Onenil

I would try the mentioned method but what i have used with success in the past are the luminous 'red gills' artificial sandeels.These glow in the dark and can be charged up with a tourch to make them brighter.I have had plenty pollack using these fished on a running ledger 2-3oz bomb or float fished under a small cigar float or bubble float.I have had bass in the dark,fishing dusk into darkness with 'black' red gills the small 70mm size work well. Good luck and let me know if you have any more fish using this method

A couple of years ago i was fishing for pollack over in 'Gods country' it was just turning dusk and the fish were feeding well it was a fish a cast.Pollack going to 4lb plus.I had a take and it felt like a small fish, but about half way in this 'fish' almost pulled me in. I 4king sh1t myself.The rod hooped over then the line snapped.Then the answer to the one that got away appeared about 30 yrds out a huge grey seal munching on my pollack..

Well done Gareth what a star prize and an absolute beauty... It's got to be every anglers dream to catch a big bass.. Was this fish targeted or did it jump on while fishing for pollack...Was it caught on live sandeel or a plug ??? answers on a postcard please cheers

Hi Snatcher How did you get on over in "God's country" did you get to wet a line or was the Ship more appealing.. Did you make it over at Easter or is this your first visit ??

I'm putting the having a night out on the drink into comparison,Ok £40- £50 may be a bit steep, but thats what i would spend.But alot of people wouldn't spend the same money on a night out fishing thats what i'm saying.I think the price of bait/worms is ok because if you've never had to dig bait or collect crab you'll not understand how much effort goes into it.Some diggers have got alot of worms to dig to keep a tackle shop in bait 1000's of worms a week.Plus they get paid less for what the angler has to buy them for.I don't agree when your bait is poor quality and the shop "try it on" hoping you'll not complain.But i've had tackle shop owners trying to sell me dead stinking crab and burst dead worms among the alive ones.The best thing to do is check your bait before you leave the shop.I haven't missed the point about age and creaking bones when i'm digging you want to hear my bones creaking. i need one of these after a good dig.

I've done both, buying and digging my own bait which is hard graft and for any novice to dig 200 worm is hard on the back.But if you had to buy the same in a tackle shop.Would you get the same quality ? The worms wouldn't be as fresh as your freshly dug worms ? and putting the cost of how much its cost you to dig them i.e petrol money getting to the worm beds.You'd be looking at £1.50 for 10 worms ( i know the prices vary around the coast but for an average price.) So you'd be looking at £30 worth of worms for a 5 hour fishing trip.Thats for two anglers.Then you've got the extra bits and bobs of bait mussels, razorfish, peeler crab,squid etc.It's not very often an angler will go fishing with just one bait.But the same person wouldn't be bothered about going to the pub on a Friday night and spending £40-£50 on drink, bandits ,pool/snooker table dominoe cards prize draws etc.So taken that in mind, bait for fishing is still worth the money aslong as its good quality.

I was reading in the local paper about the recent catch/match results etc.I noticed that one angler fishing the Seaham north pier area had 4 Dogfish and 2 Thornback rays.These species do turn up on the odd ocassion during open matches but for a single angler to catch 4 LSD's in an area that you could fish all your life and never catch one.Plus to catch a bonus of 2 Rays aswell,could this be the signs of a new species to target in the North East area.? I carried on reading the results and another angler further up the coast fishing a local match on Tynemouth pier had amongst his catch another LSD.These fish don't appeal to everyones taste but they are worth while catching for sport when the pickings are slim and some what poor.It'll be interesting to see if more of these species are caught in this area leading up to the spring/summer season.

Bob White Memorial Open Results: 48 Seniors and 13 Juniors fished 13 weighing in 32 Flounders and 1 Codling total weight 26lb 8 3/4oz Winner Trevor Raine 5 Flounders from Drift burn 4lb 1 1/2oz Runner Up John King 4 Flounders 2lb 14 1/4oz Third place Junior Cameron Roper 3 Flounders 2lb 7oz Fourth place Mick Hardy 1 Codling 2lb 6 1/4oz HSF A total of £263 was raised for the St Oswald's Hospice

This is another old photo, i found this is a little bit off topic but it's interesting for all the anglers who fish this mark.Its situated at the north end of Tynemouth long sands and its name is fitting for the photograph as the skeer is called "Boiler skeer".The boiler is all that remains of the ship and can still be seen today dumped at the top of the skeer it looks like a big boulder but on close inspection you'll notice that it's a big rusting hulk of metal.

If you look at this newish pic of the pier from 2003 you can see the different colour in the stone from the old pier to the new,its just after the curved piece of the foundations on the left 2/3 up the pier.If you notice the sea wall the old rail track that sits on top of the sea wall comes to a stop were the new part of the pier carries on to run straight out instead of curving.

Good to see your appreciation Merlino Bill i see your from Newcastle,so you've more then likely fished the pier.It amazes me that i didn't know anything about the history of the pier until i done a bit research.It would be interesting to see some photos or postcards of the pier being built.Its good to see that the pier has never been seriously damaged again after nearly 100 years.But i'll be adding to this thread like Snatcher is, he can do the new and i'll do the old. HA!

I've just found this bit of info on the net which explains a few things that happened before the completion of the pier in 1909. The north pier at the mouth of the Tyne was finally completed in 1895 after over 40 years of work in dangerous conditions. The most significant delay came in 1867 when nearly 300ft of the pier's sea wall collapsed during a heavy storm. However, in 1897—only two years after its completion—the pier was damaged once more in a storm when a further 109ft of the pier was washed away. The curve of the pier was righted after this and the pier has stood firm every since. The building of the 2 great Piers at Tynemouth began in 1854 and the picture below was taken about 1893, not long before the completion of the first North Pier in 1895. The great storm of 1897 breached the Pier and it was redesigned and rebuilt to be completed 14 years later.

This is a photo of the Scottish shore caught cod record holder Ken Robinson with an example of the quality fish that can be caught at the mentioned marks.What a great bag of fish but i don't fancy the long walk back to the car with them i think thats my jealous streak kicking in..

Nice pics snatcher its good to have the old with the new. It's a very interesting topic and i never knew about the pier being what it was all those years ago until i seen an old postcard from 1895.I've got a few postcards showing the pier from different angles.I've heard of people fishing the foundations for pollack in the summer.float fishing with sandeel or ragworm but you've got to go when the sea is flat mirror style on a very big tide.As it is very dodgy for rouge waves creeping up the flat ledges and the swell from ships coming into the Tyne.But i can see the potential it'll be like a mini Atlantis down there with all the old blocks from the pier and the submerged foundations but you've got to give yourself plenty time for walking on and off.Cheers again for posting those up

This is a better pic of the pier after the seas had breach the back wall and some what "Broke/broken pier" .I'm not sure when this photo was taking but the postmark on the postcard is 1906 the pier was finished in 1909 so this photo must be from an earlier date??...