Shore sport remains much as it has been for the last few weeks with a nice swell running most days keeping the cod inshore, but they have been few and far between. Once again, those in the right place at the right time have landed quality fish around the 5lb to 7lb mark, and as expected, some big doubles are now starting to show in the south of the region with a 19lb 6oz cod reported from Seaham last week by Shaun Jones to follow the 20lb specimen taken from Craster the previous week. Dave Milne had a cod of 11lb 2oz from Tynemouth, and Andrew Hooper had a cod of 9lb 12oz from Newbiggin. There have also been some quality whiting and dabs showing with the odd big spawning flounder amongst them. Best mark for mixed bags of fish, with the chance of a bigger cod has been Steetley pier, and for a better chance of an all cod bag the rock edges north of the Tyne continue to be productive. Roker pier and South Shields pier have both seen some quality fish landed when fishable. John Stead had one of 12lb from Roker last midweek, and Rathouse Corner in the Wear has been productive when the sea has been too heavy to fish elsewhere. Both the Wear and Tyne have some big flounders present. The Wear has seen the best results for flounders and whiting, but the Tyne has the better cod with worm baits producing lots of smaller fish with odd bigger ones to 5lb reported. Commercial boats out of Hartlepool report lots of quality cod just offshore where they are feeding on sandeel and sprat shoals. Gary Owen reports cod to 30lb have been landed, ling to 10lb have shown and some boats have been taking horse mackerel in their nets. Boats inside of Steetley pier report the fish being full of lugworm, indicating that there is still a lot of washed out bait present in the water.
The Dave Jobson Memorial open saw nine out of fifty-two weigh in eighteen fish, mainly cod, for 36lb 3oz. Top rod was Peter Stewart with four cod for 10lb 3oz, including the heaviest fish of 5lb14oz, taken from Dulce Carrs. Chris Stringer finished second with five cod for 8lb 1oz from Blyth beach while third placed John Bryson had two cod for 5lb 13oz. Fourth spot went to Peter Hutchinson who weighed a single cod of 2lb 9oz.
Hartlepool W.C.S.A.C. fished last weekend in very heavy seas with most fish coming from the inner piers where Alan Howe had a cod of 2¼lb to finish first. In second Andy Bogey had a cod of 1lb 11oz and Paul Blair had a whiting of 1lb 2oz for third.
Hartlepool O.M.A.C. has a Night Hawk match on Saturday February 13th fishing from 6pm till 6am. Saturday February 20th sees a match fishing from 8pm till 2am, and their monthly meeting is on Saturday February 27th in the Pink Domino at 7pm.
The last two Ryhope sweepstakes saw cod brought to the scales. There was a tie for top place with Mick Davison and Grahame Peart each having a cod of 2¾lb taken from Featherbed Rocks. Unusually there was also a tie for second place, with Dean Ambler and John Lovett each weighing in cod of 2lb 2oz from Hall beach. The second match saw Lee Burton win with a nice cod of 5¾lb from the Targets ahead of Gary Warwick who had one for 2lb 14oz from Ryhope Village and John Hutchinson who weighed a flounder of 15oz from the Wear.
The Ryhope club match on Sunday saw nineteen out of ninety-one weigh in. Lee Burton won again with two cod from the Targets for a 3000 grams total, including the heaviest fish; a cod of 1290 grams. Wayne Callaghan had two cod from the Manholes for 2210 grams to take second while third placed Scott Brown had one for 1230 grams from the High Ledge. Joe Lemon had the heaviest flatfish with a flounder of 530 grams and top junior was Nathan Stephenson with 410 grams.
Northumbria Police fished two river matches recently on a measure and release basis. The first, in the Tyne, saw Mick Todd win with eleven fish for 179 points. Steve Walker finished second with seven fish for 104 points and Charlie Bath was third with five fish for 72 points. The second match in the Wear saw Peter Morgan win with three fish for 85 points. Second spot went to Mick Todd with eleven fish for 83 points and Peter Brooks had two fish for 69 points and third place.
A recent Seaton Sluice match saw eight out of seventeen weigh in. Chris Guthrie won with four cod for 11lb 1oz, best 5¾lb followed by Barry Tweddle who had three for 6¾lb and Ian Wanless was third with 4lb 4oz. Mick Murray won a Longbenton match with a single cod of 5lb 10oz. Second place went to Les Harris with a cod of 3lb 11oz. Up at Amble; Pye Taylor only needed a single cod of 1lb 6oz to win ahead of Ian Harrogate with one of 1lb 5oz.
Tynemouth retired member’s fished Tynemouth pier where five out of fifteen landed fish. Arthur Smeaton won with a single cod of 2lb 2oz ahead of Dave Hayley with a cod of 1lb 11oz. Tony Taylor finished third with a dab and whiting weighing 1lb 7oz.
South of the Tees shore sport has also been patchy, Bernard Westgarth winning a Saltburn match with a cod of 4lb 10oz from Boulby, ahead of son Nick who had a half pound pouting. The St. Mary’s A.C. Rover match saw all of the winners fishing Steetley pier where some quality whiting were landed. Terry Dalton had seven for 5¼lb, best 1lb 5oz, to finish first. Alec Gate took second prize with six for 5lb, best 1¼lb ahead of third placed John Hannan who weighed five whiting and one dab for 4lb 1oz. Craig Dalton had the heaviest fish with a fine whiting of 1lb 6oz.
Sunday February 14th is the Ian Golds’ Open at Seaham fishing from 12 noon till 5pm. Top prizes for the heaviest fish are £500, £300 and £200, plus a supporting prize table worth £2000. Basic entry is £12, register at Seaham clubhouse from 9.30 to 11.30. Contact Seaham A.C. on 0191-5810321 or visit their website at seahamseaanglingclub.co.uk for further details.
