Northumbria Police Fresh Water Fishing Section (Coarse Fishing)
The section organises competitions with a view to identifying those who will take part and represent Northumbria Police in both the Regional and National Fishing Championships.
The majority of matches are fished against Durham, Cleveland, South Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and Humberside, and more often than not are fished on well established fishing venues such as Woodlands, Thirsk and Lindholme Fisheries.
The section has 34 members of which only 15 or so are regular attenders. Like most of the other sections at this time the majority of members are retired officers and I would estimate that these account for about 70% of the current membership.
The section has in the past had some fair success in both the Regional and National Championships with the Force winning the Regional Team Championships on 2 occasions and the Regional Individual Championships on 1 occasion.
In 1992 DC Dave Brown beat 240 individuals to win The National Police Championships on the Warwickshire Avon with 40lb 1oz of Chub. The team also achieved their best ever position finishing 6th out of 40 teams.
Northumbria Invitational
Match 1 Lookout Lake, Angel of the North lakes, Birtley
Monday 10th March 2025.
This was the first match in what is a busy years match fishing calender. As usual anticipation was high but the weather forecast was atrocious. A bitterly cold North east wind with a daytime high temperature of 5° awaited the anglers.
Despite this there was a great turnout from Northumbria and Durham anglers, probably the best for 10yrs or more.
The draw was made at 1030am and the hardy souls made off to their respective pegs for the day. The all in was called at 1145am.
The fishing was incredibly difficult for all. Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) on peg 34 had a run of carp late on in the match on bomb and bred.
Vince King (Northumbria) on bridge peg 24 plodded away catching Ide and a couple of carp.
On island peg 5 Kevin Hood (Northumbria) persevered on the feeder catching mainly Ide.
Time was called at 1645hrs much to the relief of all fishing.
The results we’re as follows;
1st Paul Hutchinson 22lb 1oz
2nd Vince King 17lb 8oz
3rd Kevin Hood 12lb 14oz
Well done to all those that fished. Those were some of the toughest conditions I have ever fished in.
Next match in this series is Monday 21st April 2025 at Bowes Lake, Angel of the North Lakes, Birtley. Let’s just hope that spring has arrived by then
Durham Invitation Match Forest Lane.
On Friday 28th March 2025 Durham Police held their first match at Forest Lane fishery, Alne, North Yorkshire.
A great turn out by both Northumbria and Durham. The weather prediction for the day was very strong winds possible showers. Just before the draw, the fishery owner Eddy stated the complex had a lot of rain over night and would be a hard day’s fishing, informing anglers of the best methods to use and not to over feed. We ad been allocated a lake called Oaklands, we have all fished this before and it is known for good weights of barbel and carp. At 09:00am the draw was made and everyone went to their allocated pegs.
The wind was blowing down the lake meaning everyone would be affected by it, most anglers set up feeder rods, with only a few brave souls went for the long pole. At 10:30hrs “All in” was called. Most started on the feeder or the bomb rod, after a short while it appeared one side of the bank, started to land a few fish, mainly small carp and barbel. Roy McClean (Durham) got very brave and put out a pellet waggler, he started catching carp. Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) also took advantage of the pellet waggler and started catching carp up to 7lb, but due to the wind gusting, it was hard to control the line, so went onto the pole fishing down the edge. Steve Holmes (Northumbria) started on a small method feeder and stuck to this all day, giving him a steady run of carp throughout the day. Dave Brown (Northumbria) the master of the method feeder on the pole (not many people can get this method right) Dave caught steady on this method from lunch time onwards, with some double figure carp being captured.
16:30hrs “Time” was called. The end of 6hrs in a very cold strong wind, the good news, everyone caught fish and it stayed dry. The scales went to each peg with some very good weights recorded.
1st Dave Brown (Northumbria) 109lb 9oz
2nd Steve Holmes (Northumbria) 96lb 15oz
3rd Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) 84lb 6oz
4th Roy McClean (Durham) 80lb 10oz
Well done to Dave Brown getting the first ton of the year.
Next Durham Invitation match will be held at Forest Lane on Friday 25th April.
Northumbria Invitational
Match 2 Bowes Lake, Angel of the North lakes, Birtley
Monday 21st April 2025.
