Mackerel continue to show in good numbers from the piers at Seaham, Roker and South Shields with plenty of double figure bags taken on lures most tides. The lure anglers are also finding bonus coalfish, pollack, codling, shad and herring. The piers around Hartlepool have suffered with the recent easterly winds and dredger activity stirring up the seabed resulting in murky water which has driven the mackerel offshore from the Pilot and Middleton piers. With a good surf running onto the Durham and Teesbay beaches bass have been attracted to ragworm baits, but the expected plaice which prefer very settled conditions have been in short supply.
The lower Tyne continues to be a hotspot for plaice and coalfish to around the 3lb mark, with crab and ragworm taking most fish. Stephen Park won a recent Longbenton match with a mixed bag weighing 9lb 7oz, including a plaice of 1lb 1oz, and Derek Lumley won a recent Tynemouth match with four flounders for 3lb 9oz. Eyemouth and St. Abbs are starting to produce the usual summer species of cod, coalfish, pollack, wrasse and mackerel with fish taking both lures and baits in the clean water around this area. Mick Burke won a Seaton Sluice match over border with four fish weighing in at 9lb which included a nice 4¾lb pollack. Seaton Sluice also had a match on Seahouses pier where Mal McIntyre won with two fish for 5lb 1oz, followed by Martyn Pagnal with the heaviest fish of 3½lb. Tynemouth A.C. also fished at Seahouses where Paul Foster won with two cod weighing 5lb 6oz, the best of which weighed 3lb 3oz. Runner-up Malcolm Cairns had a single cod of 2lb 15oz followed by Steve Harper with a cod and a wrasse for 2lb 13oz.
A slightly longer journey south to Dimlington produced a great session for Eastender members Dave Mould, Darryl Young, Steve Rackstraw and Darren Welsh, presumably to enjoy a break from catching all those flounders in the Wear. During the trip the guys had 30 smoothound to 9lb, plus several dogfish and bass.
Hartlepool Pirates travelled down to Filey Brigg to fish their last match and found the expected cod and coalies in short supply. Bill Bradley won with a single cod, coalfish and rockling weighing 1lb 1oz to beat Aaron Dixon by one ounce. D. Dixon finished in third with a 6oz coalie; all the fish wer caught on a 20cm catch and release limit. The Pirates’ next match is at Kirkudbright on Saturday June 18th, and the next meeting is at the Stranton Social Club on Thursday June 30th at 7.30pm.
Ryhope A.C. fished the Copthorne Hotel in the Tyne on Sunday and all 37 anglers caught fish. John Bryan won zone A with 19 measuring 372cm, Paul Richardson had 10 at 200cm, Dave Raymond had eight for 180cm, including the longest fish; a 39cm flounder and Lee Burton had six for 146cm. In zone B Bob Surtees made it four zone wins in a row with 11 measuring 237cm, Lee Brown had 10 for 157cm, Mason Burton had six for 154cm, including the longest at 33cm, Mason was also the top junior, and Andy Rutherford had five for 147cm.
Boat angling continues to be very good when conditions allow the boats to get to sea with huge shoals of mackerel present all along the north east coast and plenty of smaller cod and ling from all of the inshore hard ground marks. The Sarah JFK out of the Tyne has had cod to 8lb from the hard ground and cod to 10lb from the wreck marks with the more successful trips producing up to 30 bigger fish per angler. The Warlord out of Amble reports taking around 200 cod to 6lb on a recent trip.
The environment agency are keen to hear about any catches of shad or smelt in the region, if you are lucky enough to catch one of these rare fish please send the details and a photo if possible to the following address- Robert.Stephenson@environment-agency.gov.uk
A reminder that if you fancy a try for the expected influx of summer cod from the Northumberland rock edges, the Whitley Bay Summer League starts on Sunday June 12th at Beadnell fishing from 3pm till 7pm. The other matches are on Sunday July 3rd at Newton from 9am till 1pm; Sunday July 24th at Beadnell from 12pm till 4pm; Sunday August 7th at Beadnell from 12pm till 4pm; and the final leg is on Sunday August 14th at Newton from 8am till 12 noon. For Beadnell matches meet at Pattersons Garage and for Newton meet at the car park in Newton one hour prior to each match. Basic entry is a single payment of £10 to enter the league which goes towards the final payout and £10 per match paying out on the day. Note that wrasse are not to be weighed in. For further details contact Gary on 07957-949557 or Mick on 07739-585464
July 17th sees the Redcar Navy and Gentleman’s S.A.C. Summer Open fishing from 10am till 2.30pm between South Gare to Whitby West Pier, all piers are out of bounds. This is a heaviest fish match and part of the Penn Sea League. Basic entry is £5, register at the Priory Club, Lord Street, Redcar from 8.30am till 9am. Contact Tony Barker on 01642-503049 or 07727-754746 for details.
