River Tyne 10 June 2016
Kielder release
Whilst the recent rains gave a small rise in river levels on the Rede and South Tyne, the rain missed Kielder. Despite releasing only compensation flow, the reservoir level has fallen steadily so remains below the release trigger level. No release is planned for this week and none is proposed for week commencing 16th June.
The EA are monitoring conditions in the estuary and are considering a release starting on the 22nd June unless there is appreciable rainfall in the next week.
Tyne Salmon counts
The fish counter at Riding Mill recorded 499upstream counts for June and up to the morning of the 9th June. The total for the season up to the 9th June is 1,491.
River reports
This week’s rains gave a small rise in both the Rivers Rede and South Tyne; the extra few inches in the Main Tyne encourage fish to run. However the freshet was of short duration, the rivers quickly fell back to the very low levels we were experiencing. The compensation flow from Kielder is at 1.3 cumecs which is greater than the flow into the reservoir.
A good number of fish were showing in the upper estuary and in Wylam Bridge Pool. The small freshet encouraged fish to run. During the freshet numbers of fish, the majority of which were sea trout, were attempting to access Hexham Bridge footings with limited success.
A few fish were caught this past week, Dilston reporting their first salmon of this season along with a sea trout. Overall catches are well down on average for the time of year, largely due to the low water conditions.
Trout rods have enjoyed some decent sport and reports of parr and fry activity are encouraging, at least these reports go a little way to alleviating concerns regarding the aftermath of the huge winter storms.