Latest Fishing Reports: Sweet William
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30/04/2023
Fishing Report by Geoff Sharp
30 Apr 2023 by Geoff Sharp
We departed the Royal Quays Marina at 7:00am to glassy conditions on the River Tyne; no sooner than we’d got out of the piers an uncomfortable south easterly swell made its presence known.
We had wind, rain showers, fog, cold snaps, and occasionally sunshine for the majority of the day until late afternoon!
The first few wrecks proved quite slow until we got a fair way off, and Paul landed a lovely Pollack weighing 8.1 lb to start the sweep off!
The fishing got progressively better once the tide started to flood, and some lovely Cod, small Ling, Coalies, Pouting and a solid number of smaller Codling came aboard throughout the afternoon.
Hats off to the the lads for braving the conditions; they kept at it relentlessly, pretty much non-stop, for the entire day, other than a running pit-stop for snacks and coffee.
Daz must have been keeping his powder dry, as no sooner than I said we had about 10 minutes left he knocked into a 9.15 lb Cod to take the sweep. The digital scales were flashing onto the 10 lb mark but stayed mainly below the double and the First Mate had the final say :-)
Fantastic banter all day long with some cracking fish for the pan -
29/04/2023
Fishing Report by Geoff Sharp
29 Apr 2023 by Geoff Sharp
We were up against it today; half of the full party broke down on the motorway and unfortunately ended up homeward bound to Manchester.
This left the lads aboard with no bait, so we headed out for a full day on the Tyne wrecks hoping to find some bait early.
The first three wrecks produced nothing noteworthy, but finally we found some pouting, which turned the day around. The next wreck started to produce some lovely Codling and by 11:00am, we stopped for a break, and had a quick group photo whilst the fish were still fresh.
After a few refreshments we headed onwards, and more Codling began to appear, including a couple of small Ling and Pollack which was nice to see this early in the year.
The confused sea state, and the wind, thankfully began to ease off in the afternoon, prior to the long run home with a lazy following sea.
Hats off to the guys for keeping at it pretty much non stop; against all odds we had a great run out with good banter and plenty of fish for the pan! -
23/04/2023
Fishing Report by Geoff Sharp
23 Apr 2023 by Geoff Sharp
We’re not too sure what happened today! We popped down to the boat to sort out our new Century Tackle bag from Billy’s Fishing Tackle in North Shields.
The weather was glorious, sun shining and the marina was like a mill pond, so we thought we’d lock out and fuel up for something to do. That turned into ‘let’s have a look out of the piers’, and before we knew it we were an hour’s steam offshore onto a little wreck we’d fancied trying for a while.
We had three drifts and the First Mate picked up three fish; a lovely pollack and two perfect pan sized codling. As one of our regulars Bry would say, ‘this lad just never stops’ lol! We didn't want to empty the wreck so just headed straight back home…the forecast winds started to pick up on the run back and the temperature began to drop just as we got back into the piers.
An unexpected but cracking run out. -
16/04/2023
Fishing Report by Geoff Sharp
16 Apr 2023 by Geoff Sharp
Huge thanks to Peter and the lads who set off at midnight and drove through the night to be here for a 7:00am start!
We set off this morning to the tail end of an incredible sunrise; unfortunately the sea conditions weren’t quite as forecast, with a manageable but awkward little south easterly swell.
We decided to have a full day on the wrecks after trying the inner rough grounds yesterday with little success.
The fishing was slow throughout the morning, but picked up steadily, as did the swell and wind throughout the afternoon.
We picked away until the conditions stopped play, and headed for home. Another tough but great day out! -
15/04/2023
Fishing Report by Geoff Sharp
15 Apr 2023 by Geoff Sharp
Massive thanks to Thomas and the guys who had travelled up from Peterborough through the night.
It was a tale of two halves today. We set off to a stunning sunrise, which then turned to overcast freezing cold fret in an instant.
The inner grounds were almost baron, and by lunchtime we had a thumb sized codling and a pouting.
The sun came out, the wind died, the sea completely flattened and the jackets came off!
Once we had slack water with the small tides, we headed out to try some wrecks.
The lads were kept busy pretty much non stop for over three hours taking dozens of fish each, with some fine codling, and more pouting than we’ve ever seen in one session.
No two days are the same at this time of year; thankfully everyone went home happy with a chunky bag of fillets for the pan! -
14/04/2023
Fishing Report by Geoff Sharp
14 Apr 2023 by Geoff Sharp
Massive thanks to Daz, Mark and the lads for a run out today. We headed off to absolutely still conditions with the Tyne like a mirror.
