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.
Durham Invitation Match Forest Lane.
This was the first match of 2024 and was held on Friday 22nd March on Oaklands, Forest Lane, Alne, North Yorkshire.
After a long hard and wet winter, it was nice to catch up with fellow team mates from both Durham and Northumbria. The meet was in the onsite Café at 08:00, where all participated in a cooked breakfast. The owner of the complex was on hand as usual to give plenty advice on tactics to be used and the best baits, stating the match will be hard as it rained for over 12hrs the day before and the lake never fishes well after a good down pour.
At 09:00hrs the draw was made and everyone went to their allocated pegs. The first thing we all noticed, the water level was well up with some pegs slightly underwater, the grass path was just a mud path, so all the lovely new and shiny gear that was purchased over the Christmas was going to get covered in the stuff. The good news, no rain expected, the bad news it was forecast gale force winds with a cold wind blowing down the lake.
10:00hrs the “All In” was sounded. Due to the high winds a lot of people went on the feeder rod, some brave people went on the pole, but nothing further then 6mtrs. After the first hour no sign of people catching anything. The sun was out but due to the high winds, it wasn’t bringing much warmth to the lake. Just before lunch people started catching, Graham Colclough (Durham) was sat on an end peg, this was in the sheltered part of the lake, he fished the feeder to the side reeds and was hitting into some good Barbel and Carp. The odd fish was also being caught by other anglers. Andy Bell (Northumbria) had been catching a few on the feeder but then went down the edge on the pole, he also started to hit on some bigger carp and barbel.
At 16:00hrs the “All out” had been called. This was the end of the first match of the season, everyone had caught fish, it had been a hard cold day, with plenty of people shivering. The results recorded as:
1st Andy Bell (Northumbria) 41lb 14oz
2nd Graham Colclough (Durham) 39lb 9oz
3rd Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) 33lb 4oz
4th Paul Anderson (Durham) 33lb 1oz
Congratulations Andy with his first win with Northumbria.
Next match Oaklands, Forest Lane, Friday 26.04.24
Durham Invitation Match Forest Lane.
This was the second match of the year and was held on Friday 26th April. at Forest Lane, Alne, fishing Oaklands, the weather over the past few days and nights had been very cold with a frost overnight.
The meet was at 08:00hrs in the complex café, with a great turn out from both teams. The owner of the fishery was on hand with his usual advice, he stated due to the frost and cold wind it will be a very hard match. At 09:00hrs the draw was made and everyone made their way to their allocated pegs. It was apparent when we got to the lake the place had lots of rain recently as the bankside was thick mud in places. The very light winds were blowing down the lake and the sun was shining.
At 10:30hrs ‘All in’ was sounded. Most people went on the short pole and some on the Feeder, Dave Brown (Northumbria) was pegged in the corner and started catching small carp within minutes at 11mtrs, he appeared to be the only one catching, then later that morning Roy McClean (Durham) started catching Chub and carp on the bomb rod, it was clear people were struggling with the usual tactics some hadn’t had a bite in the first two hours. Later in the afternoon the odd fish started getting caught around the lake, nobody was bagging up. Boyd Weddle (Northumbria) stated he had fish in his margins but they weren’t interested in the bait he was using. Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) pegged next to Boyd, started fishing the pellet waggler at 16mtrs, this tactic worked as he had a run of carp. Then the heavy rain came mixed with hail, so fishing this far out was impossible.
Due to the heavy persistent rain a few people started to pack up. At 16:00hrs ‘All out’ was called. The worse part was packing up in the constant rain. Everyone stated it had been a very hard match with different tactics tried but not working. The scales went round with three people not weighing anything.
1st Roy McClean (Durham) 43lb 15oz
2nd Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) 40lb 6oz
3rd Andy Bell (Northumbria) 35lb 11oz
4th Dave Brown (Northumbria) 27lb 12oz
Well done to all that attended a very cold and wet days fishing.
