The Wear at Durham

[mick dunn]

Well guys saw some nice Salmon caught from the free stretch so thought i,d up my reservoir licence to migratory fish.
Been fishing twice now on 5 hr afternoon late evening sessions and guess what--I,ve blanked.
Like a divvy i have gone out and even bought a Salmon rod and reel with heavier line.
Tried today with the different spey casting and was,nt to bad.
Tried spinning rod with black flying C,s, Floating with dyed purple prawn, Trout flys on the trout rod and usual stuff on my reservoir gear.
Some of the lads who know the game reckon we need more water for the fish to move.Which does make sense when you think about it.
On a final note i have been talking to the lads who fish at the Chester section and this seems better water. It is tidal and holds more fish. The hurdle is the dam at Chester park.

Tight lines Mick.

[Jimk2]

Well guys saw some nice Salmon caught from the free stretch so thought i,d up my reservoir licence to migratory fish.
Been fishing twice now on 5 hr afternoon late evening sessions and guess what--I,ve blanked.
Like a divvy i have gone out and even bought a Salmon rod and reel with heavier line.
Tried today with the different spey casting and was,nt to bad.
Tried spinning rod with black flying C,s, Floating with dyed purple prawn, Trout flys on the trout rod and usual stuff on my reservoir gear.
Some of the lads who know the game reckon we need more water for the fish to move.Which does make sense when you think about it.
On a final note i have been talking to the lads who fish at the Chester section and this seems better water. It is tidal and holds more fish. The hurdle is the dam at Chester park.

Tight lines Mick.

I fished there Tuesday night, Couldn't believe the amount of salmon, One leapt out of the water just in front of me. Plenty of what looked like trouting topping for flies too.
I wasn't targetting game fish although I did use my spinning gear without any luck. We were getting plagued by minnows, One a chuck and my mate landed a couple of dace.
I had a take on the barbel rod but didn't hook into it.

[mick dunn]

The one biggest hurdle so i am told are the fish are not feeding they are there for one reason and it to spawn.
They reckon its the instinct to attack the spinner----as to the prawns i don,t know why they go for them.
I am still unsure what fly to use for the Salmon and what depth.
I,m sure i will pick it up.
Mick.

[Bushwhacker]

The one biggest hurdle so i am told are the fish are not feeding they are there for one reason and it to spawn.
They reckon its the instinct to attack the spinner----as to the prawns i don,t know why they go for them.
I am still unsure what fly to use for the Salmon and what depth.
I,m sure i will pick it up.
Mick.

Your wasting your time with the spinner when the water is so low and clear Mick.
99% of the fish you see are Seatrout and these are very wary and spook really easy.
You need to fish at night with the fly if you want a chance of catching them.
As for the Salmon,when the river is like this the best method is the Shrimp.
I was spinning in the tidal pools in the estuary yesterday and there were loads of fish moving through,so with a decent lift in the river they will get past Chester weir....

Anybody know a good rain dance????

[mick dunn]

Its all new to me but i,m keen to learn. I,m keeping an eye on the weather and hoping for rain. My ambition is not to nail a Salmon on the spinner but with a fly on the rod i have bought. I am presuming its the same method as stockies but with different flies. I have bought Salmon flies and some tube lure flys. Floating line with a 5 foot leader and roll cast down water then draw fly back upstream. Only done this once and aimed for the pools by the sides of the rapids. God knows if what i,m doing is right but i,ll keep at it.
As to the dam in Chester Park its one of the few places i can drive to when i am at work in the early hours so i,ll be keeping an eye on water levels and might even take some fishing gear to work so i can go to Durham and fish when i finish.
Mick.

[Bushwhacker]

If we get a couple of feet of water in the river there will be plenty of fish Mick.
Below Chester weir will be stuffed with fish at the moment...

[Charlie_Thompson]

Its all new to me but i,m keen to learn. I,m keeping an eye on the weather and hoping for rain. My ambition is not to nail a Salmon on the spinner but with a fly on the rod i have bought. I am presuming its the same method as stockies but with different flies. I have bought Salmon flies and some tube lure flys. Floating line with a 5 foot leader and roll cast down water then draw fly back upstream. Only done this once and aimed for the pools by the sides of the rapids. God knows if what i,m doing is right but i,ll keep at it.
As to the dam in Chester Park its one of the few places i can drive to when i am at work in the early hours so i,ll be keeping an eye on water levels and might even take some fishing gear to work so i can go to Durham and fish when i finish.
Mick.

