Mackerel continue to dominate shore catches with big bags reported from all of the regions piers despite the windy conditions. Whiting have moved back inshore after dark, with worm and mackerel baits taking some nice specimens from Steetly and Roker piers. Several specimen plaice have been reported from the Durham beaches and from Roker pier.
In the Wear there are some specimen flounders in the lower river taking fresh crab baits and in the upper Tyne there are good numbers of flounders and eels taking ragworm and mackerel baits, with the normally productive crab sometimes struggling to take any fish at all.
The last Ryhope sweepstake saw all twenty anglers weigh in good numbers of flounders from the Glass Centre. Jim Dobie won with one of 1lb 1oz, Colin Smith had 1lb for second, Steve Moore weighed in 15oz and Lee Brown and Frank Terry tied for fourth with 14oz.
The Eastenders sweepstake in the Wear saw all sixteen anglers land flounders, eels and coalfish. Lee Brown won with six fish for 170cm including the longest fish of 34cm. Steve Rackstraw in second place had five for 146cm with Phil Wright on 137cm and Brian Turnbull with 128cm taking third and fourth places.
Seaham juniors fished on Saturday when Owen Barrass cleaned up being the only one to weigh in. He had four mackerel for 3.58lb which included an excellent specimen of 1.98lb.
Seaham seniors fished on Sunday with eighteen of the thirty-seven the anglers landing fifty-nine mackerel, three plaice and a single coalfish for 63.25lb. Phil Hellens won with seven fish for 8.12lb, best 1.32lb, second was Robbie Newton with seven fish weighing 7.12lb. Third and fourth places went to Tony Pilkington and Rita Clark respectively.
The Eastenders open on Sunday saw twelve anglers fishing the Business Park in the Wear with nine weighing in thirty-two fish, mainly flounders and eels. Chris Stringer took the top two places with two fine flounders of 2lb 1oz and 1lb 14oz and also tied for third place with Mick Sopp with flounders of 1lb 5oz. Mick also had the heaviest bag with nine fish weighing 8lb 9oz.
Amble S.A.C. saw an all flounder weigh in for their last match won by K. Middlemist with five 3lb 90z. R. Gray weighed four at 3lb 3oz, J. Forgie in third had three for 1lb 6oz and L. Weller had the heaviest fish at 1lb 3oz.
Tynemouth A.C. had two recent matches on Tynemouth pier. The first saw only four of the eighteen contestants weigh in with winner Steve Harper having four cod and a coalfish for 6lb taken from the river Tyne. Arthur Styles had a pollack of 2lb 3oz for second and this was also the heaviest fish. Doug Spivey in third place had a pollack of 2lb. The second match saw the retired members fishing with some nice mixed bags taken on the day. Tony Taylor had three cod, a pollack, a coalfish and a mackerel for 8lb 4oz. Bob Blackhall took second with two whiting and a mackerel for 2lb 9oz and Dave Hayley was third with a whiting and a dab weighing 1lb. Tony Taylor had the heaviest fish, a pollack of 3lb.
South of the Tees the last Redcar Summer League match fished at Sandsend saw over fifty fish landed on a measure and release basis. Mike Blott won with seven flounders, two mackerel and two weavers for 230cm. Bernard Westgarth and Dave Chudley tied for second place, with mixed bags of flounders and mackerel measuring 230cm.
The last Redcar Navy and Gentleman’s A.C. match saw ten members members land mackerel, coalfish, flounders and a single whiting. Top rod was Dave Turner with two mackerel and a flounder for 102cm, Dave Allinson had three coalies, a flounder, and a mackerel for 96cm and Richard Warburton in third had a single mackerel of 39cm which was also the longest fish.