This was the second match in what is a busy years match fishing calendar. As usual anticipation was high but the weather was forecast to be poor yet again. A murky cold day greeted the anglers. The banter on the bankside was as good as ever. Fishing stalwart Kevin Hood had booked the day off to fish this match and also a Durham Invitational match later in the week (Friday) but Mrs Hood put her foot down and dragged Kevin kicking and screaming on a Mediterranean Cruise to celebrate their wedding anniversary.
Despite this there was a great turnout from Northumbria and Durham anglers.
The draw was made at 1030am and the hardy souls made off to their respective pegs for the day. The all in was called at 11145am.
Bowes lake had staged two matches earlier in the week and the anglers were unsure whether this would affect the fishing.
The fishing was slow for all the anglers.
Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) on peg 7 saw a number of carp in a reed bed to his left. He targeted these using hard pellet. To entice a bite he was forced to fish tight to the reeds which on occasions resulted in the fish bolting into the reeds causing tackle losses.
Andy Bell (Northumbria) on bridge peg 18 plodded away fishing down the edge on expander pellet and caught consistently throughout the match.
On peg 1 Dave Brown (Northumbria) persevered on the feeder catching odd carp from various areas of his peg but struggled to put a good run of fish together.
Time was called at 1700hrs.
The results we’re as follows;
1st Dave Brown 69lb 13oz
2nd Paul Hutchinson 63lb 15oz
3rd Andy Bell 52lb 1oz
Well done to all those that fished. Hopefully the better weather will arrive soon and entice those carp to feed.
Next match in this series is Monday 19th May 2025 at Bowes Lake, Angel of the North Lakes, Birtley.
Durham Invitational Match
This was the second match of the 2025 season, held on Friday 25th April at Forest Lane fishery, Alne, North Yorkshire.
This time we fished the lake known as Arena, this lake is a large donut shaped lake and holds mainly F1 carp averaging from a few ounces to 4lb, the problem with this, it’s hard to judge the weight of the fish, the limit for each net is 65lb but if you go over 70lb the whole net is disqualified.
A good turn out from both Northumbria and Durham, the rules were explained at 09:00hrs the draw was made. Everyone went to the respective pegs and started setting the rigs up that will be used for the day. The best way to fish this lake is top two sections of the pole, fishing short from the reeds, another weight builder is to go top two plus one main section, fishing directly in front but shallow. If you don’t over feed the bigger carp move in and can be a great fast way of building your weight.
The weather was dry with very light cool winds, it had been on 4c overnight so would take a while to warm up. At 10:30hrs the ‘All In’ was sounded, looking around at anglers, it was clear to see, the anglers that was sheltered from the very light breeze sat in sweatshirts, anglers on the opposite side of the lake with the cool breeze cutting across them, they had to put jackets and hoody’s on, but the top of the lake Roy McClean (Durham) had drawn, he was sat in full winter gear with the cold wind in his face. It was like three seasons on one lake. Fish started to be caught all over the lake, but as predicted, it was a slow start and when the fish were being caught it was hard to judge the weight of them, most anglers had three nets. As the day went on the fish started to get caught at a rate of speed, main baits meat or hard pellet.
16:30 “Time” had been called and the scales went to each angler, Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) got the weight of his fish wrong, his first net he thought he had 52lb but when this hit the scales it only came to 34lb 10 oz, he did have three nets with plenty of fish. Dave Brown (Northumbria) was better at guessing the weight, his first net he stated he had 64lb, his actual net weighed 64lb 03oz, (that’s some good guessing, a few more fish and he would have had the net disqualified).
Results:
1st Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) 113lb 14oz
2nd Roy McClean (Durham) 113lb 06oz
3rd Dave Brown (Northumbria) 107lb 06oz
4th Julian Brown (Durham) 93lb 08oz
Very close match for the top three.
Next match on this series will be held on Friday 23rd May at Forest Lane.
Northumbria Invitational
Match 3 Bowes Lake, Angel of the North lakes, Birtley
Monday 19th May 2025.
This was the third match in what is a busy years match fishing calendar. For once the weather gods had been kind and a beautiful sunny morning greeted the anglers.
Another good turnout from both Northumbria and Durham anglers meant this was likely to be a highly contested match. The banter on the bankside was as good as ever. Bowes lake has 40 pegs available to anglers but those attending always hope draw favoured pegs 1 or 40 as they generally throw up winning weights.
The draw was made at 1030am and the hardy souls made off to their respective pegs for the day. The all in was called at 1130am.
The recent good weather had turned the resident carps attention toward spawning but the cooler nights had cooled their ardour so it was not known whether this would affect the fishing.
