The small tides and windy conditions of late might have put some anglers off but mackerel were still evident from all areas though in reduced numbers, most anglers have managed at least a few, with the better bags into low double figure, lures are still taking most fish. There are vast shoals of mackerel just offshore east of Teesbay and with the bigger tides this coming weekend this should see improved results if the calm conditions and lighter westerly winds persist.
Increasing numbers of fish are starting to show from the Northumberland marks where pollack, coalfish, wrasse, cod and mackerel are increasingly common from the various marks. In addition the area around Eyemouth and St. Abbs, where there is plenty of shelter from the persistent westerly gales of late, is also proving productive. Beadnell has produced mixed bags of cod and wrasse and Dunstanburgh castle has seen similar results with plenty of mackerel and the odd bigger pollack showing.
Tynemouth A.C. fished a summer league match around St. Abbs which was won by Steve Harper with three cod for 9lb 11oz, best weighing an ounce over four pound. Paul Wright had two cod and one wrasse from Coldingham Bay for 9½lb to take second place ahead of Marty Elliott who landed three cod for 4lb 7oz from St. Abbs.
The last Whitley Bay summer league match was fished at Beadnell with fourteen out of twenty-five weighing in. Gav Owen won with three cod for 8lb 3oz while runner-up Steve Alexander had two for 4lb 14oz. Steve Potts had the heaviest fish, a cod of 3lb 11oz which also shared third spot with Steve Williams who had two for the same weight.
There are now plenty of fish in the lower Tyne taking crab and worm baits with large numbers of undersize cod and coalfish showing on some tides. The last Tynemouth retired members match on Tynemouth pier saw fifteen out of twenty-two weigh in several species. Tony Taylor won with three gurnard, three coalfish, best making 1¾lb, three cod and a dab for 9lb. Arthur Smeaton had five cod and two plaice for 7½lb to finish second and Ken Robinson picked up third place with four cod, a coalfish, a flounder and a gurnard for 6lb 7oz.
There are huge amounts of smaller fish in the lower Wear where picking up a few bigger flounders among them is proving difficult; again lots of small cod are evident. The Northumbria Police Bob Strong Memorial Trophy fished at Panns Bank saw Steve Elliott win with forty-two fish for 676 points, Dave Nevin had thirty-two fish, best a 32cm flounder, for 511 points and Steve Foster had fourteen fish for 215 points.
Alan Burton won a recent Eastenders match in the Wear with an eel of 1lb 6oz and Barrie Robson won their open match at the Timber Beach with a flounder of 1lb 10oz.
Mick Davies won the Seaham A.C. Nighthawk Trophy with three mackerel, two flounders, and a dogfish for 6.62lb. The heaviest fish was a dogfish of 3.02lb taken by Lewis Barnes.
The Bob White Memorial open boat match saw some nice pollack and cod weighed in from the inshore, hard ground marks. Graham Bell won with an excellent pollack of 11lb 14oz taken from the Growler. Adam Dunn on the Natalie Kristen and Mickey Collins on the Growler tied for second place with cod of 11lb 9oz, and Michael Bold was fourth with a pollack of 10lb 11oz also netted on the Growler.
The Sarah JFK out of the Tyne has had some decent sessions with quality ling outnumbering the cod. Best cod of late was one of 13½lb taken by Steve Allen, best ling are specimens of 25lb taken by Bob Butcher and one of 15lb by Andrew Hutton. Richard Roll and Graham Napier had some productive sessions on the Stingray out of the Tyne taking thirty-five cod to 10lb 7oz on one trip, then fifteen cod to 10lb the next day in addition to ling to 7lb. The Evelynn Jane out of Hartlepool had a few midweek trips taking cod to 14lb and ling to 10lb while Sean Stephenson had a nice pollack of 10lb.
The Amble summer shore open is on Sunday July 18th fishing from 12.30pm to 4.30pm between Seahouses South Pier to Lynemouth pipe, all piers and rivers are excluded but disabled anglers may fish from Amble pier. Basic entry is £10; juniors under 16 are free if accompanied by a paying adult. Register at the Amble Angling Centre from 10am to 12.30pm, and weigh in at the Radcliffe club from 4.30pm to 5.30pm. There are prizes for the top two heaviest bags, heaviest fish, and heaviest flatfish, thanks to a donation by Sea Angler magazine the prize table has been increased from £600 to £1000 worth of tackle prizes.
