Spate · Limestone · County Durham / North Yorkshire

River Tees

Photo of River Tees
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 15h 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 15h 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 10–16°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 5 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

Start free trial

14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 with Pro.

Start free trial

14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

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
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.
Visit official site ↗
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.
Visit official site ↗
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.
Visit official site ↗
Eggleston Hall Syndicate — day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
Roughly 3.
Visit official site ↗
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.
Visit official site ↗
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.
Visit official site ↗
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.
Visit official site ↗
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.
Visit official site ↗
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.
Visit official site ↗
High Coniscliffe — day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
Just over 1.
Visit official site ↗
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
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Moderate
  • Chemical: Fail
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
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon 1 February → 31 October
  • Sea trout 3 April → 31 October
  • Trout 22 March → 30 September

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

Related guides
Grayling Playbookgrayling tacticsYorkshire & SpidersNorth Country methodsTrout Near Londonaccess guide
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts