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Post by kev g 1953 on Dec 7, 2020 22:26:59 GMT
Just thought I'd put fingers to keyboard to fill in a few minutes and ask opinion on Tees chub or lack of them recently. How come the Swale, Nidd and Wharf all produce decent size chub? In reasonable numbers no matter what time of year? Is it because of the terrain the feeder streams flow over, is it because the Tees river bed is mainly rock until you get to Croft Darlington areas? So the river is predominantly a trout river from source to upper reaches of the lower Tees, there again similar could be said of the Swale, or possibly more cold water entering the Tees in Upper Teesdale, or cold water being released from reservoirs. I must admit more recently I've been taking notes on my fishing trips and one common factor in fish not showing or the one that does is a minor chevin, is the water temperature in my last 4 Tees outings the river temperature has never been more than 5 to 7 degrees,but its well known that chub are the only fish that feed even under the harshest of conditions. Also chub are a shoal fish, but you don't read on here of anyone netting a bag full of decent chub, the most I've caught in one session is 5 and 3 of those where juveniles.
Could it be lack of matches on the middle sections, hence lack of feed going in as mentioned before on here, although I would think that's the same on the Yorkshire rivers.
Could it be fertiliser entering the water course?
Could it be Covid 😅
Could it be Brexit 😅,
Just food for thought, now I'm no expert and I'm not saying I'm right or I'm wrong, these are just my recent thoughts, observations etc. If we're not fishing we may as well talk about it.
Will be interesting to hear other "expert" opinions.
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Tees Chub
Dec 7, 2020 23:10:43 GMT
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Post by glen on Dec 7, 2020 23:10:43 GMT
Most decent chub I've had is 5 on a cold january afternoon biggest 5.4 other 4 between 3 an 4 pound all on cheese paste
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Post by kev g 1953 on Dec 8, 2020 9:56:54 GMT
Hi Glen Good fish by any means, and again proves the point that they are certainly in the Tess, but are few and far between.
I set myself a challenge this season of a 4,5+ and barbel from a Tees club stretch, OK I made it difficult by just opting for one local section,im not really a roving angler which will be hindering my challenge. I've had the 4 but If I don't succeed this season (which is looking likely) then maybe I'll have to adapt my style to roving next season.
Your fish where caught January last season I presume, and I presume you've been out quite often since then? now I know 6lb plus chub are in my challenge stretch as lads on here have caught them there, barbel where caught last season. I'm 98% sure I was snapped by a barbel early this season.
So it brings me back to my jest of the thread really of why is it Yorkshire rivers are far more productive re chub than the Tees, now I've fished the Tees for years, I've also fished Leeds waters at Topcliffe, Asenby and Fawdington one thing I've noticed is that the Yorkshire rivers have far more bankside cover in the way of bushes and willows etc where the Tees tends to be more tree lined, could this have an influence on matters? Also I realise that for one angler who fishes the Tees probably ten fish the Yorkshire rivers, hence more anglers equals more fish caught, but even so these chub tend to all be decent fish, and not the usual stamp of 2 to 3lb chub we catch on the Tees.
Anyway as I say just a thread to kick start the grey matter in these hard times.
Tight Lines
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Post by glen on Dec 8, 2020 11:31:41 GMT
Biggest chub ive had from the stretch is 6.10 caught it twice a couple of month apart and lost a few barbel on light gear from this stretch 2018/19 so they are there dropped out the club a year ago now had barbel from cundall farm and fawdington day ticket so its not the technique its just a matter of putting the hours in good luck mate
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Tees Chub
Dec 8, 2020 13:22:48 GMT
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Post by kev g 1953 on Dec 8, 2020 13:22:48 GMT
Excellent Glen, agree they are there as you correctly say, it's putting the time and effort in. I've never fished Cundall no need really with being a Leeds member but I may go sometime soon as my lads in the Raf and is keen on Barbel fishing etc, he's home on leave soon after 3 months in the US dodging Covid but that's another story. Cundall could be on the cards for a visit.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2020 15:44:35 GMT
Like everyone else I've watched most of the chub fishing videos on youtube where anglers are fishing rivers like the Stour,Trent, and Great Ouse and 6 pound fish seem commonplace,sometimes more than 1 in a session. Nobody has a definitive answer as to why they grow so big on these rivers but all the anglers agree on the obvious factors like natural food,water quality,and anglers baits. The banks of these rivers are fished heavily every day and there must be mountains of pellets and boilies going in,so much that the fish must come to expect them and view them as almost natural food. I can't imagine these fish have any need to move about much,they don't need to when bait is going in every day but unfortunately we have a completely different scenario on the Tees. I think that when we go chubbing we have 2 choices of how to fish. 1.Fish one peg and hope that there's resident fish or feed regularly and attempt to draw fish from other areas. 2.Rove from peg to peg and have a proactive attitude of finding the fish,my preferred method unless it's dark when I won't move much. It still doesn't mean we'll catch chub,maybe none there,or simply not feeding during the hours we are there and that's why I prefer to have a couple of hours into the dark on most sessions to increase the chance of a fish or two. Quite why it's been hard recently is a difficult one,could be something as simple as the change in seasons and water levels or something a bit more sinister in the river that's putting the fish off. We know the chub are there,we've caught plenty during the summer months,and as keen chub angler I'll keep searching areas with perseverance and enthusiasm hoping to find a few fish. Looking for big fish can be a soul destroying pursuit and only for the more hardy among us,a lot easier fishing commercials every week,but to be honest I wouldn't have it any other way. It's a type of fishing that's difficult to explain and only understood by those of us who take part .
