Private Fishing



Pied wagtail waiting for insects at the waters edge

Spring has arrived with a vengeance this past week as fine weather has prevailed and migrant birds start to arrive in force. Chiff chaff’s are blasting out from every copse and the first martins and swallows are here, another week or so and the dawn chorus will be in full swing.


Spring is a great time of the year for other reasons too especially in the valley woodlands of the rivers Wansbeck and Blyth the spring flowers can be quite a treat. However, a quiet stroll or other activity along either of these rivers may give you more than an aromatic treat.

Both valleys are blessed with some very good stretches of semi natural ancient woodland. Get up early and brave the mists and the woods can be a noisy place first thing with little or no traffic noise the dawn chorus is startling loud, scatter a roe deer and the air will be filled with unearthly barks as they prong off indignantly.

On the woodland floor some of the real beauties lie tucked away beneath the hazel coppice; wood anemones and dog violets sway and as the season continues the air is filled will the sometimes over powering aroma of ransoms or wild garlic. In May of course you will be treated to blue bells that add an azure blend to the new spring greens.



Wood anenomes on a woodland floor

Keep going down to the waters edge and the water crowfoots will come into view and within the tumbling waters the first stoneflies and mayflies will be dancing over the waters surface where the trout will be crashing into their half submerged bodies taking their fill while the bounty lasts.
Spring woodlands are magical places but we have so few in the UK, we have the lowest percentage woodland cover in Europe, most of ours is dominated by commercial conifer plantations so the woodland of the Wansbeck and Blyth valleys are extremely valuable resources. They still contain our native red squirrel and in the rivers one of the best if not the best populations of the endangered white clawed crayfish in the world on the Wansbeck catchment.

I like to do a bit of fly fishing in the true J R Hartley sense of the word, imaginary! As most of my fishing involves standing motionless in the river whilst the trout completely ignore every feathered offering I present to them. That ability to blend and stand motionless within the background though has its advantages as much that is about doesn’t notice you pretending to be a rock.

Over the years I have had roe deer come down to drink next to me and a memorable shrew train around my wellie tops, six or seven water shrews all in tow behind the mother, like a miniature Benny Hill cameo. Some however, can be quite un-nerving especially in the low light of dusk when the eyes play tricks.

Fishing late one evening on the river Blyth the hairs on the back of my neck quite literally stood up. I have seen many otter whilst fishing, they usually pay you little attention as they get about their business but on this night one was more than interested in my apparel.

thats 'Mr Otter' to you

I noticed him coming down the pool as I pushed myself into deeper water to get at a rather difficult fish under some over hanging trees and thought he had just moved on downstream. But as I started to re cast I felt something brush my legs under water (JAWS came straight to mind), then without a sound or hardly a ripple he surfaced like U29 right beside me no more than a foot away. Not having good eyesight I thought Jurassic Park style if I don’t move he can’t see me.

Wrong! This really was the closest encounter I have ever had with a wild otter he came right up to me and breathed his fishy breath on me, tugged on my shoulder straps, nudged me; he coughed like a heavy smoker and vanished.

The message was quite clear “private fishing here mate”, I never caught a thing! a quick check of the family jewels, a sigh of relief but what a moment, despite his bad breath.

'Fish breath'