The recent big tides saw increasing numbers of smaller cod, coalfish and to a lesser extent whiting moving inshore. Those anglers in the right place at the right time had double figure mixed bags and match anglers are now regularly winning club matches with weights over ten pounds. The Tyne is on top form with good numbers of these smaller cod and coalfish showing from the lower river. The rock edges north of the Tyne, particularly around Newbiggin and Amble are fishing quite well and some specimen pollack have also been taken among the cod. The Durham beaches are also producing a few cod, but the quality whiting evident over the last few weeks now seem to be hard to find.
Ken Middlemist had cod to 5lb during a recent session at Amble and Paul Buddle took six cod on fresh crab bait for 20lb from Hawick. Paul Dixon had a pollack of 8lb 2oz from Eyemouth and Gary Wilson had another of 8lb 2oz from Newbiggin.
The last Seaham Badger Heaviest Fish Open saw eleven out of sixty two weigh in twelve whiting, six cod, a coalfish, a dogfish, a flounder and a pouting. Danny Swan fished the pier to land the heaviest fish with cod of 1.74lb, second went to John Lovett who had a dogfish of 1.48lb and Geordie Hope in third had a cod of 1.38lb. Danny Swan also took the heaviest bag with three cod for 4.24lb.
Hartlepool O.M.A.C. fished Saturday night with fifteen out of sixteen finding fish in windy conditions. David Clarke had a mixed bag for 5lb 2oz for top spot with Mark Brallisford weighing in 5lb in second. Ian Palmer and Steve Gibbins tied for the heaviest fish with cod of 1¾lb and Keith Jeffries had a dogfish of 1lb 10oz. Next match is on Saturday October 17th fishing from 7pm till 1am.
Hartlepool Pirates fished Friday and found a few of the autumn small cod showing. Adam Dendrickson had one of 1lb 2oz for the heaviest fish. Bill Bradley had one cod and a dab for 1¼lb for the heaviest bag, second went to John Meekins who had a whiting and a flounder for 15oz and Steve Gibbins had a whiting for 7oz in third.
The Eastenders sweepstake on Wednesday saw plenty of small cod landed. Winner Bob Surtees had the top two heaviest fish of 2¼lb and 1¾lb in a bag of five cod. Ernie Hunter had one of 1lb 10oz and Gary Warwick had one at 1lb 9oz.
The last Ryhope Tuesday evening sweepstake started the winter season fishing open boundaries with all twenty anglers finding fish. Chris Hossack won with a cod of 980 grams from Roker Pier; in second Lee Brown had a cod of 720 grams, also from Roker. Third placed Gary Warwick landed a bass of 705 grams from Roker beach and John Lovett in fourth had a cod of 690 grams from Hall beach.
The Ryhope club match on Sunday saw a good turnout of one hundred and one fishing with sixty weighing in, mainly from the Tyne and South Shields pier. John Scott had two cod for 1935 grams, best 1220 grams, from South Shields pier to win ahead of Barry Stowells with three cod and one flounder for 1815 grams. Joe Lemon in third place had three eels and a flounder for 1570 grams and Gary Warwick had the best flatfish with a flounder of 595 grams.
Satellite A.C. fished a recent sweepstake match in the Tyne with four out of eighteen weighing in cod, coalfish and eels. Dave Flood had a good win with nine cod and an eel for 10½lb, John Taylor had five cod, best 1lb 13oz, and a coalfish for 7lb 13oz. Third placed Mick Dellin had five cod and two coalfish for 7¼lb and Chris Hansen had a single coalfish for 13oz.
Cleadon A.C. had another productive match with sixteen out of thirty nine weighing in good numbers of smallish cod from the Tyne and local beaches, with whiting, flounders and eels from the Tyne and Wear making up the rest of the bags. Ian McLaughlin was joint winner with four cod for 5lb 2oz from Boaties Bay, equal with John Newcombe who had four cod from the Tyne. In third Adam Johnson had four cod for 4lb 14oz from the Tyne, John Taylor had a mixed bag of cod and coalfish for 4½lb and Damian Thomas had two cod for 2lb 11oz. There was a tie for the heaviest fish with Ian McLaughlin and Paul Wastell each having a cod of 2lb 4oz.
Northumbria Police had a recent match on the Wear fishing the Glass Centre with an 18cm limit. Some nice flounders were taken plus lots of small whiting and coalfish. Ian Ainsley had four flounders, best 30cm, and two coalfish for 124 points, Mick Dunn had two flounders and two coalfish for 56 points, Bill Huscroft had one flounder and two coalfish for 39points, and seven year old Callum Stuart had four coalfish for 20 points.
The last Redcar N and G club match saw five out of seventeen find fish. Gary Joyce had a nice coalfish of 2lb 3oz, in second place Vanessa Barker had a mackerel of 1lb 9oz and Dave Allinson finished third with a mackerel of 1lb 2oz.
St. Mary’s A.C. had a better result in their last rover match. Craig Dalton fished Whitby West pier to land twelve coalfish, five cod, and a single pollack for an impressive 17lb 3oz total ahead of his father Terry Dalton with seven coalfish, three cod, best 2¾lb and one pollack for 13lb 12oz. Grant Greenland was third with two coalfish for 2¼lb.
The Ryhope Instrip Demolition Open Sweepstake is on Sunday October 11th fishing from 2pm till 6pm. Basic entry is £5 for seniors and £1 for juniors and ladies with optional heaviest bag pools and team event. Top three prizes for the heaviest fish are £200, £100, and £50, followed by ten cash prizes determined by entry numbers. Ladies, juniors and the heaviest flatfish each win £25. Register at the Village Tavern at Ryhope Green from 11.30am till 1pm. This is a Penn points match. Contact Bob Surtees on 0191-5237272 for details.
Note that the Whitley Bay Evening Open scheduled for December 5th has been cancelled as this clashed with another open event.
