Spate · Limestone · County Durham / North Yorkshire

River Tees

Photo of River Tees

Powerful Pennine spate river rising at Cross Fell — wild, dramatic water that demands respect.

Marginal · Brown Trout
Pheasant Tail Nymph · 14-16
Marginallive now
Slow going — pick your moments
River temperature is the limiting factor today, not the flow. Fish dawn or dusk if you go at all, and handle everything with extra care.
80% confidence
What moved it
  • Level2.68 mLast reading 3h ago
  • Water temp19.9°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Pheasant Tail Nymph14-16
Upstream, sub-surface
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Falling
2.68 m
Last reading 3h ago
Water temp19.9°C
ClarityClear
Weather22°C
WindNW 8 km/h
Pressure1019 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Warm — slow
20°C est.ideal 1016°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Olives April through May afternoons; Mayfly late May where it shows; sedges through summer; small dark flies into October.
Where
Upper Tees through Teesdale is classic Pennine pocket water; below Barnard Castle the river widens into longer pools. High Force sets the upper limit.
Method
Upstream dry to risers when olives or sedges are off; North Country spider on the swing in cooler water — Snipe and Purple, Partridge and Orange, Waterhen Bloa. Move upstream slowly, fish each lie properly.
Kit
9 ft #4 — Yorkshire freestone default. Floating line, 9 to 12 ft leader to 4 to 5 lb fluoro. Studded boots for slick stones.
Why this works
Water at 19.9°C — above the brown trout caution line (18°C). Fish dawn or dusk only. Land it fast, wet hands, no air shots.
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 6am

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 3 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 with Pro.

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Evidence
Survey-backed · regionalHigh confidence

Backed by regional invertebrate surveys; no sampling on this exact reach yet.

Through the year
0–3 scale · August highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Salmon runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Sea trout runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Daddy Long LegsHatch
2
3
2
March BrownHatch
2
3
2
GrannomHatch
2
2
Large StoneflyHatch
2
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box

Wild and heavy-handed above High Force — the sort of boulder water where a nymph usually beats a dry, right up until the olives and stoneflies come off and the trout lose their manners.

Local classics: Pheasant Tail Nymph·Partridge & Orange·Yellow Sally
Beats · 10
Gainford Riverside Trust — annual and day permitsAccess varies
The Trust sells two permit types — coarse/trout OR salmon/sea trout — annual or day, with concessionary rates for over-65s and 12-to-15s and free permits for under-12s.
Darlington Anglers Club — members' waterAccess varies
Darlington Anglers Club holds six named beats on the middle Tees — High Coniscliffe, Manfield & Cleasby, The Holmes, Blackwell, Stapleton, Nags Head & Oxney Flatts — roughly nine miles of mixed bank with deep holding pools and gravelly runs.
Barnard Castle AC — day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
Approximately three miles of single and double bank in and around Barnard Castle, with six named salmon pools, plus a bonus 480 metres on the Greta at Bowes.
Eggleston Hall Syndicate — day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
Roughly 3.
Mickleton Island — day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
About 900 metres of single right-bank fishing near Mickleton village in upper Teesdale — an open beat, easy access, runs and riffles and a handful of deeper holding pools.
Raby Estate Upper Tees — day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
Ten miles of north-bank Upper Tees through some of the finest moorland scenery in England — Low Force, High Force, Cauldron Snout — fly only, catch limit three.
Strathmore Estate Upper Tees & Maize Beck — day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
Ten miles of south-bank Upper Tees from Middleton-in-Teesdale up to the headwaters, plus two and a half miles of Maize Beck — an upland feeder stream made publicly accessible for the first time.
Darlington Brown Trout AA — North Bank, day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
Three miles of north-bank middle-Tees fly water — deep holding pools, long gravelly runs, and excellent numbers of brown trout, grayling and salmon.
Darlington Brown Trout AA — South Bank, day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
One and a half miles of south-bank Tees from the Middleton-in-Teesdale Cattle Auction Market down to Lune Mouth — tree-lined, character water, fly only.
High Coniscliffe — day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
Just over 1.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Water here around 20°C. Nothing cooler within range — carry a thermometer.
Gallery · 2
  1. Photo of River Tees
    River Tees — image via Wikipedia (River Tees)
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Powerful Pennine spate river rising at Cross Fell — wild, dramatic water that demands respect. Upper Tees above High Force is spectacular: fast boulder-strewn runs with muscular wild trout that feed aggressively. Below Barnard Castle the river calms into longer pools with good grayling and recovering salmon. Nymphing (particularly stonefly) is often more effective than dry fly in the heavy water; when hatches are on, trout respond to big, bushy dry flies that float well in turbulence. Heavy tippet and wading confidence matter more than delicate presentation. Wild brown trout fishing is the main draw; salmon and grayling secondary. Spring-fed limestone underlies this river. Atlantic salmon are assessed by the Environment Agency against each river's Conservation Limit — many principal rivers are classed 'at risk' with mandatory catch-and-release byelaws; check current rules before fishing.

  • Limestone
Water quality (WFD)
  • EcologyModerate
  • ChemicalFail
What this classification means

EA waterbody 'Tees from River Greta to River Skerne' (GB103025072190) — the main stem along the Durham/North Yorkshire border (Winston, Gainford, Broken Scar, Croft-on-Tees). Latest EA data (Cycle 3, 2022): Moderate ecological status. Chemical 'Fail' reflects the England-wide ubiquitous-substance failure (mercury and PBDE in biota); the 2022 cycle itself records chemical as 'does not require assessment'. Corrected 2026-06-18 from GB103025072130, which is the River Greta (a Tees tributary), not the main stem; ecological status was also wrong (recorded Good, actually Moderate).

EA (England) · GB103025072190

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 80%
How the 28 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature26 × 28%7.3
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time60 × 13%7.8
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity59 × 12%7.1
Conditions total= 63
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
What would change the calculation
Cooler water — back toward the 10–16 °C ideal band — would lift the score and ease welfare.
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon 1 February31 October
  • Sea trout 3 April31 October
  • Trout 22 March30 September

Salmon: Negligible (2026) — Recovering after Tees Barrage improvements but still marginal. Not a reliable salmon fishing destination.

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