Some nice cod continue to be taken by boat anglers throughout the region and you don’t have to travel well offshore to find them. Dean Redden on the Rosie May out of the Tyne had cod to 9lb offshore then fished a wreck close in on the way back to port, taking cod to 5lb, he then landed a specimen of 12lb then a personal best of 17lb 2oz. Chris Smith on the Jester had cod and ling to 9lb, Dave Rogers on the Flamer 2 out of Hartlepool had cod of 10lb and 8lb amongst many in the 3lb to 5lb range. Chris Hossack and four friends fished on the Saphire out of Sunderland with each of them taking over 30 bigger cod to 5lb, Chris and Ritchie Carr taking over 60 cod each to 6lb. Similar catches have been made by all anglers fishing any of the inshore ground marks from Whitby to Eyemouth.
There is plenty of sport in the rivers where junior anglers are having a good time learning the various techniques required. Five year old Kaitlyn Hildrew and ten year old Jordan Walton had flounders to 33cm, and eels to 40cm fishing the Golden Lion in the Wear beating dads Sean and Chris. Ryhope A.C. had a “dads and lads,” (and daughters), session in the Wear where 15 year old Victoria Nugent won with the best fish landing a monster flounder of 45cm. The session also produced a lot of sizeable whiting averaging around the 0 – 12lb mark.
Ryhope A.C. fished the Business Park in the Tyne on Sunday where all 28 anglers caught fish with a lot of eels showing on the day. John Bryan won zone A with 11 for 187cm, including the longest fish at 35cm. Mason Burton had 10 for 179cm to take second place with Paul Richardson third with five measuring 160cm and fourth placed Alan Marsh had five for 129cm. In zone B junior angler Jordan Lowes was a clear winner with 13 measuring 309cm, his grandfather Terry Mann was second with 10 for 257cm, and just to show their dominance they both shared the longest fish, each with a flounder of 36cm. Alan Burton was third with nine measuring 246cm, and John Surtees had 11 for 225cmto take fourth.
The Eastenders club fished Claxheugh in the Wear with all 30 anglers taking fish in a heaviest fish match. There was a tie for the best fish with Dale Short and Phil Wright each having flounders of 1lb 7oz, Chris Hossack had one weighing 1¼lb and Leno Fenech one of 1lb 3oz. Lee Brown had the heaviest bag weighing in a total of 14lb. Recent years of fishing catch and release in the rivers is now starting to pay off with flounder levels at their highest for several years.
Eyemouth is now a popular mark for visiting anglers and will fish best in calm clear conditions. Steve Harper won a Tynemouth match here with five cod for a total weight of 12lb 6oz, best 3lb 6oz. Ken Robinson won a Tynemouth retired members match with five plaice, four coalfish, two flounders, and a dab weighing in at 12½lb from Tynemouth Pier.
Mackerel are moving onto the deeper beach marks on big tides with Dunstanburgh Castle, Lynemouth Beach, and some of the Durham beach marks producing fish to heavy spinners cast well out.
The next Rutherfords Conoflex sweepstake at the Copthorne Hotel in the Tyne is on Saturday July 9th fishing from 7.30pm till 10.30pm. Entry for this catch and release match is £10 with full payout.
