River Team. Chester le St to Team Valley

[Lynnzer]

Whenever I can't get fishing properly (in the sea ) I try a bit of general river fishing, mostly at Durham so far as it's not a venue that requires permits.

So far it has provided me with as much sport as I need but I'm always on the lookout for other potential spots.

I recently came across an article saying that the River Team had just been stocked with chub and dace. A bit of a peculiar mix perhaps, however always up for a go I contacted the Environment Agency and asked about fishing it.
Apparently there is no club associated with the river and I was advised that the rights would be those of the landowners alongside the river, ie riparian rights.
For those in the locality they will know this "river" is little more than a stream at best. It's typically only 8 to 10' wide, some fast flowing shallow stretches and some deeper slow lies most likely with the odd shopping trolley in there or filled with broken branches. I would like to try out a few spots but of course needed permission.

So off I went in search of the landowners.
Before that I first looked at the river itself. The stretch from the Team Valley roundabout where it meets the AI, which runs under the central roundabout then goes underground for a lot of the length in the Team Valley Trading Estate is useless of course but where it re-appears along Queensway it seems a half decent venue with a fastish flow and some mixed bottom runs. It's about 10' wide most of the way and free from a lot of overhanging trees.

This stretch appears to be free for use but I'm waiting for Gateshead Council to confirm. I don't even know if Gateshead own the land it flows through in Team Valley. It may well be owned by some big pension fund or other. Anyway, I guess fishing it won't be a problem along that stretch.
Funny thing is that there's a short stretch in the middle of the actual roundabout just before it disappears underground. It looks as if you could quite easily fish here. You could perhaps park in Sainsbury's or in the road just outside De La Rue's. I guess the adventurous could even take their car onto the actual roundabout under the bridge as its paved and there's plenty of room. Just need to be careful getting on and off if the road is busy.

Now from the A1/Team Valley roundabout upstream is a different thing altogether. The river has a lot of rubbish-branches-etc in it and it's also flowing through fields.
There do appear to be some pretty decent chub lies in deeper pools along the stretch but the river was still high so that may well not be the case when it returns to normal level.
Quite where the dace will go, being creatures of faster aerated water, I really don't know but they'll more than likely find better accommodation a lot further upstream where the water will be of better quality although not as deep and with few proper fishing spots to catch them from.

This is all pretty useless info though. I dug out the landowners of both banks for the stretch from the A1/TVTE roundabout up to the cement works at Chester le St and none of them want anyone entering their land. They have horses in the fields, cattle during parts of the year and don't want aggro of dropped litter, line discarded etc. As well as that they couldn't suffer any potential legal action for any fisherman getting kicked by a horse or trampled by a mad cow. They don't have liability cover for those things.

There'a also the problem of parking along the length of the river where there's already limited access and narrow roads.

So for those who saw the news of the restocking you may well find that the only opportunity to benefit from this is by fishing the stretch running along the Queensway in TVTE itself. Being almost at the point of entry into the Tyne may well mean that any pollutants from upstream, which are supposedly mostly eradicated now, have sufficient density in this lower section to dissuade fish from lurking there at all although the reason for the re-stock was that the river is now thought to be clean enough to hold a decent stock of fish.

I'll be giving the stretch a crack in the next few weeks when the water is a little less coloured and will report back to update for those who also want some of the action.
If anyone else has anything to add to this I'd appreciate it. Any other out of the way spots such as this known to locals in the Tyne to Tees area would be a welcome addition, especially permit free ones.
Finally, what size fish do the Environment Agency put in to restock a river? They may not be big enough to bother with at all at present.

[Ian Alexander]

Hello,
I live very local to this, have a look at the other end of the team valley behind where the big hotel has been built and near to the post office/royal mail.
You can access the river here quite easily and parking is a doddle.

At the Lamesley end you can park at the roadside near the water treatment works and make your way to the river through the cycle track.

I would not park outside of De la Rue.... cars left outside are not good!

Good luck, Ian.