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Tees Chub
Dec 8, 2020 17:49:54 GMT
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Post by kev g 1953 on Dec 8, 2020 17:49:54 GMT
Good report Graeme, agree re Trent, stour, ouse, etc. Not sure that the same could be said for the local Yorkshire rivers, still all food for thought though, which is the idea of the thread.
Hopefully more opinions / thoughts etc will follow.
👍
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Post by jacques on Dec 8, 2020 20:04:49 GMT
i have been fishing the Tees and leven for silvers most summer and autumn outings for a couple of years now. The lower river from Middleton one row down to Stockton is heaving with silvers. Dace roach chublets perch and bream. So they are breeding ok. But were are the bigger fish to produce these huge amounts of smaller fish?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2020 20:51:23 GMT
Yep,that's the big question. They're either not there,we're fishing in the wrong places,or we're just not very good. Joking apart there's probably no more than half a dozen of us trying to share a bit of information on many miles of river so it's no wonder we struggle sometimes.
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Tees Chub
Dec 8, 2020 22:10:19 GMT
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Post by Marc on Dec 8, 2020 22:10:19 GMT
I just wonder if alot of larger chub have moved down river and made residence there deeper water for safety. It's like the river ouse the chub are in very deep pegs and not really spread out.
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Post by samvimes on Dec 8, 2020 22:41:04 GMT
Whilst there are undoubtedly issues on the Tees, and other Pennine rivers, it's worth remembering that a Tees fish was the record UK chub. It was caught at Blackwell in 1994 at 8lb 10oz. The record stood until 2003. The Tees wasn't always seemingly incapable of supporting big chub.
I tend to take notice of the Tees, Swale and Ure, though I have barely fished the Ure and, until about five years ago, had barely fished the Tees. Even in that relatively short time, I've noticed changes on the Tees. If nothing else, the big perch seem far less prevalent now than five years back. I believe that the higher reaches of all three are a pale shadow of the coarse fisheries they once were. Trout (and grayling) zones on all three appear to be extending further downstream over time, yet neither of those species appear to be as prolific as they once were. Decent chub and barbel numbers also seem to be dwindling year on year. Those that are left are thin on the ground and are slowly disappearing from the higher reaches. I can't recall the last Swale barbel I've seen above Langton bridge outside of the brief period when they migrate upstream to breed.
I really don't know exactly what might have changed in the last twenty years or so, but it appears that something has. For one reason or another, successful breeding of most species seems to be relatively poor, though some years are better than others. Dace and chublet numbers on the Swale have been fairly decent in the last three years or so, and there are reasonable numbers of fingerling grayling this year. My guess is that it will be a combination of factors to blame for poor recruitment. Abstraction/low summer flow rates, increasing water temperatures, organo-phosphates, pesticides, poor invertebrate numbers, increasing weed/algae growth, and unusually high summer floods could all be (variable) limiting factors. Then there is the possibility that unseen pollutants, such as increased estrogen levels in the water, may be affecting fish fertility.
All of these things are before the spectre of predation is even considered. I'm not one of those that gets overly aerated by the presence of otters on our rivers. However, there's little doubt that their numbers are (or were) greater than they were thirty years back. The other significant change is the numbers of cormorants coming inland. Both species are inevitably going to further increase pressure on stocks if they aren't being maintained by good recruitment. The only saving grace is that as fish stocks reduce, so should predator numbers. A balance will be found in this regard. I'm pretty well convinced that otter numbers on the upper Swale have actually diminished in recent years.
Ultimately, natural fish stocks are hellishly complex and variable. Even in a river doing pretty well, there will be fairly natural peaks and troughs in certain species, maximum sizes and overall numbers. Throw a few less natural factors in and it simply makes the picture even more complex. As anglers, all we can really do is to make hay while the sun shines and target the most available species, or the bigger specimens of a certain species, as and when they occur.
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Tees Chub
Dec 8, 2020 22:51:48 GMT
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Post by blacktasker steve on Dec 8, 2020 22:51:48 GMT
Its brexit, cos the chub have heard the French Fisher men want to fish ALL our waters
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Post by kev g 1953 on Dec 9, 2020 10:43:53 GMT
Excellent replies thoughts chaps, just what I was trying to energise. Even BkackstarSteve may have a point 😉😉
Good point re otters and especially cormorant. Plus we've had our issues with seals lately.
Anyway excellent
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Post by Mick on Dec 10, 2020 7:25:04 GMT
Also a lot more seals on the Tees which are moving further and further up the Tees each year, I'm now catching bream in areas that you would never see one years ago, I'm convinced that the seals are pushing them up, some stretches I've had them from are not at all what you would class as bream habitat, it's much more grayling and trout fast shallow water. Also I the swale is much more heavily fished than the Tees, and the bait going into the swale is more aimed at barbel so it's mainly high protein big baits with feeder fulls of the same going in to, lot more crays on the swale too which helps the chub put on weight but also has the adverse affect of reducing the numbers due to the crays eating the eggs, so fewer chub meaning more food for the remainder 😉
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2020 20:35:00 GMT
The Tees has certainly changed over the years. There was always lots of trout to catch in the middle reaches and grayling only down as far as the Broken Scar area. Never saw a perch for years,chub and dace were what we were fishing for and bream were only found in stillwaters. The barrage has to have had an effect on the species found in the river and the bream are definitely moving upstream,this 6 pound fish was caught above Croft bridge (not by me though).
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