After all that hard work I now deserve a break, Loch Etive, here I come!!! Woohoo!

Work never ends though as I have places in Wales to add yet and also a revamp of the Tyne marks and Geordie marks with new pics and info along with any new places that I happen to come across!

I hope you enjoy the site…here’s the new marks you can find when browsing my site.

• Scotland: Fishing Marks A-Z
  • Arbroath
  • Ballachulish
  • Burrow Head
  • Cairndow
  • Crammag Head
  • Dally Bay
  • Easdale
  • Eyemouth
  • Fast Castle Head
  • Gourdon
  • Inverbervie
  • Isle of Mull
  • Kirkcudbright
  • Loch Etive
  • Mull of Galloway
  • Mull of Kintyre
  • Portpatrick
  • Scrabster

I use an 11ft spinning rod and small fixed spool loaded with 30lb braid. Bait is as cheap as it comes, either a mackeral from the supermarket, cost £2 or a couple of bluey, again cheap as chips.  Cut your fish bait into small strips and add to a two hook flapper, small hooks are best, size 1 or similiar.  A small luminous bead above your bait works a treat to.

Look for slightly deeper areas of beach and cast your bait into these holes.

A short session after work last night resulted in a few nice flounder from the beach.

This one was brightly spotted, almost thought it for a plaice at first!

When using braid you can feel every little tap on the rod and if it’s not too cold it’s exciting just holding the rod and waiting for a bite.  You can feel every flick of the tail and dash for freedom, great stuff.

Happy days.  

Part 1

Hi people, headed up the road on a mission to catch cod with Dave P.  Dave’s from Northern Ireland originally but is now living in sunny South Shields.  He doesn’t know many places to fish, so lately I’ve been showing him around the area  

We hit Lynemouth beach first over high tide as darkness descended. No cod turned up here but we did catch a bass, flatties and a coaly.

I’m getting good at catching these lately, lol.

Flatties

With no cod on the beach we moved up north to a rock mark at Beadnell in Northumberland, here Dave was straight into a nice 4lb’er.

Mission accomplished

Dave carried on catching and took another 3 codling which he returned to fight another day

We had some savage bites from fish that really pulled the rod tip over and I’m certain we missed a couple of big’un’s.  I stuck it out with my massive baits and 8/0 hooks but didn’t connect with anything!  So it was Dave’s night through and through, and although I didn’t manage a beasty this time from the rocks I was over the moon to see Dave catch a few fish.

Tightlines.  

Part 2

A canny sea on in the River Tyne, thought it might have brought the cod in.

Tyne today, nearly swept away!!!  

Well the hairs on me chinny chin were well and truly blew in today people.   I knew it was going to be windy but that was something else.  Gave it a few hours down the Tyne at Jarrow today near the helipad, looking for one of those big Tyne cod that have been caught recently.

The day started okay weather wise but after a little while it became impossible to find shelter and impossible to cast.

Did manage a couple out before the “sea” got too big, nothing special though.

Nice whiting

Lost a half decent fish in the surf   before I managed another codling of 1lb 11 ounce.

Bit of a duff day all round but I’ll be back as Arnie says.  

Started off at the walkway in South Shields. Here on small to medium tides a decent cast to the middle of the river will at this time of year produce codling with the outside chance of a fish to double figures.  I haven’t fished the Tyne at all since October due to the vast numbers of bait stealing crabs that have been present.  Crab activity has now declined with the onset of colder weather, yipee! but you must still be prepared to catch at least one or two of these bait robbers in a session.

The first of the flooding tide coinciding with darkness is a banker for a catch of codling in the Tyne and low and behold just as expected at this time, tap, tap on the rod and a half decent fish was on.

3lb 2 ounces along with the odd whiting and dab for company.

Knowing that there was a sea running onto the beaches though I was itching to try the open coast so after a final biteless cast at the walkway I popped up the road to Lynemouth beach in Northumberland.  The sea up here was bigger than I expected so I had to find shelter at the north end of the beach which was just about fishable.  First cast and I was in! get in there, but the fish was only a small codling of a pound and a half.  I quickly put this one back and sat back to expect more but unfortunately despite my best efforts no more fish were caught.  That’s fishing for you but the evening’s work did have me contemplating another session in the Tyne very soon.

Reports of codling up to 6lb from my neck of the woods the very next day had me off down the Tyne to try my luck.  I only had a couple of hours spare so stayed in Jarrow.  This quick session turned out okay to with a few more whiting and nice 3lb codling about the same size as I’d had a day or two previous from the river.

Codling at Jarrow.

These fish fight well above their weight and you’d think you were bringing in something twice the size! 

It’s really great when the fishing is good on your doorstep, reports of good catches are coming in, so with the sea forecast pretty poor for the coming week or so, guess where I’ll be heading for cod.  Yes you guessed it, the Tyne.  Tightlines.

Small tides, west winds on my bit of coast, not good!  

Headed up to Druridge Bay in Northumberland for flatties and just maybe the chance of a bass or two.  Hooked up with pals Sixo and Dave P on the beach and with a nice surf rolling in things looked spot on.

A six hour sesh gave us quite a few small bits and pieces including a couple of bass, whiting, coalies, flounder, turbot and rockling.   Very enjoyable fishing with great company.

A couple of pics for you.

Bass for Sixo.

One for me! Get in.  

Lots of small flounders about, some palm size, Dave P with the best.

All in all it was a canny night topped off with a rarity for me, a small Turbot. Excuse the pic   it was blowing a gale and that turbot was about to turn into a mini kite.  

Turned out better than I expected, tightlines, Dave.

Hit what is now nicknamed Greggs hole on Blyth beach.

The most mental three hours fishing I’ve had in a while with
fish from the off to lug and rag cocktail tipped with a piece of bluey.
Seven fish for 22lb 8 ounces in three hours!!!

All nice size codling to

After a bit of a sticky start this season it looks like my luck’s back. Tightlines people.

Quite bright at times with a near full moon which I don’t like on the beach, the darker the better for me.

Bang on low tide and a slackliner produced a nice plump codling around 3lb to crab and yellowtails.

Here we go I thought, flood tide equals fish.

The tide starting creeping up the beach filling the hole further but no fish! Phoned my pal Sixo who told me to move along the beach 50 yds and guess what another fish.

This one smaller than the first but it pulled the rod tip right over like a bigger fish would.

Think there would have been more to catch but this was a shortish session for me and I was off home about an hour and half into the flood, work beckons.  

It’s not been as good a start this cod season for me due to lack of time but those couple of codling have certainly bucked my spirits up, here’s to many more.  Tightlines.  

Boat was the Jean K and port, Whitby.

Eight anglers on board taking aproximately 50 cod/codling and ling to 10lbish.  My pal Roy done really well with 3 double figure Ling and a cod of 9 or 10lb, all from the wrecks around 9 miles out.  Quite a few codling caught to bait…. but shads, although second best, caught to.

So a pretty decent day for the time of year with mackeral!!!!,yes mackeral!!!, the odd pollack, haddock and whiting making up the rest of the catch.

Roy’s catch

Cod

Nice ling!

Tightlines, Dave.