[Ian Alexander]

Just noticed the title of your post.....the river Team doesn't flow from Chester-Le-Street.
It starts up at Harperly and flows down through Beamish, past where I live at Ouston, past Bewick Main to Lamesley wher it flows along the Team Valley (partially underground as you say) where it eventually enters the Tyne at Dunstan having flowed through the old Garden festival Site.
I have watched birds an especially Herons feeding in it along the team Valley but always assumed they were after eels as I've thought of it as quite dirty.
What you say is very interesting, good luck again and let us know how you get on.

Regards Ian

[Bushwhacker]

You say Chub and Dace are a peculiar mix.
They naturally shoal together in most rivers.
Usually when the EA stock any fish they are just a nice bite size for the Cormorants,around 6 to 10 inches...

[Lynnzer]

Gateshead Council response

Just got this back from Gatesehad.

Thank you for your inquiry regarding fishing in the Team Valley, upstream of the Trading Estate/A1.

The only land owned by the Council in the Team Valley upstream of the Trading Estate is at Lamesley Pastures (by the Ravensworth Arms) and further upstream at Ousbrough Wood (near Beamish). This ownership covers both banks of the river at Lamesley Pastures, but the north bank only at Ousbrough Wood. Both are designated Local Wildlife Sites, and managed as nature reserves, with limited, managed public access. In the case of the relevant eastern half of Lamesley Pastures, this access is only to a hide overlooking flood meadows by the River Team which are being managed to attract wetland birds. The Council does not permit fishing on its land on either of these two sites and there is no appropriate access to the river banks.

The Council is also currently in discussion with Durham Wildlife Trust (DWT) regarding the transfer of ownership of both of these sites from the Council to the Trust. However, I have contacted DWT today and the Trust has advised that it would also not permit fishing on either of these two sites.

The rest of the Team Valley upstream of the Trading Estate is in private ownership, and you would need to obtain the relevant landowner's permission to fish on their land.

So it looks as if the cormorants and the otters which are believed to have taken up residence are going to be the only benefactors of the restocking programme.
There are a couple of opportunities beyond the cement works at Birtley where riparian tights may apply and where the landowners may give permission however the river is a little narrow upstream of there and in any case at the suggested restocking size may well not be worth the effort anyway.

I'm asking about the Queensway stretch now to see if Gateshead control that length.

Chub and dace mix. I know that both are shoal fish and do very well in most river systems but they tend to occupy completely different water conditions. Chub are more at home in sluggish water while dace do best in free flowing better aerated water. I know this is a generality but this is what I find in my own fishing exploits. I actually caught a dace on a 3 inch Toby lure last year while spinning for trout at Durham. The lure was almost as big as the fish and the treble was fully in the mouth, all 3 hooks so it was a deliberate take and not a mistake.
As I see it the Team isn't my idea of the ideal place for dace.

__________________________________________________ ________________________________

Queensway. Got word back that the owner of the TVTE is UK Land Estates whose permission would be needed to fish this stretch.
I'm guessing that there won't be any problems in just fishing anyway since I can't see them policing it.
Can't see any policeman getting uptight about that either as they have no independent jurisdiction on private land unless called for.

Now also have an

[Bushwhacker]

Have you tried the Baths stretch at Durham which runs from where the hire boats are moored up to the next bend in the river..This is also free on both banks.
It used to hold some cracking Dace with the odd big Chub and Roach.There was also loads of Gudgeon.
Its 10 years since i fished there so i don,t know if the Cormorants have cleaned it out like elsewhere on the river.
I once had 17 Dace for 13-1/2lb from there in a session in late January on a Stick float set up.

[Lynnzer]

Have you tried the Baths stretch at Durham which runs from where the hire boats are moored up to the next bend in the river..This is also free on both banks.
It used to hold some cracking Dace with the odd big Chub and Roach.There was also loads of Gudgeon.
Its 10 years since i fished there so i don,t know if the Cormorants have cleaned it out like elsewhere on the river.
I once had 17 Dace for 13-1/2lb from there in a session in late January on a Stick float set up.

