A bit of an easterly sea put some movement on the sea over last weekend and into the early part of last week, the sea was not as heavy as forecast, but nevertheless it was enough to bring the cod inshore, with the beaches and low water marks producing the better results. Both match and pleasure anglers have had double figure bags but not to the extent of previous weeks. The odd better cod to 5lb continue to be taken from all areas but most still average around the 1½ to 2 pound mark, particularly in the rivers Wear and Tyne where there are still large numbers of these smaller fish showing. Bass have been reported from several areas, quality whiting have shown on night tides from the Durham beaches and Roker Pier, and all of the clean ground marks continue to produce sizeable flounders and dabs in calmer conditions.
A Tynemouth retired member’s match saw mixed bags taken from Tynemouth pier where Ken Robinson won with two coalfish and two dabs for 3lb 1oz, Peter Smith had a cod of 1lb 10oz plus a whiting to take second with 2lb 2oz. Third placed Neil Carter had two coalfish and a whiting for an ounce less. The last Tynemouth Winter League match saw better results with 10 out of 18 weighing in. Marty Elliott fished King Edwards Bay to win with three cod and a bass for 7lb 9oz. Runner-up Dave McLaughlin had four cod for 6lb 11oz, best making 3lb 2oz from the Rex Hotel while Ken Hill weighed four cod and a single flounder for 6lb 10oz from the Tyne to finish third.
The last Cleadon match saw plenty of cod showing in the Tyne with 20 out of 36 landing fish. Steve Williams finished top with 10 cod for 11lb 9oz ahead of John Taylor who weighed in eight at 10lb 13oz. In third place, Adam Johnson had six fish weighing 9lb 3oz from South Shields pier just edging Mark Shotton who landed seven fish for 9lb 1oz from the Tyne. Chris Ryan had the heaviest fish, a cod of 4lb 9oz from the Black Path.
Seaton Sluice A.C. gave the local beaches a miss and headed for the Tyne in their last match with 10 out of 17 finding fish. Simon Todd won with six cod for 7lb 1oz, Scott Davidson had five for 6lb 14oz and Peter Stewart had four for 4lb 6oz.
Further North of the Tyne shore sport has dropped off a little and Keith Armstrong won a Bedlington Station match with a mixed bag of 5lb 9oz, followed by Steve Surtees with a single cod weighing an ounce under three pounds. Nigel Howitt only needed two small cod weighing 2lb 13oz taken from Lynemouth to win a Blyth match.
The cod that were prevalent in the north of the region have now started to move south of the Tees where sport has improved considerably. The Angling Trust Heaviest Fish Open saw Craig Dalton win with a cod of 9lb 3oz taken from Boulby, followed by Stan Preston with a cod of 7lb 5oz and Chris Woods with one of 4lb 3oz. A St. Mary’s club match saw Terry Dalton win with six cod, the best tipping the scales at 4lb 2oz, two bass and a rockling for a total of 17lb 3oz taken from Port Mulgrave. Paul Lobley finished second with five cod and three rockling weighing 9lb 3oz and third placed Grant Greenland had five cod for 9lb 2oz. A Redcar Navy and Gentleman’s club match saw Dave Allinson win with two cod for 3lb 9oz from Sandsend while Dennis Hall fished South Gare to land a single cod and whiting for 2lb 1oz to take second and third placed Vanessa Barker weighed in two flounders and a whiting for 1lb 9oz from Saltburn pier.
The Redcar Navy and Gentleman’s 13th Heaviest Fish Open match takes place on Sunday October 24th fishing from 10.30am till 2.30pm between South Gare to Whitby East Pier and up to the Swing Bridge in the Tees. Basic entry is £8 for seniors £2.50 for juniors plus optional pools etc. Top three prizes are £500, £200 and £100, plus ladies and junior prizes and a supporting prize table. Register at the Priory Club, Lord Street, Redcar form 9.30am. Contact Tony Barker 01642-503049 for details.
