Heavy South Easterly seas last weekend ensured anglers enjoyed a few days of decent fishing, with quality cod from all areas, and plenty of whiting and flatfish also. John Wilson reported cod to 6lb on fresh crab from Middleton Pier. Mick Dunn had cod to 7lb on worm from Steetly Pier, which produced some reasonable mixed bags for other anglers at night. The Durham beaches saw cod to 9lb. Hendon and Roker have produced bags of smaller codling, while rock edges between Roker and South Shields produced several cod to 12lb mark. South Shields Pier proved quieter, but the lower Tyne gave good numbers of smaller cod. General shore sport has been poorer in recent days with only odd whiting and flatfish showing in settled conditions.
Catch snippets: Chris Hossack fished the High Drop Off on Saturday and landed 10 cod – best 8 – 00lb, and 1 flounder for 25lb – all taken on fresh crab. Gareth Gardner only needed a cod of 1 – 12lb to win the Eastenders Sweepstake match. Paul Riley won the East End and Hendon match with a cod of 4 – 11lb from Whitburn, while Joe Grieves was second with a cod of 3 – 05lb from the same mark.
Seaham Christmas Fayre match saw some decent cod weighed in with some big cod reported lost from the North Pier. 30 out of 87 weighed in 51 fish for 116 – 02lb. Gary Pye had 6 cod for 12.86lb from Hawthorn; John Barrass had 4 cod for 11.88lb from Hendon; Baz Blakeman had a single cod of 9.14lb from Hendon; Dean Monarch had a single cod of 6.39lb.
Seaham Juniors match was moved to the Wear due to heavy seas, where 4 weighed in 5 fish for 4.49lb. Kieran Newton won with 2 fish for 1.94lb; Craig Hogwood had 1 for 0.97lb; Lliam Prest had 1 fish for 0.80lb; Mark Swan had 1 for 0.78lb.
Cleadon A.C. fished last Monday with 8 out of 26 weighing in. Paul Rogers had the h.s.f. and top bag with a cod of 4 – 09lb taken from Marsden; Terry Wood had a single cod of 4 – 07lb from Whitburn; Jamie Brennan had a single cod of 4 – 00lb from S.Shields Pier.
Ryhope Sweepstake last Tuesday missed all of the cod with only 6 out of 33 weighing in 7 whiting. Darren Welsh had one of 430 grammes from Hendon; Jim Brookes took second and third place with whiting of 295 grammes each; Kevin Martin had one of 280 grammes. Tuesday December 30th sees the sweepstake fished as normal. Club members should note the A.G.M. is at 12 noon on Sunday January 4th at the Village Tavern Ryhope.
Tynemouth retired members fished a midweek match with 9 out of 18 weighing in mainly whiting. Tony Taylor had 5 whiting and 1 cod for 5 – 12lb; Dave Hayley had 5 whiting for 4 – 12lb; Wilf Reed had 3 whiting for 2 – 06lb; John Cain had the h.s.f. with a cod of 1 – 05lb.
East End and Hendon Christmas match on Sunday saw 4 out of 14 land 6 flounders, 5 whiting, and 1 cod. George Brown won with 6 fish for 5 – 04lb; Gareth Gardner had 2 for 3 – 01lb, including the h.s.f. with a cod of 2 – 01lb; Tommy Tate had 3 flounders for 1 – 14lb.
Sunderland S.A.A. Christmas match on Sunday saw 10 weigh in 15 whiting, 3 cod, and 3 flounders. Barry Wright had a single cod of 5 – 04lb to win ahead of Thomas Rutherford with 3 whiting and 1 cod for 3 – 09lb, and Paul Robinson with 1 cod and 1 whiting for 2 – 13lb.
Hartlepool Pirates A.C. fished two recent matches. The first saw Chris Coxan win with a mixed bag of 6 fish for 6 – 10lb, including the h.s.f. with a cod of 2 – 10lb. Barry Pattison had a mixed bag of whiting, pouting, and coalfish for 4 – 08lb; Darren Dixon had 2 whiting for 1 – 08lb; Bill Bradley had 1 whiting and 1 flounder for 1 – 06lb. The second match saw Chris Coxan come top again with a single cod of 1 – 07lb; Bill Bradley had 2 flatties for 1 – 02lb; Barry Pattison had a pouting for 0 – 12lb; Aaron Dixon had 1 whiting for 0 – 10lb.
Matches for the festive period
There are several open matches and lots of sweepstakes planned for the holiday period. Here are a few of them…
Seaham Boxing Day Open fished from 12 till 5pm. Contact 0191-5810321 for details.
The 15th Easington Colliery Rovers Open is on Saturday 27th December fishing from 10am till 3pm between the Green Wall at Seaham to the Heugh Breakwater (Heugh and Steetly Piers excluded). Basic entry is £10, plus pools and team events, register at the Colliery Club Seaside Lane, Easington from 8am till 9.45am. First prize for the h.s.f is £400, £300 for the heaviest bag, and £100 for the second heaviest bag. Ladies and Junior prizes are £50 plus a prize table of over £1000. This is a Penn Points match and there is only one prize per competitor. Stewards will be in attendance during the match.
The 11th Blackhall Navy Club “Get Carter” Open is on December 29th fishing from 9am till 2 pm between the Foxholes at Horden to the Heugh breakwater, (Heugh and Steetly Piers excluded). Basic entry is £10 plus pools and team events. Juniors are free if accompanied by a paying adult. Top three prizes for the h.s.f. are £500, £300, and £200. Top three junior prizes are £50, £30, and £20, plus a supporting prize table. Register from 6.30am till 9am at the Navy Club, East Street, Blackhall. Contact 0191-5182036 for details.
The Amble Open is early this year, fished on Sunday January 4th from 11am till 3pm between Seahouses South Pier and Lynemouth Pipe, excluding all rivers, piers, and jetties. All inclusive entry is £11 for all classes, register at the Radcliffe Club from 9am, weigh in from 3pm till 4pm – NO FISH WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER 4PM. The flounder size is 27cm this year and competitors are requested to keep all flounders alive in water-filled buckets for safe return. Top three prizes for the heaviest bag are £600, £300, and £150. Top three h.s.f. get £400, £200, and £100. Top three flatfish get £150, £100, and £50, and the top three juniors and ladies receive £50, £30, and £20. There is the usual superb prize table of £4000. Bait can be pre-ordered from the Amble Angling Centre on 01665-711200. Contact Jim French 01665-711007 for details.
Bait for any of these matches can be pre-ordered from the Friarage Tackle shop at Hartlepool 01429-273145, which will be open during the holiday period.
