Whiting are showing in large numbers from most areas with lots of double figure bags reported from the Teesbay area, Durham beaches, Hendon Wall, South Shields pier, and both the rivers Wear and Tyne where some anglers have taken mixed bags of 20lb plus. The river Tyne and South Shields pier have been the most productive lately with cod up to 6lb reported and good numbers of coalfish, whiting and flounders on nearly all tides. Night time sessions have produced the best results from the piers and beaches, but the rivers have so many fish at present that they are being taken at any state of the tide and at any time of day. Crab is still picking up the better bags of cod and coalfish but worm baits are increasingly taking more fish, and those anglers tipping their bait off with mackerel for the whiting have been reporting the odd dogfish from Middleton Pier, Seaham North pier, and various beach marks.
Alberta S.A.C. saw all but one of the 20 anglers weigh in at the Tyne. Mick Dellin won with 17 fish weighing 9lb 5oz ahead of second placed David Lood who had 8lb 10oz and Darren Brown with 6lb 2oz. Phil Coates won a South Shields match with eight fish totalling 7lb 6oz taken from the pier. Runner-up Steve Elliott had eight weighing 6lb 9oz from the Tyne to pip Andrew Nickerson whose bag weighed in at five ounce less while fishing the pier. Steve Hardy won a Tynemouth Winter League match with 10 whiting and a dab for 5lb 6oz. Glen Campbell finished second with 2lb 13oz and Scott Hill had the heaviest fish; a cod of 1lb 9oz.
Cleadon A.C. also found plenty of fish showing in the Tyne and from South Shields pier during their last match with 18 out of 32 weighing in various mixed bags of cod, whiting, coalfish and flounders. Trevor Green won with 10 fish weighing 6lb 7oz from the pier, Ken Collins had a single cod of 4lb 13oz also from the pier and Norman Spour took third with three fish bag of 3lb 6oz from the Tyne.
Ryhope A.C. saw 73 anglers fishing their last match but the previously productive Tyne and Hendon Wall areas which had seen double figure bags of cod taken the day before failed to produce on the day. Gary Dunn fished Rathouse Corner in the Wear to land 16 whiting for 4.41kg to win by a big margin ahead of Joe Lemon who had two coalfish and two flounders from the Tyne weighing 2.48kg. Third placed Mason Burton had two whiting, two coalfish and a flounder totalling 2.43kg from the Tyne while in fourth was John Topliffe who fished the Wear to land six whiting weighing for 2.13kg. Steve Harriman took the heaviest round-fish prize with a cod of 0.61kg, and Derek Ross had the best flatfish at 0.51kg.
Seaham A.C. had two recent matches, the first match saw 16 out of 27 land 33 whiting, six flounder, two dogfish, one coalfish, and one cod for 26.6lb, with all the top bags coming from the North pier where John Thompson won with a dogfish of 2.11lb, Eddie Talbot had one for 1.76lb, Mick Davison had a cod of 1.01lb, and Jim Dobie had the heaviest bag with 10 fish for 4.83lb, followed by Dave Stoker with seven for 3.80lb. Their second was for the Angus Mills Trophy on Sunday with 21 out of 36 weighing in 46 fish for 39.12lb. John Clark won with five for 5.37lb, Dean Furness had four for 3.13lb, and Rita Clark had three for 2.81lb.
The Eastenders sweepstake on Wednesday was a roving match which saw four out of 17 land seven fish. Ritchie Carr won with a cod of 5¾lb from South Shields pier followed by Phil Wright with cod of 3lb 15oz, 3lb 1oz and 2¾lb, all taken from Marsden. The Eastenders club match on Saturday returned to the river Wear when six out of 20 weighed in 15 flounders and four coalies from the Glass Centre. Chris Hossack won with 10 flounders weighing 10lb 3oz, Ernie Hunter had three coalfish for 2lb 15oz and Brian Turnbull finished fourth with two flounders for 2lb.
North of the Tyne Lynemouth has also been productive. Nicky Robson won an S.B.R.A.A.C. match with two cod, a whiting and a coalie for a total of 8lb 10oz from Lynemouth beach, and Phil Smithson in second had a cod and a dogfish weighing 2lb 13oz from Boghall. Ivan Stott won a Seaton Sluice match with five cod, the best weighing 3lb 15oz, and a whiting for a total bag of 12¼lb from Lynemouth. In second was Mick Burke with four coalfish weighing 5lb from Blyth, and Chris Guthrie in third two cod for 3lb 2oz from Boghall.
Up at Amble John Lee won a recent match with a single cod of 6lb 6oz; Tony Cook was close behind with three weighing 5¼lb, and Adam Dunn had four flounders and three whiting for 4lb 14oz.
The Seaham A.C. Open is on Sunday October 23rd with fishing from 11am till 4pm between Hendon Groyne (excluded), and Dene Holme pipe at Horden. Seaham North Pier will have 100 pegs available weather permitting. No fishing areas include Hawthorne Point between the markers, the cliffs at Featherbed Rocks, Hendon Groyne, and all Seaham dock areas except the North Pier. Basic entry is £10 all classes plus optional heaviest fish and team pools, and a sealed weight draw. There is one prize per angler for the heaviest fish; with the best fish winning £1000. There are prizes for junior, ladies, and disabled anglers and a £3000 prize table. Contact Seaham A.C. 0191-5810321 for details.
Some brief details of coming open matches:
- October 30th Bedlington Station and Redcar Navy and Gentleman’s Club
- November 6th East Coast Warrior Open
- November 12th Hornsea All Night Open and Harrington Open
- November 13th South Shields Open
- November 26th Whitley Bay Evening Open
- November 27th Sunderland Shore Angling Festival
