A good heavy swell running over last weekend brought a welcome improvement for shore anglers with several reporting some nice bags of mainly smaller cod, particularly from Steetly Pier, Roker Pier, and the Hendon Wall area. There seems to be a lot of small undersize cod around at present but the odd bigger ones to 3lb have also shown. Best fish reported however was a monster of 10lb taken by Jim Atkinson fishing the gate on South Shields Pier. The usual whiting and various flatfish species have made up the remainder of catches with the odd small bass also showing from the Durham beaches. The cod fishing did not last long though, and by midweek it was back to scratching for the odd better sized flatties and whiting.
A few cod also showed North of the Tyne where Ian Harrogate won an Amble A.C. match with 2 cod and 2 flounders for 5lb 6oz, Jim French had 1 cod of 4lb 13oz, plus 2 flounders for 5lb 4oz, and R. Oliver had a single flounder for 8oz.
The Hartlepool Pirates match saw Eddie Reilly win with a cod of 3lb 14oz, plus 2 whiting for 5lb 4oz taken from the local pier, whilst Bill Bradley travelled to Rathouse Corner in the Wear for a single flounder of 9oz.
The Eastenders sweepstake on Wednesday saw 4 out of 15 weigh in 5 flounders and 1 pouting. Steve Williams fished South Shields to land the heaviest fish with a flounder of
1lb 5oz, Lee Burton took the next two places with flounders of 1lb 2oz, and 1lb taken from the Wear, Brian Turnbull had a flounder of 15oz, and Tommy Tate had a pouting of 11oz from Roker Pier.
The following night only saw one angler out of 10 weigh in for the East End and Hendon sweepstake when Darren Welsh had a flounder of 10oz from the Wear.
Seaham juniors were forced to fish for the Phil Johnson Cup in the Wear due to heavy seas on Saturday where Owen Barrass won with a single dab of 8oz.
The Eastenders catch and release open on Sunday saw a spectacular weigh in by comparison when 23 anglers landed 33 coalfish, 31 codling, 28 whiting, 23 flounders, and a single rockling. Steve Rackstraw had 11 fish for 268cm, Phil Wright and Malcolm Bell tied for second place with 5 fish each for 198cm, and Dave Raymond had 7 fish for 186cm. Thomas Rutherford was best junior with 4 fish for 120cm, and the longest fish was a coalfish of 44cm taken by Steve Brown.
The Eastenders next open shore competition is on Sunday April 12, fishing from 2pm to 6pm at the Glass Centre in the River Wear. Register at the venue from 1pm, entry £6 all classes.
East End and Hendon also fished Sunday with 2 out of 14 landing 2 coalfish and 1 flounder. Gareth Gardner had the 2 coalfish for 1lb 11oz from South Shields Pier, and George Brown had a flounder of 8oz from the Wear.
Sunderland S.A.A. also fished Sunday. Alan Mordey won with a flounder of 1lb 2oz, and Paul Robinson had a flounder of 13oz.
Natural England were expected to attend at the North East Sea Angling and Boat Show on October 24 and 25 at the Nissan Sports and Social Club, but have now declined to attend. It had been planned that a representative from Natural England would be available to answer questions concerning Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs), but their response now is that they will be unable to answer any questions put to them.
PA Lynch are holding demonstration days from 11am till 4pm on April 25 and 26 at Sunderland Marina. Entry is free and various combinations of boats and engines will be on display with representatives from the manufacturers available to answer any questions. If you would like to arrange a demonstration session contact Phil on (01670) 512 291.
Friday April 10th is the Seaham Good Friday open fishing from 1pm till 6pm. Tel:0191-5810321 or 07881-442289 for details.
Looking slightly further ahead Whitley Bay A.S. are holding another open summer league this year. Entry fee for all 7 matches is £10 with a £5 sweepstake arranged for each individual match. The overall winner of all 7 matches wins £200 and the heaviest fish wins £100. All the Sunday matches qualify for Penn Points. Contact Mick 07739-585464 or Gary 07957-949557 for details.
Dates are as follows –
Sunday June 14 from 12.00 – 4.00pm: Meet Beadnell, Patterson’s Garage
Sunday July 12 from 11.00 – 3.00pm: Meet Newton, Car Park
Sunday July 26 from 11.00 – 3.00pm: Meet Beadnell, Paterson’s Garage
Sunday Aug 9 from 10.00 – 2.00pm: Meet Newton, Car Park
Sunday Aug 16 from 4.00 – 8.00pm: Meet Beadnell, Paterson’s Garage
Wednesday Sep 2 from 7.30 – 11.00pm: Meet WBAS clubhouse
Wednesday Sep 16 from 7.30 – 11.00pm: Meet WBAS clubhouse
