Latest Fishing Reports: Sweet William
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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. -
25/10/2022
Fishing Report by Geoff Sharp
25 Oct 2022 by Geoff Sharp
Huge thanks to Duncan, Archie, Niall, Amelia and of course Willow for coming aboard for a very late notice run out today.
We headed out to flat seas, zero wind and we were also blessed with the most incredible sunrise.
The first stop off for bait proved fantastic sport, with pollock, mackerel, coalies, whiting and pouting, but not a single cod coming aboard.
We thought we'd have a try on a few wrecks seeing as we were already a decent way out. It was pretty painful to say the least. A long spell over the course of almost a couple of hours with only Niall managing to find a nice cod, his new PB, at just over 3lb.
We kept persevering, and Archie found a nice pollock and a lovely cod for his new PB at just over 6lb.
Once we finally hit slack water and the drifts slowed, we put on the big wrecking rigs, and headed off to a favourite Ling spot...Duncan almost immediately hauled up a beautiful 18'11 Ling!
At this point the tide was starting to flood hard, and conditions again became very difficult. We called time and headed off on the long steam home, happy after yet another incredibly challenging but very rewarding day! -
28/01/2023
Fishing Report by Geoff Sharp
28 Jan 2023 by Geoff Sharp
We had a short run out today, just the two of us, to celebrate the First Mate's 13th birthday.
We headed out late, to avoid the early slack water, and arrived at our chosen anchorage just as the tide began to ebb. It was great sport at first as we were plagued by smaller codling, but unfortunately nothing noteworthy came aboard.
We waited on anchor as long as we could, without wasting too much bait, until we approached the next slack water.
We headed offshore for a little winter wrecking session and struggled until the tide completely stopped running. We knew we were in a great spot, and as soon as we just sat pretty much motionless above the wreck, so we could drop right in amongst it without dragging and snagging, we could both instantly feel smaller fish pecking away, so knew the wreck was healthy.
We both reeled up, and changed to homemade two hook wrecking rigs with 10/0 meat hooks, 10" muppets and whipped on some monster cocktails!
We knew we literally had time for one more drop before the conditions changed, so I re-positioned the boat, charged up Henry's muppet with the UV torch, and sent him straight back down while I sorted my own gear out. He knocked into a lovely birthday PB cod for our efforts on the very last drop of the day. As we often joke, it's not over until we say it is!
We headed straight back to watch the sunset whilst drifting behind the Tyne's south pier, whilst enjoying a steaming hot stew. As they say, the harder you work the luckier you get!
Even though it was hard going, you're only 13 once, and it turned out to be a challenging but lovely run out. -
22/01/2023
Fishing Report by Geoff Sharp
22 Jan 2023 by Geoff Sharp
We made it out for the first time in while yesterday, expecting a decent day.
We were met with with an iced up boat, lightly iced marina, wind gusting way higher than forecast and an uncomfortable little south easterly swell with 4 second intervals.
After the big northerlies recently, we had a feeling the fish may be full to bursting, and threw the ropes early in the hope of finding some decent dawn codling on the inner grounds.
By the time the sun had risen, and it started to get lighter, nothing noteworthy had made an appearance so it was fairly clear they weren't feeding.
We tried everything to find them , hauling, moving and re-setting the anchor at least 6 or 7 times, headed north, south, exploring the normally productive grounds inside, checked some underwater skeers, looked slightly further off, and even had a run a good way out to see if they'd pushed off. Once we had wind against tide, we even tried a few inshore wrecks, hovering above them perfectly, with little more than the obligatory pouting and some small codling to show for the efforts. I'd say we took no more than a dozen fish all day.
We broke out a hot beef stew with tiger bread, washed down with tea and coffee to boost the morale just after midday, with the craic and banter being top tier thanks to Mark, Barry, Amelia, Archie, Nile, Craig and the lads.
Other than the fishing being slow, it was a great run out for this time of year, hopefully we get another couple of decent days soon once they're back on the feed. -
02/01/2023
Fishing Report by Geoff Sharp
2 Jan 2023 by Geoff Sharp
Huge thanks to the lads for a run out today, with only 12 hours notice!
The weather this morning was calm, with a light breeze, incredible sunrise and flat seas. We were surrounded immediately by fins passing by on the way south, and then again as they headed back north shortly afterwards.
The fishing was slow but steady, with some nice codling coming aboard intermittently throughout the morning, and plenty of pan-sized whiting and big fat pouting for sport.
The wind began to pick up late morning, and by the time we reached slack water everything tailed off as expected.
We hauled anchor after a cracking day out to mark the first session this year, and headed for home shortly after lunch.
The First Mate bagged himself a nice brace of codling for his tea tonight, so he was pretty pleased with himself!
The bait of choice today were cocktails comprising monster cart wings from Billy's Fishing Tackle, squid and mackerel fillets.
We have availability this coming weekend 7th and 8th January 2023 (weather permitting); feel free to give us a call, or message, on 07740 706007 if you fancy a run out.
