Catches proved disappointing despite heavy seas over the latter part of last week. Odd smaller cod and whiting reported from sheltered marks at the Pilot pier, Middleton, N.Gare at Hartlepool, Rathouse Corner in the Wear, and some marks in the Tyne. Many anglers were caught out on Sunday when the sea dropped flat calm overnight, but a few bigger cod were caught. Notably, specimens to 17lb reported from Hartlepool promenade, with others around the 10 – 12lb also taken. Best fishing was close in and on low water marks. The piers produced little with just the odd cod to 6lb, along with small whiting and dabs. Commercial boats report good numbers of cod 3 miles out between Teesbay and Seaham. Cod sport should pick up with next weekend’s bigger tides. Lot of smaller cod in the Tyne, but a 7lb fish was landed at the Bergen Quay by Ian Johnson. Gavin Owen had 6 cod for 13 – 09lb from the Middens to win a Seaton Sluice match.
North of the Tyne: Some good bags of cod taken from north of the Tyne. Steve Nesbitt took 3 cod in three casts for 16 – 10lb – best 6 – 06lb, to win a Newbiggin A.C. match. Darren Shields had 4 cod for 14 – 06lb – best 6 – 01lb, to win a Bedlington Station match. Steve Kislingbury had a pleasure session at Hadstone, landing 5 cod for 16 – 10lb – best 5 – 15lb. And Paul Batey won a Longbenton match with 12 – 13lb of cod.
Scarborough Marine Drive: Another superb fish was caught South of the Tees. Following the 16lb cod caught by Mick Chadwick in the Whitby open, Ray Maddison won a pegged match at Scarborough Marine Drive weighing in 4 cod for 28lb – best just over 19lb.
East End and Hendon Open fished last Saturday at the Glass Centre in the Wear saw 15 out of 28 weighing in. Jim Dobie was overall winner with 4 fish for 123cm. Geoff Moon won zone A with 4 fish for 119cm, followed by Bob Surtees with 97cm, with Gary Warwick and Barry Robson both on 95cm. John Wilson won zone B with 4 fish for 112cm; Gareth Gardner had 93cm; Derek Ross had 62cm.
Sunderland S.A.A. match on Sunday saw poor results with Bill Gamblin only needing a flounder of 0 – 14lb to win ahead of Thomas Rutherford with a coalfish of 0 – 13lb, and J.Pope with a whiting of 0 – 10lb.
Eastenders Sweepstake on Wednesday saw Ritchie Carr take the top three fish out of 16 anglers. He fished Marsden to land cod of 3 – 00lb, 2 – 10lb, and a coalfish of 1 – 06lb.
East End and Hendon A.C. and Sunderland S.A.A. had a joint match on Thursday. Barry Wright had 1 cod, 1 whiting, and 1 rockling for 2 – 04lb from Seaburn Beach; Andy Rutherford had 2 whiting and 1 coalfish of 1 – 02lb; Gaz Smith had 3 whiting for 1 – 09lb from the Bathing Sands.
Cleadon A.C. match saw 8 out of 29 weighing in, with fish coming from all areas. Phil Turnbull fished the rock edge at North Row Ends to land a single cod of 6 – 06lb; Ryan Thompson fished the Tyne for 3 cod for 5 – 08lb; Ian McLaughlin had 1 cod for 4 – 03lb from the North Arm; John Taylor had 3 cod for 4 – 02lb from the Tyne.
Ryhope Tuesday Sweepstake saw 39 fishing with cod coming from all areas. Ian Miles had a cod of 2835 grammes from Whitburn; Keith Bell had one of 2050 grammes from Seaham Hal Beach; Jason Brown had a cod of 1620 grammes from the Falls; Arthur Mordicai had one of 660 grammes from the Targets.
Horden Mechanics fished Saturday night and had a rover match due to the heavy seas. Mick Edwards travelled to Blyth West Pier – which had produced cod to 8lb on the afternoon tide – managing 3 cod for 4 – 12lb to win ahead of Paul Raison who fished the Tyne for 2 cod for 2 – 03lb. Shaun Stephenson also fished the Tyne and had 1 cod for 1 – 06lb.
Hartlepool O.M.A.C. also fished Saturday with 13 out of 22 weighing in 29 fish. Paul Lee fished Pensioners Corner to win with 6 cod and 1 whiting for 7 – 13lb – best 2 – 10lb. David Littlewood had a mixed bag of 5 – 06lb, and Ian Palmer had the second h.s.f. with a cod of 1 – 09lb taken from Low Moor Head.
Tynemouth A.C. fished Sunday with 6 out of 20 weighing in. Clive Johnson had 2 cod for 9 – 04lb – best 5 – 14lb, from Whitley Bay Beach. Kenny Patterson had 2 cod for 6 – 12lb from the Private Beach, and Jai Thompson had 1 cod of 4 – 12lb from Whitley Beach.
Seaham Town Council Open last Sunday saw just 17 out of 142 weigh in 20 cod, 2 flounders, 1 whiting, 1 coalfish, and 1 bass for 43.22lb. In an increasing Northerly sea the North Pier had to be abandoned during the match and most fish came from the Blast Beach. Ronnie Newton had the h.s.f. with a cod of 4.01lb to take the £350 top prize. Danny Swan was runner up with a cod of 3.83lb taken from the Chemical Beach, and Darren Swan was third with a cod of 2.51lb. Top lady was Rita Clark; disabled winner was G.N.Wilkinson; top junior was Marc Ganley. Ronnie Newton also had the heaviest bag with 2 cod for 6.42lb, with Darren and Danny Swan taking the team event with 5 fish for 9.38lb.
Seaham A.C. Open on Sunday saw some bigger cod landed. Mick Davison’s 12lb fish took h.s.f., with Brian Lee claiming heaviest bag with 22lb. Full details in next week’s report.
Coming up: Saturday 29th November is the Whitley Bay Evening Open. Fishing from 7pm – 11.30pm between Blyth West Pier and the Ice House in the Tyne. Top three prizes are £300, £200, and £100 plus Sonik rods for the h.s.f., and £200, £100, and £50 for the heaviest bags. Basic entry is £12. Register at Whitley Bay H.Q. at the mini-golf course from 5pm till 6.30pm.
Sunday 30th November is the South Shields Open. Fishing from 11am – 4pm. First prize is £500 for the h.s.f. and £300 for the heaviest bag, plus junior, lady and h.s.flatfish prizes and a prize table of £2000. Each ticket has a free draw for a Reelsport Blue Thunder rod. Basic entry is £9 plus pool and team events. Register at the New Crown Hotel from 9am. As this year is the 60th anniversary of the club there is a special prize for 60th place of a Century Kompressor SS rod.
