond to,but seem to be nocturnal-----the most perch ive ever caught in my life in one sesion was in that pond

[The Traveler]

Dalton beck

Wheres that;- turn off for scotch corner head for penrith drive about 10 miles maximum up the A66 You will see a left turning for dalton a one track road,folow the road and you will come to a crossroads go straight ahead for a bout a mile or so,when yer come to a right hand corner in the road it will be the only one yer come to where yer can park the car with utmost safety near the farmers gate,it all public footpaths across feilds and no one owns the fishing rights landowners i mean,its a tiny little beck very straemy and shallow but has deeper holes if yer the stalking type,it fishes best when raging in flood yer jus gota remember where the deep holes were when the river was low,trout fishing like yer wouldnt beleive,most of em are small 3-8 inches but yer get some nice ones sometimes in the two lb bracket,bear in mind these are true wild fish which inhabit high altitude streams and they reach 2lbs+ thats quite something for the size of this tiny beck,like i say though it really need extra water to fish for anything decent.
it also has a thriveing population of english crayfish and bullheads-trout food!

[The Traveler]

The River Leven

A small tributary of the river tees,the old cross keys pub at leven bank used to provide the fishing,but no longer as the pub got washed away with a big flood,it once used to be tidal,but no longer tiadal since the errection of the tees barrage,species include salmon.sea trout,brown,trout,odd rainbows,pike,chub,dace,gudgeon roach,perch,minnow and odd bream in the lower end of the river,ive heard of several barbel catches coming from around the ingleby barwick area,being only samllish fish in the 2-5 lb bracket-give them time though this little river is full of natural food.
This year the e/a announced that they were to install a fish pass at the cross keys section(leven bank) to help the passage of migratory fish ie;salmon,sea trout and lampreys,this will be the first time in over 150 years that migratory fish will have and easyer passage upstream.
Just think of it sea trout fishing in the upper reaches of the leven,stokesly,hilton, great ayton and hutton rudby plus all the feeder streams that come off from the leven,cant be bad

[The Traveler]

The River Swale.

Fantastic local river this is where the northeast rivers start to change,from lowland slow flowing rivers usually with sand river beds to rocky river beds ie;the tees and tyne,the river wear being a spate river.
So the swale-vast peice of water,from myton to reeth.
Topcliffe is mostly private but a leeds ticket is a good start, yer can get a leeds ticket from gus at catterick fishing complex,proper value for money.
SO we start with myton,chub, barbel,roach,dace,bleak,ruffe,and pike these are the main species in general till yer get upcountry a bit where trout and grayling populations can be found as well as bream in the more slower sections but the bream can be localised.
Baits can include maggot,caster,(hemp),tares,pellet,meat,black slugs,paste,cheese,bread,fly,worm and dead baits and lures,these baits will work in most sections of the swale both up river and down river.
Helperby,myton,topcliffe,skipton on swale,asenby,cundall lodge,thornton bridge,sheephils farm(cundall),brompton on swale,richmond,reeth and around the kirkby fleetham area,not nesserceraly in that order-brilliant all round river,with increaseing numbers of migrants every year(salmon etc)

[The Traveler]

Dalehouse beck!!!
A small stream/beck-its headwaters start near scailing dam and run down to staithes near port mulgrave where its salt waterish.
Small trout and minnows and bullheads are the main species,but from around june - october,september and october being the best months,once some rain has fell, needs a good few days to get it into flood,once yer get the water in  yer can be fishing for super fresh run sea trout in a very very tiny stream,best method 6lb line free lineing worm(s) or tiny devon minnows,mepps and flying "C"s,ive seen shoals of sea trout on top of each other near the weir is at dalehouse,something like what yer expect to see in a canadian river,sh~t loads,but they is a downfall the sea trout are mostly smallish fish around the two lb mark but ive had a few out over the years to nearly 8lb which is a hell of a good size sea trout for this venue

[The Traveler]

Cod Beck.
the beck not the big resevoir at osmotherly,stay away from osmotherly the game keepers and locals will grass yer for fishing there.
But the beck itself is a good shot around the thirsk area for the usual chub,roach,gudgeon,dace,perch etc...with a few barbel chuked in never seen a cod beck barbel yet but they there,two or three yaers ago during a match one of the anglers pulled in a dead grilse(salmon under 8lbs spent one year at sea) so this little beck has potential-quaint place where one can chill ones self in some fine scenery,its not unusuall to see deer drinking from the water and foxes mooching about

[rod]

travellor , have you ever seen/caught a migrant on the swale, i do a fair bit of fishing on the swale because i live near richmond. Ive heard of a 6lb spring sea trout come out of the swale at catterick but apart from that ive heard its crap. i didnt know its got any salmon etc.

[gazmalman]

ive caught a salmon from the ouse below york so theres no reason at all why they shouldn't be running into the swale

[The Traveler]

ive never caught a salmon from the swale but seen me 1st one this year at topclife,gus from catterick complex seen a salmon or two over the years at the swale near the fisherie he manages,the ouse always gets fish every year so do does the wharfe,ure and to the lesser extent the nidd.
But a few more years of anti pollution control if you like will cure the problem,and im sure the swale and the like will be game river s as well as course.
The river wharfe used to be a prime salmon river back in the day with salmon taveleing as far up as ilkley area.
Even the river don is getting runs of salmon again so to is the trent so time will tell.watch then rent for fishing culbs go up when salmon and sea trout runs arrive!

[The Traveler]

a salmon from the ouse is an acheivment,how big was it? and can yer remember what time of year it was? or and were you fishing in the tide if so was the tide  up or down? cheers

[The Traveler]

spring sea trout are very rare even in the north east, most sea trout start to run about may, time late may usually, and they are usually the ones that will be present in the lower end of the river,so a sea trout that is the swale at catterick in spring which is a hell of a long way from the sea,and more than two river s to get to catterick,through a multitude of weirs and obstacles,encountering many shallow stretches of water,i think and  im not contradicting what you say but the sea trout at catterick was probly a kelt a fish that has already spawned and on its way back down to sea,a spring fish that far up that early in the year is very unlikely,so it may have been a spawned fish,but still whichever it is its a good start to migrants making a come back-bring it on thats what i say