I don't think that's the usual method Mick? You fish kind of across and down, once your line's come round and is on "the dangle" it's time to cast again, not to start retreiving.

[Jimk2]

When I fished last Tuesday it was in the deeper water, at least 5'-6' and they were definately salmon not sea trout. They were swimin up stream and leaping right out of the water. There were smaller fish topping for flies too which were darker so probably trout.

[Jimk2]

Has anyone seen the family of otters there? We fished into dark and seen a big otter heading back to what could only be it's den with cubs.

[oldessox]

I don't think that's the usual method Mick? You fish kind of across and down, once your line's come round and is on "the dangle" it's time to cast again, not to start retreiving.

Yes Mick , Charlie is right , though I wouldnt be suprised if you caught a salmon with your method , fish are bloody minded things and do whatever suits them on the day . The accepted method though , like charlie says is to cast your fly across the stream , mend the line upstream if need be to let the fly sink a bit then let the fly swim round in an arc till it is directly downstream of you and "on the dangle" , take a step downstream and do it all again , etc. etc.
Don't get too disheartened if you don't catch a salmon first time out , blokes have fished for years and not caught one , and even the best salmon anglers can go many sessions without success between catches on the fly.
Have fun fishing for them though , after all , that's really what it's all about.

Ray

[YoursTruly]

Mick, i learned many, many years ago you should never say never in fishing as anything is possible.

[mick dunn]

You know guys its funny i was fishing just like you said without knowing it just made sense. I waded out mid stream cast towards opposite bank and just watched the flow of the river wash the floating line over the rocks. The salmon fly was on a 5 foot leader which was 15lb breaking strain. When the line straightened out with the rapid of water i left it for a whiel then drew it back to me. I kept repeating this as i walked down the river. I felt there was no real chance of a fish due to the lack of water but enjoyed the experience of thinking well maybe.
I was using my trout reel wf 6 as a temporary measure on the salmon rod and it felt far to light. I am in the process of sorting some wf10-11 floating line.
Mick---------------i,ll be back.

[Charlie_Thompson]

You know guys its funny i was fishing just like you said without knowing it just made sense. I waded out mid stream cast towards opposite bank and just watched the flow of the river wash the floating line over the rocks. The salmon fly was on a 5 foot leader which was 15lb breaking strain. When the line straightened out with the rapid of water i left it for a whiel then drew it back to me. I kept repeating this as i walked down the river. I felt there was no real chance of a fish due to the lack of water but enjoyed the experience of thinking well maybe.
I was using my trout reel wf 6 as a temporary measure on the salmon rod and it felt far to light. I am in the process of sorting some wf10-11 floating line.
Mick---------------i,ll be back.

A sinking leader might be an idea Mick as well, a lot of lads on smaller rivers use a floating mainline and have a selection of sinking poly leaders to get the fly down, you don't necessarily need big heavy lines unless your fishing big rivers with big rods and need distance. I'd recommend a lesson with a guy called Alan Maughan who's based in Whylam - Terry might be able to sort you out as well. I had a lesson a while back and got some invaluable advice, learned how to pick the line up of the dangle, and do a kind of circle spey cast, line back in position to do it all again, you can use it in your trout fishing as well if there's no room for a back cast.

There's a saying the Scottish lads use to sum up your average Salmon fishing cast - "Whang it oot and let it come round"

You'll get a lot of good advice from salmonfishingforum.com it's not the place to be cheeky as the moderation is a bit heavy but has loads of good advice, the flytying section has stacks of step by steps and advice.

[Bushwhacker]

You know guys its funny i was fishing just like you said without knowing it just made sense. I waded out mid stream cast towards opposite bank and just watched the flow of the river wash the floating line over the rocks. The salmon fly was on a 5 foot leader which was 15lb breaking strain. When the line straightened out with the rapid of water i left it for a whiel then drew it back to me. I kept repeating this as i walked down the river. I felt there was no real chance of a fish due to the lack of water but enjoyed the experience of thinking well maybe.
I was using my trout reel wf 6 as a temporary measure on the salmon rod and it felt far to light. I am in the process of sorting some wf10-11 floating line.
Mick---------------i,ll be back.

Mick,a WF line isn,t much good for spey casting.
Get yourself a double taper which is better for a small river like the Wear.
This will be a lot easier to roll cast.

[mick dunn]

Cheers guys i went down for a couple of hours tonight and blanked again. I just used spinners . Funny thing was i could see the trout from the bridge opposite the Radisson Blu hotel. Big uns as well----i did find my old spinner stuck on rocks under the water as well as i had my chesties on.
Mick.