Just when the mackerel where starting to move back inshore and double figure bags were becoming the norm, the inevitable happened when another heavy sea arrived again to scatter them offshore. Anglers have started to report cod moving inshore in greater numbers than during the previous on shore blow with South Shields pier, Seaham Pier, and some of the Durham beach marks all producing fish to around the 4lb mark. Quality whiting have moved inshore from the Durham beaches down to Hartlepool with the local piers producing nice fat specimens up to 2lb after dark, and specimen sized dabs are also evident, both species taking ragworm and mackerel baits.
There is still plenty of action in the Wear where the seasonal flounders and coalies are out in force on most tides. The Eastenders Wednesday evening sweepstake saw all 16 anglers weigh in and Ritchie Carr had the longest fish, a coalfish of 38cm. One centimetre behind was Dave Mould and Tommy Tate finished third with one of 35cm. Eastenders also fished at the Glass Centre on Sunday where Chris Hossack won with a flounder measuring 39cm. Runner-up Steve King had a coalfish of 36cm, and Jim Dobie and Steve King tied for third place each with coalie measuring 33cm.
The Rutherfords Conoflex open on Saturday night at the Copthorne Hotel in the Tyne saw Phil Wright win with 388cm ahead of Jim Dobie who measured 321cm, and Neil Cutler with 277cm. The Ryhope A.C. match at the Business Park in the Tyne on Sunday saw huge numbers of flounders present with ragworm and mackerel baits again the most productive. John Lovett won zone A with 17 for 467cm while second placed Barrie Stowells had 16 for 406cm, including the longest fish at 42cm. Third spot went to Terry Mann had 15 measuring 322cm, and Paul Craig finished fourth with 15 for 289cm. In zone B John Bryan had a cracking bag of 29 fish measuring 546cm to take first place. Bob Surtees came home second with 20 for 408cm ahead of Alan Burton in third with 374cm and fourth placed Bob Hamilton who measured 364cm. Kevin Robson had the best flounder which measured 43cm, and top junior Mason Burton had 358cm.
Tynemouth A.C. fished an away match last weekend and found the sea too rough for the normally productive Northumberland rock edge marks. Marty Elliott only needed a single cod of 5¾lb taken from Seahouses to win ahead of Paul Foster whose single cod weighed in at 2lb 1oz taken from Newton. Their retired retired member’s match fished on Tynemouth pier saw better results with eight out of 14 finding fish. Neil Garner won with 11 flounders weighing 8lb 13oz, followed by Ken Robinson with two dabs, a coalfish and a cod of 1lb 10oz, for a 3lb 11oz total. Tony Taylor took third place with three whiting and one cod weighing 3lb 7oz.
The latest Whitley Bay Summer League match saw a few cod landed and with three of those fishing reporting loosing big fish on the way in there is at least some bigger specimens moving inshore during the current heavy seas. Chris Stringer won with two cod totalling 6lb 15oz, Dave Cruddace had one weighing 4¾lb, Colin Bell had one at 3lb 13oz, and Russ Smith had one weighing 2lb 11oz.