The decision was made to head slightly further north on a bit of a recce mission to see what we could find.
With small tides, the first slack water lingered on a little longer than we’d have liked but we persevered until it started to ebb.
The fish almost immediately came on and we steadily picked away at a decent stamp of codling.
We headed out to try one wreck and had a couple of drifts…the first drift we were flying over it as the wind had picked up; the second drift we held the boat using the engines and immediately picked up a nice codling.
At this point we made the call to head home early before the wind picked up any further, and try and beat the forecast rain.
Another great run out with a better stamp of spring codling starting to show! -
13/04/2023
Fishing Report by Geoff Sharp
13 Apr 2023 by Geoff Sharp
We welcomed aboard Paula, Nicole and the Veterans today!
The weather was steady when we departed Royal Quays Marina, flat seas, sunny with minimal wind which was the exact opposite of the forecast.
We stayed local to the Tyne, and pretty much hit fish all day long no matter where we went. Lots of pan-sized codling, pollack, coalies and pouting often coming up two to three at a time, with up to five rods getting action at once all around the boat.
We went from sun and a breathless wind, to squalls, rain showers and rainbows lol with the sea remaining consistently flat throughout the day.
It turned out to be a fantastic day, great weather for the most part, epic craic with some incredible tales and the First Mate particularly enjoyed learning about some of the history of the Tyne from one of the guys who was 78 years young!
We look forward to welcoming the Veterans aboard again throughout the summer! :-) -
08/04/2023
Fishing Report by Geoff Sharp
8 Apr 2023 by Geoff Sharp
We welcomed Spike and his crew of guys and girls aboard for a short run out yesterday morning. The weather was great, sunny with little to no wind…when we crossed the bar and exited the Tyne you’d think we’d just entered the perfect storm due to the direction of the horrible underlying swell direction bouncing off the piers!
Thankfully once we’d got clear of the piers it calmed down, but by then we were already a couple of troops down due to seasickness.
We headed north towards Blyth and stuck inside on the rough ground and found half a dozen small codling, most undersized, with the biggest being approximately 42cm. No landing nets or digital scales required today!
After some coffees and snacks the guys perked up, so we headed back towards St. Mary’s lighthouse and found a substantial shoal of coalies for some end of morning sport. They were coming up pretty much non stop up to three at a time, with some nice sized fish amongst them. It was a cracking way to end the day, before heading home after lunch.
There were some positive signs that we may well get a spring run of codling soon, fingers crossed! :-) -
18/03/2023
Fishing Report by Geoff Sharp
18 Mar 2023 by Geoff Sharp
Huge thanks to the lads for an impromptu run out today.
We set off this morning with pretty much no wind and very calm seas, as compared to the last month of relentless northerly swells!
Once the slack water had almost passed, we dropped the anchor on the inner rough ground and waited for the tide to start to flood.
There were no bites whatsoever for the first 30 minutes, but once the tide began to properly push, codling, pouting and whiting began to come onboard in waves.
As we approached the midday slack water, we hauled anchor and headed out to try a few wrecks; we tried every type of bait and rig but nothing noteworthy made an appearance other than a nice little haddock and numerous big fat pouting.
Once the tide began to ebb, and the drift speeds increased, we stopped for some refreshments before the steam home.
Fantastic run out for this time of year, with great craic and conditions!
If you fancy a day on the water contact the skipper, Geoff, on 07740 706007 with all enquires. -
04/03/2023
Fishing Report by Geoff Sharp
4 Mar 2023 by Geoff Sharp
We headed off late this morning, unfortunately missing the dawn fishing and back end of the ebb tide, to avoid the inconveniently timed slack water.
The conditions were great, very light to no wind on occasions, with a lazy swell which was forecast to build later in the afternoon.
We dropped the anchor on the the inner rough ground and immediately began to pick up some chunky whiting and pouting in good numbers for sport, with some of the guys using feather traces taking up to a dozen each.
Once the flood tide started pushing, the perfect pan sized codling started coming aboard, again in good numbers, with some of the guys taking about five or six each for the pan.
Last season, thankfully, we didn't see a single dogfish come aboard; only to have multiple come aboard in one session today!
At around 1:30pm, the 2.2 metre northerly swell forecast for Sunday started to roll through and build noticeably. Towards the back end of the flood the guys were pretty much fished out, so we headed home mid afternoon after a cracking day out!
If you’re interested in experiencing a day on the water, no matter your skill level, give the skipper Geoff a call, or message, on 07740 706007.
