A heavy south easterly sea, which stirred up the seabed, late has produced some nice bags of cod with some anglers reporting bags into the high teens. The best catches have been coming from the north of the region and from the Sunderland area. Further south on Middleton and the Pilot piers cod to 3lb and quality whiting were landed earlier in the week, but latter in the week sizeable were few and far between, with the normally productive Promenade marks almost fishless. Never the less there are some quality fish out there, and the forecast change of wind to a Northerly direction during this coming week should see an improvement through out the area.
The recent Seaham Anyfish Anywhere Open saw seventy-four out of two hundred and twenty-two entrants land one hundred and fifty-nine fish, mainly cod and whiting, for a total of 175.31lb. First prize for the heaviest fish went to Tommy Tait with a cod of 5.11lb taken from the Targets. Wayne Harriman in second had one for 3.27lb, and third placed G.Malloy weighed one for 3.21lb. Top bag went to George Hope who drew the peg on the round end of the pier and landed five cod for 9.70lb. Gary Ramsden had eight cod for 7.38lb and second place ahead of Mick Chadwick who landed four for 6.70lb. Fourth place went to Darren Welch with four fish for 6.45lb. The team event was won by George Hope and D.Stoker with seven fish for 11.37lb, followed by Darren Welch and S.Moore with six fish for 9.93lb.
The Newbiggin Open last Sunday saw ninety-five out of three hundred and forty-four anglers weigh in mixed bags of mainly cod and coalfish. Gordon Grear fished Whitley Bay to win with four cod for 13lb 6oz, which also included the 7lb 3oz cod which took the heaviest fish prize. Paul Medd in second place fished Church Point to land four cod and two coalfish for 9lb 1oz and Martin Pygall fished Cresswell to land three cod for 8lb 15oz to take third. Top junior was Kieron Arnold with one cod and one coalfish for 2lb 6oz and best flatfish was a flounder of 1lb 1oz taken by Raymond Gibson. The team event went to Gordon Grear and Brian Clennell with 17lb 5oz.
The recent Hartlepool Boat Festival saw Richmond angler S. Nicholas win the top prize for the heaviest fish with a fine ling of 26¼lb taken on the Evelyn Jane, B. Lee had a ling of 25lb on the Famous, and J. Graham had a ling of 23¼lb, also on the Famous.
Up at Amble a local match produced some nice bags of cod with winner Ian Harrogate taking five for 6lb 10oz. Second placed A. Taylor had three for 5lb 12oz, best 2lb 6oz and C. Falkous in third landed three for 4 – 13lb.
Cleadon A.C. struggled a little bit during their last match with only fourteen out of forty-two weighing in mixed bags of cod, coalfish and eels, mainly from the Tyne. John Taylor won with three cod for 4lb 10oz from the Tyne, Adam Johnson had a cod and an eel from Whitburn for 3½lb and second place with Albert Gray’s single cod of 3¼lb from the Groyne taking third place and the heaviest fish prize. Fourth went to Mark Shotton with a mixed bag of cod and coalfish from S.Shields pier for 3lb 3oz.
The last Tynemouth Winter League match saw sixteen out of thirty-one all weigh in cod. Peter Stewart had a single cod of 6lb 6oz to take top spot with Gavin Owen in second with four fish weighing 6lb 2oz. Third placed Steve Elliott had a single cod for 6lb 1oz and Daryl Bell finished fourth with three for 6 – 00lb.
Horden Mechanics fished last weekend and found reasonable numbers of smaller cod, whiting and flatties along the local beaches. Paul Raison won with two cod and five whiting for 8lb 5oz, which included a specimen whiting of 1lb 9oz. Nathan Lee had two cod, two whiting, and a nice dab of 14oz in a 5½lb bag for second and John Boxall in third had five whiting for 3lb 14oz.
The Ryhope Tuesday evening sweepstake saw eighteen fishing with most managing to pick up at least a few smaller cod with all of the top three fish coming from the lower Wear. Steve Rackstraw had a good Wear cod of 4lb 1oz to win ahead of Bob Surtees who took second and third places with cod of 2lb 6oz and 2lb 2oz.
The Ryhope club match on Sunday saw ninety-four fishing with good numbers of fish coming from the round end on Roker pier. Liam Simpson won with four cod, a whiting and a flounder for 4005 grams, Colin Edmondson had two cod for 4325 gram, best 2515 gram and Gary Warwick had four whiting, a cod and a flounder for 2975 grams. Top junior was Gary Warwick Jnr. with six fish for 2340 gram and Dave Terret had the best flatfish with a flounder of 370 grams.
The Eastenders Sweepstake on Wednesday only saw four out of eighteen weigh in three coalfish, two whiting and a single flounder. Jimmy Dunlop had the heaviest fish with the flounder which weighed in at 15oz taken from Panns Bank. Phil Wright took the next two places with coalfish of 15oz 14oz taken from South Shields Groyne.
The East End and Hendon sweepstake on Thursday saw three out of eight find fish. Andy Rutherford won with a cod of 3lb 14oz from the Cat and Dog Steps, Jim Ford had a whiting of 1lb 2oz from Roker and Geoff Moon had a whiting of 13oz from the same venue.
The Eastenders Open on Friday night saw slightly better results with eight out of seventeen weighing in eight cod, six whiting, four coalfish, and three flounders. Steve Maw had a cod of 4lb 10oz from Whitburn followed by son Steve with a cod of 2lb 14oz and Phil Wright who had one of 2lb 9oz from Seaburn.
The Eastenders match on Saturday afternoon saw seven out of seventeen land six cod, six flounders, an eel and a coalfish. Chris Hossack had a good session taking four cod for 2.37kg from the High Ledge, Mick Sopp had two cod and the coalfish for 1.53kg, and Brian Turnbull had two flounders for 1.09kg.
Some nice bass have been showing south of the Tees where Dave Turner won a Redcar Navy and Gents match with four bass, best 2lb 9oz and a flounder for 9½lb. Frank Harrison had four whiting and one dab for 3lb 2oz and Stan Dowse had four whiting for 2lb 6oz.
A St. Mary’s rover match saw Craig Dalton win with three cod, a whiting, a coalfish, and a rockling for 7lb 13oz followed by Grant Greenland with a cod of 4lb and R.Miller with a cod of 1lb 7oz.
Sunday November 1st is the 12th Redcar Navy and Gents Club Heaviest Fish Open fishing from 9.30am till 2.30pm between South Gare and Whitby East Pier. Basic entry is £8 plus optional team events and pools. Register from 8am till 8.45am at the Priory Club, Lord Street, Redcar. You can also register in advance from selected tackle shops between Hartlepool and Scarborough. Top prizes for the heaviest fish category are £500, £200, and £100. There are junior and ladies prizes plus a full supporting prize table. Anglers may only weigh in one single fish. Contact Tony Barker 01642-503049, 07727-754746 for details.
