SEA ANGLING
THE wrecks are not fishing the way they should be for this time of year with charter and private boats only taking the odd fish from them.
The best sport has been from the hard ground close in and, even then, it has been patchy. Most of the fish have been cod to 8lb plus whiting, pouting, wrasse and odd pollock.
It seems there are now plenty of mackerel to be caught and top baits have been a slice of mackerel on daylights and hokis for the cod, etc.
The best fish I have heard of this week were taken on Tuesday on the “JFK Two” out of the Tyne, 12lb and 14lb ling taken on baited hokis by Newcastle angler Graham Mason.
Boats out of Amble are taking decent numbers of codling, the average 2lb to 5lb with odd better fish to 8lb on various baits and artificials. One boat out of Amble doing well is the “Al Shareq”. Skipper Martin is also running evening trips. You can contact Martin on 07774 494590.
For other Amble charter boats, contact Norma at the Amble Angling Centre on 01665 711200.
Kayak anglers are having fairly decent sport especially off the Cresswell Skeers areas. The fish are just out of casting range for the shore anglers and are being taken on crab, worm, shads, daylights and hokis.
The Bob White memorial open boat competition raised £3,700 for St. Oswald’s Hospice in Newcastle, with a donation made to Amble RNLI. Well done to the organisers and everyone who took part.
A small shoal of Grey Mullet has taken up residence in The Royal Quays Marina at North Shields. Don’t rush down to catch this elusive fish as the marina staff have banned fishing in its waters.
Salmon nets are not only taking the odd tuna, but pacific salmon right along the North East coast up into Scotland. The big worry is that these fish could move into our rivers and drive away our native population of atlantic salmon.
Salmon nets men are instructed to kill these fish. That is OK, but what about the ones which have got past and entered into our rivers?
Some morons thought it would be great fun to start a fire on Blyth Pier and burn one of the life-saving rings. The emergency services turned up and got threats and abuse.
The problem when this happens is that everyone’s first thoughts are ‘oh yeah, anglers.’ In this case no it wasn’t but the Harbour Authority may decide to close this venue because this is not the first time that this kind of thing has happened. I’ll keep watching for developments.
Mackerel are now being taken from many shore marks including beaches, river estuaries and piers on a variety of methods. Blyth and South Shields piers are also giving a few codling, the best reported 3lb on crab baits. There are still plenty of Shads being taken especially from the Rat House Corner, the Glass Centre and the Old North Pier, all in the River Wear. This species must be returned alive to the water.
In last Sunday’s Whitley Bay AS Open Shore Competition, 31 rods took part and 14 weighed in. Gary Appleton won with six fish for 11lb 3oz. Second Steve Potts with three fish for 8lb 11oz including the HSF, a pollock of 4lb 12oz. Third was Chris Watson with two fish for 7lb 10oz.
My guest this week on CVFM’s “Gone Fishing” radio programme, live each Saturday from 8am to 10am on www.cvfm.org.uk and on Mix Cloud from the following Monday, is Adrian Mayne from Fatyak-Kayaks. co.uk talking about buying a kayak, the equipment required and safety.