SEA ANGLING

THE Northumberland Puffin Kayak Competition which should have been fished last Saturday was cancelled due to sea conditions. It will now be fished on Saturday.

Please note the new Registration Venue which is at the middle car park on the A193 Link Road Blyth, NE24 3PH.

Registration is from 8am to 9am with fishing from 10am to 4pm.

Entry is £15 and this is a heaviest single fish competition. The minimum size of any cod to be weighed in must be 45cm. Smaller fish of legal size limit may be retained by the angler. Boundaries are Newbiggin Power Station to the north and St Mary’s Island Point to the south. The Yellow Can is out of bounds.

All funds will be donated to the Blyth R.N.L.I.

The best of the boat catches are still being made from the hard ground up to two miles off. The best fish I have heard of this week is a Ling of 12lb taken on mackerel strip by Durham angler Michael Smith who was fishing aboard the Sunderland Charter Boat “Sapphire.”

The Tyne Charter Boat “JFK Two” has been averaging 60-plus fish per trip, with ling to 8lb and codling to 6lb. Baited Hokis and Daylights, with worm and fish strip, have all worked well.

Anglers using Sidewinder lures have taken the bigger fish with the rhubarb and custard (red and yellow) lures being most productive.

Blyth and Newbiggin boats have taken codling average 3lb to 4lb with occasional fish to 10lb. There have also been pollock to 6lb and quite a few wrasse have been landed. Best baits have been Sidewinders, squid, prawns, ragworm, mussel and mackerel, with very few mackerel being caught as yet. The Windmills off Blyth have given fish. Hare Point, Cresswell Skeers and off Amble and Craster have also produced codling, the majority undersize. As in the south, the best catches have been taken close inshore.

The Craster Charter Boat “Bon Ami,”with a party aboard last week, had a tremendous catch of codling averaging 3lb to 4 lb, although the majority were undersized and were returned alive.

The best fish were around the 5lb range. When the fish were gutted, the majority had completely empty stomachs - so had just come inshore to feed.

Kayak anglers fishing close in to the end of Tynemouth Pier are taking mackerel on feathers, hokis and daylights.

Only odd mackerel are being taken from the shore. Seaham North Pier has given one or two this week.

The same venue has produced two Spotted Ray, Lesser Spotted Dogfish and - unusual for our area a Blonde Ray of 2lb which was taken by Mike Darling.