I was there last week. River's too high and dirty for much at present.
I'm actually more interested in going for pike and perch along that stretch.

To be honest I much prefer fly fishing for trout and grayling on the stretch below the dam behind where the ice rink was. I've also had some decent sea trout out of there on spinners but none on fly. Again the river's far too dirty and not at all conducive to fish taking although I did hit a 10" brownie at the bottom of the free stretch on my first ever comeback to fishing after an absence of 13 years. That was in November.

I lost my dog quite suddenly from a dickie heart and the missus won't let me have another so I thought to hell with it and bought myself a load of tackle again.

Tried the ponds at Herrington Country Park for perch on the 2nd Jan. Not much going on there either. Most times using a floating lure the damn seagulls were bombing it to grab it. Anyway, started to hiss down and gave up.

Last night I was on the beach at Crimdon following the tide out after flatties.
It was quite a pleasant evening even though I blanked. I didn't really expect to catch anyway but given a choice between endless Corries and Emmerdales and the riverside or beach I know I did the right thing.

[Ian Alexander]

Hello Lynnzer,
I was off work today and went out and took some photos to help you in your quest.

These are where the Team runs through the fields opposite my house, there is a public right of way but I don't personally know the farmer to ask fishing permission.

This is looking down towards the river.


And these are two views from the concrete bridge.





From here it runs down past the Bewicke Main caravan park on it's way to Lamesley. Here are two views either side of the road that it runs under.





From here it runs through the Northumbrian water works and comes out at "Moormill Lane" where there is a cycle track next to it. I parked on the roadside here to take the photos.
The river slows a bit here and I have seen birds feeding here.



Now it runs along the roadside at Lamesley through the farm land until it reaches the Team Valley Roundabout and here is the Environment agency level recorder.



Then it runs under the road and through the middle of the roundabout. It is very dangerous to go onto the roundabout and I would not advise people to do this.





As you see it now runs underground for about half of the way along the Team Valley where it comes out near "Queensway North" as you can see in this photo. Access here is eay and it's really quite pleasant along here with lots of urban wildlife to see first thing in the morning. It runs quite slowly here all the way along past the back of the Holiday Inn.







This next photo is where it runs out under the road at the end of the Team Valley on it's way to Dunstan and the Tyne. I don't know it from here.



I hope this has been of some use to you. These are only photos I have taken to show people, I am in no way advising people to trespass or fish at these locations.

Regards Ian

[Lynnzer]

That's a really nice set of pics.
I fished the area directly where it comes out of the undergound run last week.
It was just as you show it in the pics. Running coloured and faster than usual so didn't expect any success there.

The stretch under the A1 in the middle of the roundabout is dangerous to gain access to and if anyone is tempted I'd suggest taking extreme caution. That said it's a nice looking little run.

I was thinking that it may well be the limit of the wanderings of the intro'd fish if they were all released upstream. The undergound bit with no light will possibly be a barrier to normal spread of fish in the early stage of this release. Time will more than likely see them in all of the stretch though.

The phtos you took are great though and give an insight into some of the potenmtial. Some decent lies there.

Will try getting permission further up from the lower stretch I already asked about.
Might go to a couple of farms armed with a bottle.

When I was a kid I used to fish in the Gaunless at West Auckland. I had many a decent brownie out of there. Since as long as I can remember that river was more or less overgrown and nothing more than a ditch but it appears that this is also on the EA's list as it's also been restocked with both chub and dace too. I would guess that the fishing here is also by permission from the landowners.

[SteveG]

Seen quite a few kids fishin the gaunless when ive been walkin the dog. So im guessing they must be catchin sumthing.

It was poluted a number of years back and all the fish were killed some of the brownies were masive that i saw dead.
I use to fish the bridge pool in southchurch when i was a kid biggest fish i had was 2.5lb. You had to be there first light in the summer for a few hours before the traffic got too noisey. Those were the days😊

Anyway some good free water on the tees and bedale beck is unbelievable if you know how to fish it and i supose it depends where you live can be a bit of a treck for the lucky lads livin on the coast😉

[Lynnzer]

Seen quite a few kids fishin the gaunless when ive been walkin the dog. So im guessing they must be catchin sumthing.

