Recent westerly gales meant few anglers ventured onto the more exposed piers. Those who did report ever-present whiting and dabs on worm baits. More sheltered beach and low water marks giving whiting, flounders, dabs, coalfish, pouting, and odd bass. Best results coming during night sessions when odd cod to 3lb have shown. Roker pier has produced some good mixed bags of whiting, flounders, plaice, coalfish, and cod. The Wear has large numbers of late season flounders. Both the Wear and the Tyne offer some shelter and fish. Catch-and-release is the only way to go when fishing the rivers but some clubs are unfortunately still operating catch-and-keep policies. A recent match in the Wear saw over 80 flounders weighed in and few survived being later returned to the river. There is no point moaning about a lack of fish when this draconian practice continues. With angling the subject of increasing pressure from both the government and anti angling bodies, this practice is absolutely unacceptable to the public and responsible anglers alike.
Seaham A.C. enjoyed good turn out on Sunday fishing for the Angus Mills Trophy. 23 of 74 weighed in 23 whiting, 8 cod, 7 plaice, 3 pouting, 1 eel, and 1 dogfish for 34.39lb. Ron Wright had a bag of 6 cod taken from the Chemical Beach for 7.20lb; George Wilkinson had 4 fish for 2.49lb; George Hope had 3 for 2.26lb; and Dean Monarch had the h.s.f. – a dogfish of 2.04lb.
Sunderland S.A.A. also fished Sunday with 7 from 14 landing 3 flounders, 2 coalfish, 1 whiting, and 1 cod. Barry Wright had a cod of 3 – 08lb from Marsde; Steve Morley had a flounder of 1 – 03lb, while Andy Rutherford with a coalfish of the same weight to tie second.
The East End and Hendon Open Sweepstake on Wednesday night saw 8 anglers brave the wind. Andy Rutherford finished top with a cod of 2 – 08lb taken from Johnstons; Tommy Tate had a flounder of 1 – 02lb from the Drop Off; and Gareth Gardner had a coalfish of 1 – 00lb from Whitburn.
The Eastenders match on Saturday saw most anglers fish the Wear, where Chris Hossack took 14 flounders and 3 whiting for 13 – 07lb to win. Ritchie Carr had 14 flounders for 11 – 08lb; Bill Jackson had 11 flounders for 10 – 05lb; Paul Hossack had 7 flounders for 5 – 03lb. Eddie Knightly had the heaviest roundfish with a whiting of 0 – 14lb, while Gordon Ord had the h.s.flatfish of 1 – 02lb. Top junior was Jake Smith with 1 – 02lb.
Sea Anglers of Sunderland fished a points match, (no weight), on Saturday night where 6 of 11 weighed in. John Devine had 13 flounders and 1 cod; Chris Richardson had 4 flounders and 3 whiting; Dave Shortland had 6 whiting.
The Eastenders match on Sunday saw the Hunt family take the top 3 places fishing at the Glass Centre. Lisa Hunt had 422cm, sister Julie had 374cm, and father Dave had 90cm.
The Ryhope sweepstake on Tuesday saw 34 fishing, and small cod showing from several venues on the night. Darren Welsh had one of 945 grammes from Hendon; Joe Grieves had one of 870 grammes from Souter; Frank Terry had a dogfish of 800 grammes from Hendon; Kevin Brown had a cod of 695 grammes from Seaham Hall Beach.
The Ryhope club match on Sunday saw 18 out of 88 weigh in. Stan Longhorn had 8 whiting and 1 flounder from Roker Pier for 2.88kg; Lee Brown had 3 flounders for 1.36kg; Joe Wilton had 3 flounders for 1.19kg. Top junior was young Hartlepool angler Amelia Robinson with 2 flounders for 0.95kg.
Hartlepool O.M.A.C. fished Saturday night with most anglers travelling to the Tyne. New member Steve Wilson stayed local however, and landed a cod of 2 – 09lb to take the h.s.f. and heaviest bag. Consistent Jordan Salvan was second with 3 whiting for 1 – 06lb.
Hartlepool Pirates fished two recent matches. In the first, Darren Dixon had the h.s.f. with a cod of 1 – 08lb. Bill Bradley had the heaviest bag with a limit of 6 whiting for 4 – 07lb; Barry Patterson had 3 whiting for 2 – 00lb; Chris Coxon had a pouting for 1 – 00lb. The second match saw Aaron Dixon win with a mixed bag of 4 – 08lb, including the h.s.f. – a cod of 1 – 02lb. Bill Bradley had 4 whiting for 3 – 02lb, while Chris Coxon had 1 cod and 1 whiting for 1 – 13lb.
Coming up: Sunday November 2nd is the Seaton Sluice Open fishing from 9.30am till 1.30pm between Tynemouth Pier to Amble Pier, all rivers and piers are excluded except Blyth Pier. Basic entry is £10 for adults and free for juniors, plus the usual sweeps and team events. Weigh in and registration is at the Bank House Club Newbiggin. First prize is £500 for the heaviest bag plus a supporting prize table sponsored by Greys of Alnwick. Contact B.Tweddle on 07917-340312.