Northumbria Police Summer Series 2024
Monday 20th May 2024. Bowes Lake, Angel of the North Lakes, Birtley.
This was to be the first of 4 matches held on the venue over the summer. Anticipation was high on what is a normally prolific venue however the competitors were told on arrival that the carp had started to spawn and that this was likely to scupper any hopes of big weights.
The draw was made at 10am and anglers went off to their respective pegs to tackle up ready for the 12 noon start.
As expected when the match started it was slow going for all concerned. Ian Nicholson (Northumbria) on peg 3 elected to fish a cage feeder which proved to be a good decision as he caught good numbers of small ide, roach and barbel.
Meanwhile on peg 12 Paul Anderson (Durham) fished a method feeder across to the reeds and managed to snare some of the resident carp along with good numbers of small fish.
However on peg 22 Steve Holmes (Northumbria) rolled back the years with a stunning performance. Fishing the pellet waggler Steve managed to catch a number of carp some in excess of 7lb.
At the weigh there was only ever going to be one winner .
1st Steve Holmes 54lb 2oz
2nd Paul Anderson 26lb 11oz
3rd Ian Nicholson 22lb 6oz
Next match in this series is Monday 1st July 2024 on Bowes Lake.
Durham Invitation Forest Lane Fishery,
This was the third match of the year and was held on Friday 24thh May at Forest Lane, fishing a lake called The Don.
This lake is the original lake of the complex stocked with mixed fish, Roach, Tench, Carp over 20lb and even large goldfish over 2lb. The only problem with this lake all the platforms are small and it’s a walk down a bank to get to your peg. The weather forecast for the day was predicted light winds and dry. The owner of the complex stated it would fish hard as on Thursday they had a week’s worth of rain in a couple of hours, the place doesn’t fish well after so much cold water going into the lake, also the carp are spawning.
At 09:00hrs the draw was made and some favourable pegs had been drawn, everyone appeared happy and made off to their allocated pegs. Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) drew 26, this was next to a bridge, it looked a great peg that would hold a lot of fish, however Eddy the owner stated to fish this peg the best tactic was to fish a 14.5mtr pole with hard pellet, but be careful as the carp try to get under the bridge and that’s when you lose plenty of gear.
At 10:30hrs the “All in” was sounded. Plenty of large double figure carp could be seen cruising around the lake, but they weren’t interested in any food and just knocked bait out of the way. They had other things on their mind due to it being spawning season. After a few hours, no one was shouting out that they were catching and due to the size of the lake with the tree coverage, it wasn’t easy to see other anglers. Kevin Hood (Northumbria) hooked into his first big carp and after a few minutes, we could hear the swearing, yes, he had lost the carp, but it turned out to be expensive for him as he also lost his top two sections of his pole (still attached to the diving carp) he was now £75 down.
Paul Hutchinson also started hitting into the big carp, but as soon as he hooked into one it was straight under the bridge, another one that got away. The odd fish was now being caught by other team members, Roy McClean (Durham) went onto the pellet waggler, fishing tight up to the middle island, same problem for him, he couldn’t get the fish to take the bait and found it a long and trying day. All methods were being tried, with not one producing good fish. The usual places down the edge towards the end of the match was always a good area to go for those big fish, but this wasn’t working either. With Half hour to go before the end of the match Kevin Hood finally started to catch fish on the feeder, casting this to the middle island, Paul Anderson (Durham) was having a poor day with only being able to catch small skimmers and roach.
16:30hrs “Time” was called. Another match finished, paul Hutchinson had managed to lose 11 large carp under the bridge, that also cost him 3 full rigs, but no one could beat Keving Hood losing that top kit. The scales went around to each peg and it was a very close call with the weights, with everyone saying the same thing, the fish were not interested.
