BOAT anglers have had reasonable catches when the weather allowed, with wrecks producing cod to 20lb and ling to 22lb. On the hard ground catches have been mainly cod between 3 and 7lb. A variety of methods have worked well with jiggers, hokis, daylights and mackerel strip tempting fish. Meanwhile, the Tyne boat Mistress, skippered by Tony Avis, had some good cod to 20lb last weekend. Contact Tony on 0774 306 2163. A new charter boat is about to come into service from the Royal Quays at North Shields. The boat is a 33ft Blyth catamaran called Amadeus, skippered by Carl Wilson. She carries full safety and fish-finding equipment and has a CoP of 20 mile. Carl plans to uptide during the winter months and when conditions are suitable, wreck fish too. You can contact him on (0191) 237 2388 or 0771 048 0755. The Ian Woods-sponsored Open Boat Competition is on Sunday. Fishing is from 9am-4pm, with weigh-in up to 6pm at the Royal Quays Marina, North Shields. This is a heaviest single fish competition and entry is £7 per angler. Further details from myself on (091) 518 4561. Meanwhile, rock edge marks north of Newbiggin are producing reasonable numbers of codling averaging 1½lb, although there have been fish to 5lb taken on a variety of baits, crab, lug, rag and mussel. Fish have been taken from Beadnell, Dunstanburgh, Craster and Warkworth and Amble piers – the latter two venues have also produced flounders, whiting and mackerel. Lynemouth beach has given up reasonable numbers of mackerel and the odd cod, which have also been taken from Blyth Pier and the River Blyth. South Shields Pier is still giving up a few mackerel and the odd cod and coalfish, while Roker Pier has had good bags of mackerel during the day plus decent whiting at night on mackerel strip. The Rivers Tyne and Wear have been good for flounders and eels, and there have also been the odd cod to 3lb-plus from both rivers on crab. Garfish have been taken on spinners from Newbiggin beach and from Roker Pier. This species is normally associated with the south and west coasts of the country.
THE Angling North East website held at open charity competition fished between Cullernose and Seahouses.
Winners were Steve Harper, who fished Newton (4lb 4oz) and Steve Burnett who caught (1lb 8oz). The winners received a trophy and a Penn 535GS reel donated by the Wallsend Tackle Centre. The competition raised a total of £260 for charity. | 
