The Upstream Fish count shows only 565 fish passing through the fish counter at Durham. This is by far the worst September figure on record on the EA site.

The water levels have been very low and finally rain has arrived. At 5:30 today the river was nowhere near running at spate but it was rising and moss could be seen floating downstream.

You can keep an eye on the weather forecast and river levels with the links at the side of this page. Fingers crossed.

March 22nd 2015 seems a long way off as another Trout Season closes on the river. We’ve had some excellent sport with fish reported over 2lb and many more good fish not too far behind.

The 2nd stocking went in a little late because of water conditions earlier in the year but they held in our waters very well with great fishing right up to the end of September but it was not only the stockies which provided the good sport.

We now have October to enjoy fishing for migratories. I have reports that the river has a good number of Sea Trout lying in the pools but have been very difficult to tempt in the recent water conditions. We need to hope for a change in the weather to bring through a good salmon run and finish the season in style.

There is a link at the side of the page which will take you to the Met Office weather forecast if you want to look ahead. Maybe a rain dance would be a better bet.

The Upstream Fish Counts will be published in the next few days and again a link on this page can take you to that EA site.

Thanks for reading, please remember to “follow” this site, you will then receive an e-mail whenever it is updated AND tell other anglers. As a new site we need to spread awareness among all club members.

The Grayling seem very active but a little confused. There have been increased numbers of Grayling caught recently on Willington waters at a time when the Sea Trout action has been quiet.

Having had a Sea Trout (3lb ish) just before dark it seemed like a good night ahead when I lifted into another fish. This time though it was a Grayling of about 14 inches, followed a little while later by a second slightly smaller.

How about that, 2 Grayling taken after dark on traditional Sea Trout flies, an Alexandra and a Dunkeld.

Well, the Brownies continue to provide great sport. With just a few weeks of the trout season remaining the fish seem determined to keep up the action, and increasing numbers of Grayling are getting in on the action too.

We’ve enjoyed some top quality sport with excellent fish this year. A number of brownies over 2lb have been reported with many well above the 1lb mark.  The stockies have held well which has helped massively. While the river remains low and we wait for good numbers of Salmon and Sea Trout we have 3 weeks of good Brown Trout sport to make the most of.

Follow the link at the side of the page to EA Upstream fish counts.

The August figures for fish passing through the fish counter at Framwellgate Bridge have been added. Just over two thousand fish for the month, pretty disappointing but given the water levels perhaps not altogether unexpected.

Use this link to keep up to date with upstream fish movement, update monthly with figures also available as a daily breakdown and for the Tyne.

Overnight rain may help to stimulate fish movement. Any change in levels can be viewed on this site using the link on the side of the page EA River Levels.

(more…)

Unfortunately this site was not around when other competitions were fished, here’s a brief catch-up. (more…)

The competition was fished at Witton Castle Lakes in what can best be described as testing conditions.

A howling wind, gale force was forecast, contrived to keep the numbers down but those who fished had a great day despite the conditions. (more…)

The K. D. Johnson Cup For the heaviest “bag” caught by a senior member in accordance with the rules of the venue. 2014 : Witton Castle Lakes . Sunday 17^th August . 8:00am to 5:00pm. We will be fishing the K D Johnson Competition at Witton Castle Lakes on Sunday. Members may begin fishing at 8:00am with the weigh in at 5:00pm. A competition well worth supporting and a great days fishing too. (more…)