It was polluted a number of years back and all the fish were killed some of the brownies were masive that i saw dead.
I use to fish the bridge pool in southchurch when i was a kid biggest fish i had was 2.5lb. You had to be there first light in the summer for a few hours before the traffic got too noisey. Those were the days😊

Anyway some good free water on the tees and bedale beck is unbelievable if you know how to fish it and i supose it depends where you live can be a bit of a treck for the lucky lads livin on the coast😉

I lived in St Helens when I was a kid and we went down to the river Gaunless most days. It had a decent run of water at the time. There were a scattering of deepish slow pools which we managed to dam up and make into a large swimming pool. Most of the fishing I did was just after the bridge where the station used to be.
There were loads of water voles along the stretch those days but I doubt if there's any there now.
I remember there was a couple of large really deep lakes alongside the river, well --- off the river by a hundred yards or so, which were formed by an underground stream coming through where the extraction of whatever material was being done by a large crane at Tindale. I fished one of those lakes which had the top of the crane showing out of the water. The top 4 feet stuck out and we used it as a diving platform. The water was crystal clear. Myself and my dad went fishing at Raby Castle moat and came away with a bucketful of perch for the table. When we dropped them into the sink to clean them off a few were still alive so I took them down here and put them in.
Within no time at all they were everywhere. Some were up to a couple of pounds and they provided some healthy sport. I joined the army aged 15 around that time (1962) so didn't get there much from then on.
I believe it was taken on by an angling club for a short while then filled in. There were around 4 small pools there too. Possibly up to 50' long and not very wide or deep but they had some small fish in them which for life of me I can't say were identifiable, even now. They were a variety of colours and I seem to remember some being blue in colour and reds etc. I guess they could have been introduced by someone who emptied an aquarium. Or they could have been sticklebacks but I knew what they looked like.

Anyway, the South Church stretch does have (or at least did have) some deep pools. On my recent travels along the road from Bishop to Barnie the river mostly seems to have dried up and become so narrow to make it worthless as a fishery. An odd flood now and then covered the road but soon dropped down to very low flow again.

I hope the river has had a resurgence. May look at it next time I'm over there.

Another fantastic little place to fish albeit a way off is the river Lava running into the Ure at Ripon.
I was in the Royal Engineers there and the river ran through our camp grounds. It's only a few feet wide, shallow for most of its stretch but hey, it has some fantastic grayling fishing as well as brownies..
I bought a 6 foot fly rod to use there some years ago and had some decent sport. Not many places you could cast a fly but there were a few places you could drop in a maggot on very light tackle mostly before the river ran into and around Ripon. This is also (or was) permit free fishing. I never bothered with gaining permission for the bits I fished (outside of camp) I just went onto the riverside and got on with it.

There's a certain magic in fishing these sort of places which you don't get from a river of any decent size. It's a different environment completely.

Now, off out to Crimdon beach again this morning. I won't catch again I doubt as I've missed high tide but there's supposed to be decent flattie fishing around low tide. I did get one a couple of visits ago. With the lack of savage cold weather up here I'm also of the opinion that there may still be bass patrolling the coastline. You never know what you'll get when you cast into the sea.

[discodazz]

I tried to get permission to fish the Team a few years ago with no luck. Always thought it looked like it would hold trout. Have you tried doing a sample to see if theres any insects in the river? If there isnt any I would be surprised if theres any fish other than the introduced ones. Good luck getting permission.
Daryn

[g.ordon]

great thread this with good pics and info, always wondered about the river when crossing on the trading estate.

[ecoli]

seen the article about the stocking and the river is on my door step there is a canny stretch runs through the old garden festival site

[moocher]

river team

http://www.communityforest.org.uk/resources/river_team.pdf