Recent heavy seas pushed some good cod inshore to boast mixed bags of codling, whiting, and flatties. Terry Johnson had an outstanding session on Roker Pier, landing two cod around 5lb and a superb summer fish of 12lb. North of the Tyne, the rock edges have produced some good bags, but nothing much over 4lb reported. St.Abbs, Eyemouth, and Seahouses producing cod, wrasse, coalfish, and, when the sea has been settled, mackerel. Marty Elliott won a recent Tynemouth A.C. match at Seahouses with a cod of 4 – 06lb, while Dave Hayley had one of 4 – 04lb. The Tynemouth retired members match was won by Tony Taylor with a mixed bag of 6 whiting, 5 dabs, a flounder, and a coalfish for 7 – 04lb. A plaice of 1 – 09lb claimed the heaviest fish for Arthur Styles.
Mackerel have been scarce in the Teesbay area, with just the odd one from Steetley Pier. Bait fishing accounting for good numbers of dabs, flounders, and plaice. And night sessions continue to produce quality whiting, which are now moving inshore in increasing numbers on late evening tides. Again, Steetley seems to be the better mark with the odd dogfish and small thornback rays also reported.
The last Seaham AC nighthawk match produced a good showing of cod, coalfish, whiting, plaice, and bass. Tony Laws won with 13 fish for 7.49lb. Shirley Newton landed a specimen dogfish of 3.07lb. Seaham AC juniors competed for the Edwards Trophy on Saturday afternoon in heavy rain. Eight braved the conditions with two weighing in three fish for 1.77lbs. Craig Hogwood won with two flounders for 1.05lbs, while Kieran Newton had one for 0.72lb.
Terry Dalton won the last St.Marys AC match with 6 eels for 5 – 04lb, including the h.s.f. of 1 – 08lb. Mick Smith had 3 whiting and a dab for 2 – 05lb, with Russell Miller landing 5 whiting for 2 – 04lb. 16 fished with 11 anglers weighing in.
Both the Wear and Tyne are on top form now for flounders and eels. Codling are scarce but coalfish making up for this with large numbers moving into the Wear. Lew Marsden fished the Fish Quay Wall in the Tyne and had a lovely plaice of 2 – 14lb taken on ragworm.
Last Tuesdays Ryhope sweepstake saw 38 fishing at the Glass Centre in the Wear. Joe Archer won zone A with a good flounder of 1 – 10lb. Leo Fenech had one of 1 – 09lb, and Mick Davison had one of 1 – 04lb. In zone B Jim Dobie had a flounder of 1 – 07lb, while Lee Brown and Gaz Watson tied with flounders of 1 – 00lb.
The previous Ryhope Tuesday sweepstake also fished at the Glass centre, saw 48 fishing with most taking fish. Gaz Watson won zone A with an eel of 1 – 07lb, with Jim Dobie and Dave Stokoe tying for second place. Jim had a flounder of 1 – 04lb, and Dave had a coalfish of identical weight. In zone B Gary Warwick had a flounder of 1 – 02lb to win, followed by Ken Newton with one of 1 – 00lb, and Colin Smith on 0 – 14lb.
The last Eastenders sweepstake saw 14 out of 17 weighing in 64 flounders, eels, and coalfish in a catch-and-release match fished at Panns Bank. Leo Fenech had 7 fish for 190cm; Steve Williams had 6 fish for 176cm, including the longest fish (38cm coalfish); Chris Hossack had 6 fish for 157cm.
The East End and Hendon AC also fished in the Wear with 4 out of 11 weighing in. Tommy Tate took the top two places with an eel of 1 – 04lb, and a flounder of 1 – 02lb. Barry Robson had an eel of 1 – 01lb and Jim Ford had a flounder of 0 – 14lb.
The Eastenders Open sweepstake on Saturday was fished at the Timber Beach with 27 out of 31 weighing in 59 fish, mainly flounders and eels. Alan Burton won zone A with a flounder of 1 –04, and Billy Bell was second with a flounder of 1 – 02lb. In Zone B, Ernie Hunter had a coalfish of 1 – 01lb and Bobby Bland had a flounder of 1 – 00lb. Alan Burton had the heaviest bag in zone A with 6 fish for 3 – 13lb, while Jim Dobie had the heaviest bag in zone B with 5 fish for 3 – 06lb.
The Ryhope club match on Sunday was fished in the Tyne at the Copthorne Hotel with all 35 members fishing taking flounders and eels. John Lovett won zone A with 7 fish for 191cm; Bob Surtees had 7 fish for 189cm; Paul Fenech had 6 fish for 166cm; Gary Warwick Jnr. had 6 fish for 164cm. In zone B Paul Riley had 5 fish for 163cm including the longest fish of 34cm; John Topliffe had 5 fish for 146cm; Sean McAvoy had 5 fish for 142cm; and junior angler Adam Harriman had 4 fish for 109cm.
The Newbiggin Summer Open on Sunday saw 18 out of 81 weigh in 17 coalfish, 14 cod, and 4 wrasse. Joe Archer had a good win with 17 coalfish for 21 – 01lb; Steve Coverdale had 2 cod for 8 – 09lb from Cullernose Point; Steve Williams had a mixed bag of cod and wrasse for 4 – 12lb. Steve Coverdale had the heaviest fish with a cod of 4 – 13lb; Colin Errington had a cod of 4 – 05lb; Steve Coverdale also had the third heaviest with a cod of 3 – 11lb. Joe Archer and K.Brown won the team event with
21 – 01lb, with Steve Coverdale and Andy Crowe were second with 12 – 04lb.
After a couple of cancellations the Frasers Open Boat Competition went ahead last weekend with 77 anglers fishing in boats over 20ft, and 4 fishing in boats under 20ft. Overall winner was J.Bainbridge with a ling of 14 – 07lb taken on Swordfish. Terry Senior had a ling of 14 – 00lb on the White Diamond; Norman White had a ling of 13 – 11lb on Slinky Kate; Burt Gray had a cod of 12 – 06lb on Shady. In the under 20ft section, Phil Ripon had a cod of 8 – 11lb on Fortuna. During the match Joe Winthorp landed a rare halibut of 4 – 02lb. Boat anglers are also taking some quality Pollack from the inshore hard ground marks. Mark Wanless had one of 11 – 00lb aboard Dans De Laur out of Blyth
The Bob White Memorial Heaviest Fish Boat Open was fished at Amble on Saturday with 44 from 80 weighing in. Fished in heavy seas, the match was abandoned an hour before the finish. Robert Nesbitt had the heaviest fish – a cod of 9 – 09lb taken aboard Warlord. Walter Turnbull had a pollack of 7 – 10lb on Charlotte; Kevin Anderson had a pollack of 7 – 03lb also on the Charlotte; Joe Riley was also on the Charlotte to land a pollack of 6 – 06lb. Top junior was Philip Ward with a pollack of 5 – 05lb.
The Hartlepool CSA festival is underway and runs until August 31st Biggest fish so far is a ling of 12 – 07lb taken by Brian Johnson on the Famous.
The NFSA N.E. division are holding a junior open shore angling competition on Sunday July 27th in conjunction with National Fishing week. All entrants must be under 16 years of age on the day of the competition. Basic entry is £3: register at the Ouseburn Regeneration Centre Byker from 7.30am. Fishing is from 9am till 1pm, with the weigh in from 1pm till 2pm. Entrants may fish on either side of the river Tyne only, and may receive help in casting and baiting up etc, but must land their own fish. Further details from Peter Mantle on 4887421 mantle1911@aol.com or Sam Harris 0191-5184561 samharris01-@aol.com
