Boat anglers out of the Tyne have had some good results though mackerel have been scarce. The Swordfish went well offshore to land twenty good sized cod to 17lb and eighteen ling to 15lb amongst some quality whiting.
The Ian Woods boat open was fished at the weekend and some nice ling were brought to the scales. In the over 20 foot class Keith Miller on The Boys boated a ling of 18lb and Gary McDonald had a ling of 15lb 13oz on the Star Dance. Norman White landed a nice cod of 14lb 13oz on Slinky Kate, Stan Fee had a cod of 9lb 8oz on the White Diamond and Kenny Gray a cod of 9lb 1oz on The Boys. The under 20 foot class saw juniors take the top prizes. Chris Blyth on Sea Quest had a cod of 5lb and Mark Blyth also on Sea Quest had a cod of 2lb 7oz.
The second Friarage Tackle Small Boat Open Sweepstake fished on Sunday saw some excellent results for those boats that headed out to the rough ground to the East with plenty of fresh mackerel producing some quality ling. Most anglers had good mixed bags of smaller ling and cod. Heaviest ling was a gutted specimen of 16lb 11oz taken by Peterlee angler Ray Fisher, who also took second place with an almost identical ling of 16lb 10oz. Paul Rooney was third with a ling of 14lb 14oz. Ray and Paul were both fishing on the Danny Boy. Tommy Cormack had the best cod with a fine specimen of 14lb 11oz among a twenty fish haul on the At Last. Next open is on August 31st contact Friarage Tackle on 01429-273145 for details.
On the shore side mackerel have moved back inshore in limited numbers with the early morning tides producing the better results with a few double figure bags reported from most of the regions piers with Steetly Pier producing the best results. Numbers seem to be well down on previous years but a prolonged period of settled conditions with big tides this coming weekend may bring some bigger shoals inshore. Roker and South Shields piers have both produced pollack to 3lb and some nice coalfish on lures. Those anglers bait fishing have taken whiting, flatties and coalfish from the piers.
Small bass are showing from the Durham beaches with a few specimen plaice and the odd dogfish also reported. Quality whiting continue to show after dark.
Cod, coalfish and the dominant wrasse are in the kelp beds north of the Tyne. The river Tyne is still the mecca for match anglers but there are a lot of small fish proving a nuisance at present. Ragworn tipped with mackerel continues to outfish crab from the upper river. Chaz Walker and Steve Claypole from Friarage Tackle had a session in the upper Tyne and had several flounders over the 2lb mark plus lots of eels on ragworm baits with nothing at all on crab bait. The Wear has improved slightly with the odd bigger flounder showing and some tides have seen lots of eels active in the river.
The last Ryhope Tuesday evening sweepstake saw twenty fishing at the Business Park in the Wear with everyone landing fish. Anthony Lowther took first and fourth places with flounders of 1lb 5oz and 1lb, Mick Davison was second with a flounder of 1lb 4oz and Tommy Tate was third with a flounder of 1lb 2oz.
There are also plenty of flounders from the beaches north of the Tyne at Warkworth and Embleton, and in the river Aln. The last Amble match saw an all flounder weigh in where Jim French won with five flounders for 3lb 5oz, best 1lb 1oz. A.Taylor took second with five for 3lb 3oz and junior R.Oliver had three for 1lb 14oz.
Tynemouth A.C. fished another summer league match at Seahouses and once again found a few decent cod and wrasse amongst the kelp beds. Doug Spivey had three wrasse and a cod for 5lb 12oz to take top spot. Insecond was Dave Hayley had with a wrasse, which was also the heaviest fish at 3lb 3oz and Gary Appleton had a cod for third at 1lb 6oz.Tynemouth also fished on Sunday from Tynemouth Pier where Steve Harper won with four dabs, a plaice and a flounder, which was the heaviest fish at 1lb 13oz, for a total bag weight of 5lb 3oz. Dave Hayley was second again with six flounders for 4lb 14oz and Neil Garner had two coalfish and a dab for 3lb.
The third match in the Whitley Bay Summer League fished at Beadnell also saw cod and wrasse caught. Steve Williams had five fish for 9lb 2oz in first place well ahead of Chris Stringer in second who had two for 5lb 2oz. Third place went to Peter Stewart with a cod of 3lb 9oz which was joint heaviest fish with a wrasse taken by Chris Stringer.
The Eastenders heaviest fish sweepstake in the Wear on Wednesday saw fourteen fishing with eight weighing in eleven eels and ten flounders. Darren Welsh won with an eel of 1lb 6oz, Chris Hossack had one for 1lb 3lb and Steve Rackstraw took third with one of 1lb. Ernie Hunter and Steve Rackstraw tied for fourth place each with eels of 15oz.
The East End and Hendon sweepstake on Thursday saw twelve fishing open boundaries but only Barrie Robson weighed in a single whiting of 9oz taken from the barrier on Roker Pier.
Seaham A.C. fished Senior / Junior teams for the P.Harris Memorial Trophy on Saturday which saw sixteen coalfish, a plaice and a bass landed. Rita Clark and Steve Dixon won with 3.14lb ahead of Owen and Ian Barrass with 1.12lb.
The Eastenders open on Saturday saw fifteen anglers fishing Claxheugh on the Wear with eleven weighing in sixteen eels and thirteen flounders. Steve Williams had the heaviest fish with an eel of 1lb 6oz, he also took third place with a flounder of 14oz. Darren Welsh was second with a flounder of 1lb 2oz and Steve Rackstraw was fourth with a flounder of 13oz.
Sunderland S.A.A. also fished Claxheugh on Sunday with four out of seven finding fish. John Robinson had a flounder of 14oz and John Dyson had an eel of 13oz.
Northumbria Police fished at British Airways on the Tyne with a catch and release system for anything over 18cm. Gordon Stuart won with ten fish for 133 points followed by Mick Dunn with three fish for 85 points, including the longest fish with a flounder of 37cm and Martin Willis who had six fish for 79 points.
