Shore sport has been a bit hit or miss recently with cod only showing in small numbers, mainly from the low water marks. Even the normally reliable whiting have failed to show on some tides. However, anglers have had some decent mixed bags, particularly from Steetley Pier, Roker Pier, the lower Tyne and around the Newbiggin area. The odd cod to 6lb have been reported from these areas, mainly on night time tides. South Shields Pier has seen a mini invasion of coalfish with the odd cod to 2lb amongst them. Joe Gibson and John Gibson fished Hendon Promenade and had eight cod between them; John had an excellent fish of 14lb and Joe one of 8lb. Darren Swan had a cod of 6¼lb from Roker Pier. Robert Hall fished Lynemouth Beach to land five cod for 17lb, best 4½lb. Paul Gallon fished Craster and had five cod for 16lb 3oz, best 6lb, and Gary Tulley won a recent Newbiggin match with seven cod for 17½lb, best tipping the scales at 5lb 1oz.
Most of the fish seem to be in the north of the region but the first really heavy sea of the winter over the weekend should hopefully bring plenty of fish into the Teesbay area where sport has until now been quite poor.
St. Mary’s A.C. fished a recent rover match which saw plenty of whiting landed with twenty-four out of twenty-seven weighing in. Russell Miller fished South Gare to win with twenty-four whiting for 13lb 3oz. John Atherton in second place had eighteen whiting and a pouting for 9lb 14oz while third placed Stan Preston weighed in fifteen whiting and one dab for 8lb 3oz. Paul Harrison travelled to Steetley Pier where he had the heaviest fish, a whiting of 1lb.
Horden Buffs fished last weekend and found the whiting and cod showing along the beaches but not in the numbers of previous weeks. Ron Smith won with two cod, best 3lb 13oz, and two whiting for a total of 7lb 11oz. Eric Williams had two cod for 4lb 10oz, best 3lb 1oz in second, followed by Darren Thompson with three cod for 4lb 2oz and Paul Robinson who landed two cod for 3lb 13oz.
Horden Mechanics also fished at the weekend. Winner Ged Barker had a nice bass of 4½lb, plus a flounder for a total of 5lb 2oz. Runner-up John Bellingham weighed two cod and two whiting for 3lb 14oz and Eric Williams had a cod and a whiting for 2lb 6oz for third.
The Ryhope Tuesday Sweepstake saw twenty six fishing with only six weighing in due to the settled conditions. Top rod Dean Ambler fished Roker to land a cod of 705 grams. Chris Hossack also fished Roker for a cod of 595 grams for second spot followed by Steve Rackstraw with a flounder of 520 grams from the High Ledge and Tom Miller who had a coalfish of 405 grams from Souter Point.
Tynemouth A.C. fished Tynemouth Pier on Saturday with eighteen out of thirty-nine finding fish. Doug Spivey had six coalfish and one pouting for 8lb dead to head the field. Alan Norman weighed in five coalies and a pouting for 5lb in second while third placed Steve Harper had two cod, best 2lb 1oz, plus a whiting for 4¾lb.
Tynemouth retired members were back on the pier on Monday and again found plenty of coalfish feeding. Doug Spivey won again with eleven for 10lb 10oz, Tony Taylor had nine for 8lb 8oz in second and Dave Hayley had five whiting, best 1lb 7oz, two dabs and one flounder for 7lb 13oz.
Cleadon A.C. struggled during their last match with only five out of thirty-five weighing in. Ian McLaughlin was a clear winner with three cod, best 3lb 1oz, for 7lb 15oz taken from the North Arm. Kris Brash fished the Tyne to land two cod for 2lb 13oz and Mark Shotton had two cod for 2¼lb also from the Tyne.
S.B.R.A.A.C. saw flounders win their last match with Kevin Moffat landing five of them, best 1¼lb, for 5lb 5oz, Phil Smithson had two cod, best 2lb 9oz, for 4lb 14oz and Steve Haliburton had a cod and a flounder for 2lb 2oz.
Bedlington Station fished last midweek with few fish showing on the night. Alan Naisby only needed a single cod of 1lb 14oz taken from Newbiggin to win ahead of Gary Willis with a single cod of 1lb 12oz and Steve Surtees with a cod of 1lb 6oz.
Blyth A.C. fished on Thursday night and found that the continuing westerly winds had significantly affected catches. N. Howitt took top spot with a cod and a whiting for 3lb ahead of J. Patterson with a flounder of 1lb 5oz and P. Smith with a whiting and flounder for 1½lb.
The Friarage Tackle shop on the Hartlepool headland is now under new ownership, with popular local angler John Readman now running the shop. The shop will be open from 7am till 5pm every day and will sell the usual high quality Irish ragworm, and locally sourced lugworm, clams, mackerel and frozen baits. The shop will now stock Zziplex and Conoflex rods, and will be fully re-stocked with all the usual terminal tackle items. John can supply any rods, reels and other tackle items not stocked by request. The shop will open early by prior arrangement for visiting boat parties. To order bait contact John on 01429-273145 or 07591-834896.
Sunday December 6th sees the Bedlington Station Open fishing from 9.30am till 1.30pm between Tynemouth Pier and Patterson’s Garage at Beadnell. Basic entry is £11 plus the usual pools and team events. There are special prizes for 20th and 30th place, plus a full supporting prize table. Register at the Bank House club Newbiggin.