The initial fishing was good for all the anglers.
Ray Westgarth (Northumbria) on peg 16 had a great start netting 5 carp in the first 30 minutes before bites slowed up.
Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) on his favoured peg 7 was fishing long pole up in the water and like Ray was catching carp regularly.
Kevin Hood (Northumbria) peg 37 plodded away fishing down the edge on pellet and on method feeder and caught consistently throughout the match.
On peg 1 Steve Holmes (Northumbria) persevered on the pole catching odd carp from various areas of his peg but struggled to put a good run of fish together.
On peg 40 Paul Anderson (Durham) was enduring a frustrating days fishing and was putting odd fish in the net.
Dave Brown (Northumbria) on peg 20 had a good days fishing, fishing method feeder for the first half of the match, then fishing paste for the remainder. However he endured a frustrating last hour of the match more or less biteless
Time was called at 1730hrs.
The results were as follows ;
1st Dave Brown 109lb 11oz
2nd Paul Hutchinson 92lb 1oz
3rd Kevin Hood 72lb
Well done to all those that fished.
Anybody who wishes to participate in any of the matches or who require further information regarding the Freshwater Fishing Section this can be found on the Northumbria Police Sports and Social Club website the point of contact being Paul Hutchinson.
Durham Invitation Match Forest Lane.
This was the third match of the season and was held on Friday 23rd May 2025 at Forest Lane, Alne, near York, on the lake Oaklands.
This lake is known by all attending, it’s a large oblong shaped lake with 24 pegs, stocked with carp, barbel, bream and roach. Anglers form both Northumbria and Durham arrived at the venue in time for a good full English breakfast ready for the draw to take place at 09:00hrs.
The weather was perfect for the day, very light winds with plenty of sunshine, however the temperature did drop to 3c over night. Before speaking to the owner everyone had the dreams of getting well over the ton but then we were hit with the news, due to the cold nights the carp had not yet spawned and wasn’t really interested in food.
After the draw all anglers went to their allocated pegs, on the house side of the lake it became apparent that this was pegged quite close and not a lot of space between anglers, however looking at the lake there wasn’t a breath of wind and double figure carp was seen cruising around enjoying the sun. Expectations were high, 10 minutes before the start of the match, keepnets can be put in the water, most put in three, thinking a good day would be had.
At 10:30hrs “All In” was called, most people went on the long pole to try and mug a few fish, Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) went straight on the pellet waggler, aiming towards the middle of the lake. In the next peg to him was Paul Anderson (Durham) he cast a bomb rod towards the reeds at the bottom of the lake. After the first hour it was clear to see the fish were not in the mood for food but had spawning on their minds. Paul Anderson (Durham) started landing a few barbel, and all anglers in the corner pegs started to catch the odd fish. Dave Brown (Northumbria) always does well on the method feeder using the pole, but this was slow for him, he had to work hard to get the fish to take his bait, but when he did hit the odd carp, they were well over 8lb some even double figures. Andy Bell (Northumbria) stuck to fishing down the edge and tempted a good run of carp throughout the day, Roy McClean (Durham) on a corner peg also stuck to a bomb rod with 8mm pellet on, feeding 8mm pellet, this worked for him as he caught steady all day. Ray Westgarth (Northumbria) also on a corner peg, stuck to his feeder fishing towards the reeds and had a productive day, however Some anglers struggled all day, on a venue they usually hit into treble figures they were struggling to even get a bite. (that’s fishing for you)
16:30hrs “Time” was called, the day was over, it stayed warm and dry that was the positive side for some, it was time to pack up and as the scales arrived to each angler, the weights were recorded.
1st Roy McClean (Durham) 62lb 14oz
2nd Andy Bell (Northumbria) 61lb 04oz
3rd Dave Brown (Northumbria) 48lb 01oz
4th Paul Anderson (Durham) 46lb 04oz
Well done to those anglers that managed to have a good day on a venue that wasn’t fishing well.
Northumbria Invitational
Match 4 Bowes Lake, Angel of the North lakes, Birtley
Monday 2nd June 2025.
This was the fourth match in what is a busy years match fishing calendar. For once the weather gods had been kind and a beautiful sunny morning greeted the anglers.
Another good turnout from both Northumbria and Durham anglers meant this was likely to be a highly contested match. Before the match the organisers had walked around the lake and noted that there were fishing cruising near the surface in almost every peg. The omens looked good. Bowes lake has 40 pegs available to anglers but those attending always hope to draw favoured pegs 1 or 40 as they generally throw up winning weights.
The draw was made at 1000am and the anglers swiftly made off to their respective pegs for the day. The all in was called at 1100am.
The recent weather had been good, warmer days and nights meant the carp had eventually spawned and they were hopefully on the feed.
The initial fishing was good for all the anglers.
Vince King(Northumbria) on peg 16 had a great start catching 3 carp in his first 3 casts before bites slowed up.
Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) again drew his favoured peg 7 (that’s the same for the last 3 matches). He tried every method he had at his disposal but was struggling to catch. Hutch struggled which was most unlike him before getting to grips with his peg and had an amazing second half to the match catching fish after fish from his left hand margin.
Kevin Hood (Northumbria) peg 5 plodded away fishing down the edge on pellet and on method feeder and caught odd fish throughout the match.
On peg 1 Ray Westgarth (Northumbria) persevered but again struggled to put a run of fish together.
On peg 20 Paul Anderson (Durham) was enduring a frustrating days fishing. Paul had drawn the gusher peg which is an aerator which forces water into the air similar to a fountain. When Paul got to his peg the wind was blowing from the west but changed during the match which meant poor Paul sat and had to endure a fine mist from the gusher for the last two hours of the match.
Andy Bell (Northumbria) had drawn flier peg 40 and was hoping for a great days sport. Andy was catching regularly throughout the match on a method feeder with pellet as his bait.
Dave Brown (Northumbria) on peg 18 had a good days fishing, fishing method feeder for the first hour of the match, then fishing pellet waggler before using his trusty pole and method feeder for the last hour. Dave caught regularly throughout the match catching carp up to 6lb.
Time was called at 1700hrs.
The results were as follows ;
1st Dave Brown 85lb 12oz
2nd Paul Hutchinson 75lb 9oz
3rd Andy Bell 71lb 11oz
Well done to all those that fished.
We have now reached the midway point in this series and the standings are as follows;
1st Dave Brown 7 pts 278lbs
2nd Paul Hutchinson 7 pts 253lb 10oz
3rd Vince King 20 pts 133lbs 3oz
Durham Invitational Match
This was the fourth match of the season, held on Friday 27th June at Forest Lane, North Yorkshire.
The lake booked for this match was Arena, we last fished this lake in April, where some fantastic weights came out. A great turn out from both Durham and Northumbria anglers, with plenty asking the fishery owner on the best way to fish the lake. The weather for the day was cloudy, warm with a moderate breeze. The best pegs were predicted to be at the lower numbers as the wind had been blowing in this direction for a few days.
At 09:00hrs the draw was made and all anglers headed to the lake and started setting up, keepnets are put in 15mins before the start, this gives time for the peg to settle. Everyone was ready in plenty of time and eager to start as fish were seen cruising around.
10:30hrs “All In” was sounded, some anglers took the advice from Eddy the owner and went on the pole down the edge. Vince King (Northumbria) started with his usual maggot approach and hit into small carp instantly, Graham Colclough (Durham) started with the method feeder catching small carp throughout the match, Dave Brown (Northumbria) had his tactics sorted and started with his famous feeder on the pole, after a few fish this was soon binned and he went to feeding on the edge of his keepnets, bringing the bigger fish closer for him to fish shallow. Roy McClean (Durham) fished the edge before going out 8mtrs on the pole fishing shallow. Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) also started fishing down the edge on meat, but was only getting very small Tench and Carp also missing bites, so went shallow feeding 4mm pellet and fishing 18” deep with 6mm pellet to catch carp to 3lb. Towards the end of the afternoon the fishing for everyone was fast and furious with fish being caught on every put in.
16:30hrs “Time” was sounded, with plenty of anglers shouting “fish on”, this is shouted when an angler is playing a fish when time is called, the angler has to shout they are playing a fish otherwise the fish will not be allowed as this could have been caught after time. The scales attended each angler with most anglers having three or four keepnets in.
Results:
1st Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) 172lb 8oz
2nd Roy McClean (Durham) 135lb
3rd Dave Brown (Northumbria) 119lb 14oz
4th Paul Anderson (Durham) 101lb 2oz
Anybody who wishes to participate in any of the matches or who require further information regarding the Freshwater Fishing Section this can be found on the Northumbria Police Sports and Social Club website the point of contact being Paul Hutchinson.