Fishing forecast in Newcastle

The Tyne runs straight through Newcastle under the Tyne Bridge and past the Quayside – England's top salmon and sea trout river, with runs passing right through the city centre. The Ouseburn joins from the north, and Leazes Park offers still-water fishing in the centre itself. The bite forecast below tracks pike, perch, bream and carp.

Get the FisHub fishing forecast for Newcastle and prepare for your trip in advance. We factor in the weather and give you a forecast several days ahead, so you can plan your fishing.

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Where to fish in Newcastle

The River Tyne runs straight through Newcastle, flowing under the Tyne Bridge and past the Quayside on its way to the North Sea. Unlike most English city rivers, it's not a coarse fishery first – the Tyne is one of the country's premier salmon and sea trout rivers, with runs passing directly through the city centre.

The Ouseburn joins the Tyne from the north, threading through the Ouseburn Valley on the city's east side – smaller water, away from the tidal main river.

England has no public register of fishing waters – access on the Tyne runs through federations and clubs, among them the Northumbrian Anglers' Federation, which holds beats on the Tyne, Coquet and Till. Leazes Park Angling Club offers still-water fishing on the park lake in the city centre itself, separate from the river.

History of fishing in Newcastle

Salmon and sea trout ran the Tyne in abundance before around 1850. What followed was one of England's most severe river collapses: coal mining, shipbuilding, steel production and chemical manufacturing poured waste into the water, and by the early 1970s an estimated 910,000 cubic metres of raw sewage and industrial effluent were being discharged into the Tyne every day. Stretches of the river were classed as biologically dead through the 1950s and 60s.

Recovery began in the late 1960s, driven by industrial decline, mine closures and new environmental legislation, and salmon returned faster than almost anyone expected. By 2020 the Tyne recorded the highest declared rod catch of salmon of any river in England or Wales – 2,802 fish, 24% of the entire England and Wales total that year, a position it has held repeatedly since 2013.

Organised angling here goes back further than the pollution: the Newcastle-on-Tyne Waltonian Club was founded around 1822–1824, and the Northumbrian Anglers' Federation followed in 1894 and still issues permits today.

Photo: Gareth James, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

What's biting and how to catch it

The Tyne's headline species are Atlantic salmon and sea trout, running the tidal river up through the city and beyond; coarse fish including pike, perch, chub and dace hold in slower stretches and the Ouseburn. The bite forecast below tracks pike, perch, bream and carp – the same four species tracked everywhere on FisHub, though the Tyne's salmon and sea trout sit outside what it covers.

Spinning and fly fishing are the standard salmon and sea trout methods on the Tyne, worked through named pools and beats along the river; on the slower coarse stretches and the Ouseburn, ledgering with worm or maggot takes chub and perch from the deeper glides.

How to read the bite forecast

The index below scores air pressure and its trend for pike, perch, bream and carp – the same principle everywhere on FisHub.

The Tyne is tidal well up past the city centre, so on the main river, state of tide often matters as much as pressure – salmon and sea trout tend to run and take best around the turn of the tide. The Ouseburn and the still water at Leazes Park sit outside the tidal reach, where pressure and temperature read more directly.

Seasonality of fishing in Newcastle

The Tyne salmon season runs roughly spring through autumn, with the exact opening and closing dates set annually by the Environment Agency rather than fixed nationally like the coarse close season. Coarse fishing on the Ouseburn and still waters follows the standard 15 March–15 June closure.

Autumn typically brings the strongest salmon runs as fish move upriver to spawn; coarse fish on the Ouseburn and Leazes Park feed hardest into early winter before hard frost slows things down.

What practitioners say

Northumbrian Anglers' Federation guidance for the Tyne emphasises fishing named beats around the turn of the tide for salmon and sea trout, with spinning and fly tackle both standard depending on water height and clarity. For the Tyne's coarse stretches and the Ouseburn, local advice favours worm and maggot fished tight to cover, where chub and perch hold out of the main current.

Questions and answers

Do I need a licence to fish in Newcastle?
Yes – an Environment Agency rod licence from age 13, plus a permit from the relevant federation or club for the specific stretch, since England has no public register of fishing rights. Salmon and sea trout require an additional migratory licence category.

Is the River Tyne really good for salmon fishing?
Yes – in 2020 it recorded the highest declared rod catch of salmon of any river in England or Wales, a position it has held in multiple recent years, following one of the most dramatic river recoveries in the country.

What fish does the bite forecast below cover in Newcastle?
Pike, perch, bream and carp on the coarse water – the Tyne's salmon and sea trout runs sit outside what the index tracks.

Why does tide matter for fishing the Tyne in the city centre?
The river stays tidal well past Newcastle, and salmon and sea trout tend to run and take best around the turn of the tide, independent of the pressure trend that drives the forecast below.

More fishing nearby

The basics of a spinning rod and fluorocarbon leader are on the FisHub wiki, along with the fishing swivel used to stop line twist on spun baits. More UK fishing forecasts are on the overview page, including York, not far away.