Spate · Limestone · North East / Upper Teesdale

River Balder

River Balder terrain map
Good · Brown Trout
Pheasant Tail Nymph · 14-16
Goodlive now
A proper day on the water
River steady at a fishable height. A proper day for it. Work the seams with an upstream nymph, switch to the dry when they show.
75% confidence
What moved it
  • LevelProxyvia River Swale
  • Water temp17.6°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Pheasant Tail Nymph14-16
Upstream, sub-surface
Conditions on the water
Proxy gauge
Level
Steady
Proxy
via River Swale
Water temp17.6°C
ClarityClear
Weather17°C
WindW 10 km/h
Pressure1018 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.1 mm

No gauge on this water — conditions are inferred from River Swale. The trend transfers, the absolute level does not.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Warm — slow
18°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Good — water clarity is working for you, but time of day is the limiting factor today.
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 6am

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 5 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
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
Beats · 1
Fishing Passport day-ticket beatsAccess varies
Three short day-ticket beats on the Balder, all bookable through the Fishing Passport at properly modest prices.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Hury Reservoir
1.0 km
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Grassholme Reservoir
5.0 km
Rainbow trout
Blackton Reservoir
7.0 km
Brown trout
River Tees
8.0 km
Brown trout · Grayling · Salmon
River Lune (Teesdale)
9.0 km
Brown trout · Grayling
The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 75%
How the 71 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature64 × 28%17.9
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time40 × 13%5.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity60 × 12%7.2
Conditions total= 71
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowproxy via River Swaleproxy
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
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 22 March → 30 September
Related guides
Grayling Playbookgrayling tacticsYorkshire & SpidersNorth Country methodsTrout Near Londonaccess guide
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts