The good bags of codling taken last week have not been so common as of late with settled seas keeping most of the bigger fish offshore. Whiting and flatties are showing from most piers and beaches with some nice specimens over the 1lb mark amongst them. Small cod and coalfish are showing in daylight hours with the better results taken after dark with odd fish to 6lb taken from the low water marks. Again the best sport for any cod has been in the north of the region around the Hendon and Ryhope areas, the rock edges at Whitburn, and north of the Tyne around Blyth and Amble. Both the Wear and Tyne have cod, whiting, coalfish, flounders and eels showing with the better results coming from the Tyne where some anglers have taken mixed bags into low double figures.
Hartlepool Pirates fished Friday with most fish coming from local marks. Steve Gibbins had the heaviest bag with six whiting and one dab for 5lb 6oz, Jamie Pearce had six whiting and three dabs for 4lb 15oz to take second, third placed John Mekins had five whiting for 3lb 2oz and Dave Crowther had the heaviest fish, a cod of 2lb. Next match is Saturday November 21st fishing from 6pm till 12pm.
Hartlepool W.C.S.A.C. had a match on Saturday with most members landing mixed bags of cod, whiting, dabs, and flounders. Steve Booth took the top bag with cod, whiting and dabs for 5lb 6oz. Paul Hornsey in second had a mixed bag of whiting and dabs for 3¼lb and Mal McGeorge had a similar bag for 3lb 2oz. Next match is Saturday November 14th from 6pm till 10pm.
Bedlington Station A.C. had a very productive recent match with eight out of twelve landing forty-six fish for 75lb. Ronnie Forest had a good night taking nine cod for 20lb 11oz, best at 4lb 7oz, from Blyth Beach. Runner-up Darren Shields had nine fish for 14lb 15oz from Collywell Bay followed by Steve Surtees with nine fish for 12lb from Hauxley and Alan Naisby who weighed in seven fish for 11lb 9oz, also from Hauxley.
Blyth A.C. saw N. Howitt win their last match with five cod for 7lb 6oz from Amble, K. Armstrong in second place weighed in two cod for 3lb 3oz from Cresswell, and P.Smith had a cod and a coalfish for 3lb for third from Sandy Bay.
Tynemouth A.C. saw twenty one members fishing on Sunday. First place went to Dave Collins with a cod and a coalie for 4lb 6oz, Steve Harper had a single cod for 4lb 1oz and Jai Thompson had one cod and one coalfish for 3lb 2oz.
This week’s Cleadon A.C. match saw thirteen out of thirty-six weigh in mainly cod from Whitburn and the Tyne. First placed John Newcombe had two cod for 4lb 2oz from the Tyne. The heaviest fish, a cod of 4lb 1oz was also enough to secure second for Paul Harrison. Third placed Richard Landsbury had one cod for 3lb 9oz had one cod from White Rock and Stephen Brown had two cod for 3lb 5oz in fourth.
The Ryhope sweepstake on Tuesday saw all twenty-six anglers land small cod. John Morrow won with one of 1525 grams from Ryhope, Mick Davison took second and fourth places with cod of 1000 grams and 700 grams from Featherbed Rocks and third place went to Mick Hamilton with one of 925 grams from Hill 60.
The Ryhope club match on Sunday saw ninety fishing with Hartlepool angler John Wilson on top form taking nine fish for 6510 grams from the Tyne Walkway despite being harassed by anglers fishing a local open match. Paul Riley had two cod for 3050 grams, best 2480 grams, from Whitburn, and Sean McAvoy had three cod for 1645 grams. Top junior was Gary Warwick Jnr. with 210 grams.
The Eastenders sweepstake on Wednesday saw seventeen anglers land ten cod, six whiting and two flounders all from Roker Pier. Jim Dunlop had the heaviest fish with a cod of 3lb 2oz, Malcolm Sopp had one of 2½lb, brother Mick had one for 2lb 6oz, followed by Dale Short with one for 2¼lb.
The East End and Hendon sweepstake on Thursday saw ten anglers fishing but with flat seas the cod had moved offshore and only a single fish was weighed in when Barry Robson landed an eel of 1lb 2oz from the Tyne Walkway.
The East End and Hendon club match on Sunday saw better results when three out of twelve landed ten cod and a single flounder. Gareth Gardner fished the Tyne to weigh in five cod for 9lb 6oz, best 2¾lb for top spot. Tommy Tate fished the Wear to land three cod for 4lb 6oz in second place and George Brown also fished the Wear to land two cod and one flounder for 4lb 3oz.
Seaham A.C. also fished Sunday when eleven out of fifty brought twenty-one cod, two coalfish and a single flounder to the scales for a total of 40.60lb. Paul Westmoreland fished Hawthorn to land five cod for 9.83lb, best 3.70lb, followed by Paul Golighly with four for 6.76lb, also from Hawthorn. Third placed Henry Hogwood fished Hendon to take three for 5.49lb, and Gary Ramsden had three for 3.78lb.
Horden Mechanics fished at the weekend for their first Nighthawk match. Mick Edwards was joint winner with three whiting and a cod for 3¼lb, together with John Bourne who weighed in two cod. Sean Stephenson had a cod and a whiting for 2lb 10oz and Ged Barker had one cod and one flounder for 2lb 9oz.
Horden Buffs Surfcasters also fished last weekend. Winner Ron Smith had a nice bag of five cod, best 1lb 15oz and a flounder for 8lb 3oz. In second Steve Moyle had four cod and one eel for 7lb 5oz and Paul Peacock had three cod for 3lb 7oz. The Buffs Surfcasters are running a Wednesday night cash match sweepstake from the Buffs club in Horden, fishing from 7.30pm to 10.30pm, Registration 5.45pm to 6.15pm, weigh in 10.30pm to 11.15pm.
The Angling Trust Heaviest Fish Marine Open on Sunday saw fourteen out of thirty-two land eight cod, three wrasse, two flounders, and a coalfish for just under 33½lb. Paul Sample fished Craster to land the biggest fish with a cod of 5lb 14oz, Steve Williams had one of 5¼lb from St. Mary,s Island, Jade Nicholson had a wrasse of 3lb 12oz and Russ Smith had a cod of 3lb.
The recent Redcar Open saw one hundred and twelve fishing with nineteen weighing in twenty two flounders, four bass, three pouting, a cod, and an eel. Top prize of £500 for the heaviest fish went to Dave Turner of Redcar with a bass of 2lb 11oz taken from Coatham. Norman Middlemass had a bass of 1lb 13oz from Saltburn and James Moore had one of 1lb 11oz from Upgang. Craig Dalton had the heaviest bag with six flounders for 5lb 12oz taken from Whitby harbour, Terry Dalton had four flounders for 4lb and Stan Preston had four flounders for 3lb 1loz.
Sunday November 15th sees the Seaham Town Council Open fishing from 11am till 4pm. Basic entry is £8 all classes. Register from 9am till 10.30 am at Seaham A.C. clubhouse. There will be one hundred sealed tickets available to fish pegs on Seaham Pier.
