Net gain for Mia even though sport is poor

THANKS to the generosity of anglers young Mia Phenny is on her way to Disneyland before she goes blind, as a competition in aid of Mia held at Hebburn raised £1,000.

It is a good job that the main aim of the competition was to send Mia to Disneyland as there wasn’t a single sizeable fish caught, and the numerous prizes that where donated had to be raffled off.

Unfortunately that is how the fishing has been in general all along the coast and in the rivers and from the piers, apart from the odd venue, from Whitby to St Abbs. Even the dogfish have dropped in numbers, with Seaham pier having its leanest time for a while.

A few codling have come from Whitby, with the best going to around 4lb, with a few to 3lb being taken at Marsden. Hartlepool has seen some decent catches of whiting, with the best going well over 1lb, but most going 14oz-1lb.

Anglers travelling over to the west coast are having better luck. Mark Batey, Lenny Davies, Chris Mews and Graham Stenburgh travelled to Balcary and took 11 decent rays between them. I have also heard there has been the odd ray at Silloth.

Sam Smith and his sons Liam and Steven travelled to Port Carlisle for some early flounder sport and found a few underweight specimens returning from spawning, the trio taking eleven to 40cm.

Unfortunately a few anglers fishing at Port Carlisle have not been taking their rubbish away with them which has caused problems as a local farmer’s dog was injured. Anglers are asked to take away any old tackle and rubbish and return fish safely to the water.

With the better conditions I would have thought there would have been a few good boat reports, but the fishing has been very slow with a handful of codling to 5lb taken, with the odd better one to 7lb.

Many anglers dream of a trip to sample the magnificent fishing in Norway but it is not always as easy as it seems.

William “Sonny” Dodds found this out when he went to Havoysund, although he caught plenty of goodsized fish with cod to 45lb and halibut to 35lb with many cod around 30lb returned. The fish where taken in 120 metres of water, and that was not all Sonny endured as he encountered -15c temperatures and blizzards.

Can I remind anglers that Seaham South pier is out of bounds and the dock company will be taking action against those who flaunt this ruling. Williams “Sonny” Dodds with his halibut of 35lb taken on his Norway trip and left, Mark Batey with one of his rays taken at Balcary