White good Memorial win sealed by Goward
KEN Goward became the first kayaker to win the Bob White Memorial with a cod of 9lb 4oz.
The competition is gradually becoming one of the North East premier boat events with well over 150 anglers taking part in charter, private and kayaks.
In the first year kayaks were allowed it was Goward who won the event, also taking the skipper’s cup.
Graham Bell, fishing from his boat Black Betty, was second with a ling of 6lb 8¼oz, also taking the Billy Dixon Memorial Shield.
G Warren on Fortuna was third with a cod of 6lb 7¼oz.
Junior winner was Calvin McDonald with a cod of 4lb 9¾oz, while the women’s winner was another kayaker, Liz Nichol, with a pollock of 5lb 7½oz.
Heaviest flatfish was taken by Ray Devlin, a dab of 10oz, the specimen going to Mark Wilson with a pout of 2lb 3¼oz.
As expected the weights in the Whitby Festival are increasing.
Brian Robinson took the lead with a ling of 15lb 4oz, Warren Jones taking joint second and second in the ling section with a ling of 15lb 1oz alongside Chris Burniston.
Ann Dolman is in the lead in the women’s section with a ling of 8lb 11oz and Holly Smith is in the lead in the junior section with a ling of 8lb 2oz.
There have been nice ling in among variable catches from boats from the Tees, Wear and Tyne.
Keith Ryder took one of 18lb aboard JFK TWO, John Beattie one of 15lb from Predator and 12-year-old Willam Bullman took the best of an evening trip at 11.8lb, out on Sapphire.
Paul Reay took a ling of 15lb. Sapphire has also taken good catches of cod to 8lb, while Blue Eye Two pushed well off and bagged up with cod and pollock in the 3-10lb range with North Eastern charters taking up to 30 cod to 9lb.
Hartlepool boats have been fishing the rough ground and doing well, Famous taking 40-60 fish with ling to 13lb and cod to mainly 6lb with a few going 10lb and Loan Shark capturing cod to 11lb.
Private boats fishing the rough ground have given decent results at Saltburn. Cod to 12lb have been taken, Boulby giving cod to 7lb and pollock to 8lb. Anglers taking around a dozen each, boats off the Tyne and Wear catchiog cod to 6lb.
Mackerel and herring have returned to the piers along with a few shad, some of these going almost 3lb – but being a protected species they must be returned. If you are not sure a rule of thumb is, if it looks like a big herring over 1lb it is probably a shad.
Open beaches are back on song for flounder, dab, the odd plaice and turbot with good flounder coming from the Tyne and the Wear.
Youngster Ben O’Donnell, fishing for mackerel off Seaham pier, accidentally hooked a large sun fish which was too big to land and a bonito tuna turned up in a salmon net off Whitby.