Final results:
1st Roy McClean (Durham) 36lb 13oz
2nd Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) 33lb 05oz
3rd Kevin Hood (Northumbria) 31lb 01oz
4th Andy Bell (Northumbria) 30.06oz
The next match of this series will be held at Forest Lane on Friday 7th June,
Durham Invitation Vic McClean Memorial match
This was the fourth match of the season and was held at Forest Lane, on Friday 7th June.
We were supposed to fish a lake we all know as Furlong, but on arrival the owner stated this lake had been fishing very poorly due to the fish trying to spawn, he stated he would put us on a lake called Arena, this is a large lake shaped like a donut with 30 pegs, with a middle island approx 20mtr from the bank.
The meet was at 08:00hrs and the change of lake was agreed by all. The weather was forecast to stay dry very windy with strong gusts in the afternoon. It still wasn’t warm, max temp only predicted to be 12 degrees. At 09:00 the draw was made and everyone made their way to their allocated pegs, no one had ever fished this lake before.
At 10:30hrs the “All in” was sounded, some people went on the feeder rod towards the island, but most set up the pole. The problem being some didn’t have rigs deep enough, it was 7ft deep 6mtrs out. After a few minutes Ian Nicholson (Northumbria) was into a carp, along with other anglers saying they were getting good bites but couldn’t hit into them. The wind carried on getting stronger and was hard to fish the pole any further then 6mtrs. Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) went down the edge from the off, feeding micro pellet with expander on the hook, this tactic worked as he was hitting into carp up to 2lb. (This is how close to fish)
Vince King (Northumbria) was also fishing close in on maggot landing the same stamp of carp. As the day went on everyone was landing fish, this was anyone’s match, no one knew what sort of weight the other anglers had been getting.
16:30 hrs “Time” was called, the match was over, everyone agreed, the lake was a fantastic change as all thought they had won the match with the number of fish that had been landed.
The scales came around to each angler, with some being surprised they had caught as many carp as they had.
1st Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) 125lb 7oz
2nd Roy McClean (Durham) 90lb 6oz *****winner of the trophy******
3rd Andy Bell (Northumbria) 85lb 9oz
(A section winner) Kevin Hood (Northumbria) 69lb 14oz
(B section winner) Ian Nicolson (Northumbria) 71lb 3oz
Congratulation to Roy McClean picking up the trophy that can only go to a Durham Officer.
Next Durham invitation match will be held on Friday 12th July, Forest Lane.
Northumbria Police Invitational
Round two of four in this event took place on Monday 1st July 2024 on the prolific Bowes Lake at the Angel of the North Lakes near Birtley.
The venue manager Scott gave the competitors the whole lake for the match meaning anglers could be spaced out around the lake enhancing the chances of catching even more fish. The weather on the day was not great with rain and blustery winds forecast. The draw was made at 10am and the anglers went off to their respective pegs.
The “all in” was shouted at 12 noon and anglers began to catch right from the off. Most were catching carp of varying sizes but Paul Hutchinson on peg 7 was being plagued by roach and initially decided to throw them back rather than placing them in a separate keepnet to be weighed at the end.
Anglers were catching on all methods short down the edge, up in the water and across to the islands with hard 6mm pellet being the top bait.
At the weigh in the weights were nothing short of spectacular.
1St Peg 40 Dave Brown (Northumbria) 141lb 5oz
2nd Peg 7 Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) 116lb 3oz
3rd Peg 16 Vince King (Northumbria) 107lb 13oz
4th Peg 3 Roy McLean (Durham) 99lb 11oz
Their were several weights of 80lb plus with the lowest weight of the day still being a very creditable 54lb.
Thanks again to Scott and his staff for looking after us and advising what pegs to fish.
The next match in this series is 5th August again on Bowes Lake.
DURHAM INVITATIONAL MATCH
Friday 19th July 2024. The latest in this series of matches took place on Arena Lake at Forest Lane Fisheries near York. Anticipation was high as an earlier match on this lake in June had resulted in some good weights but no one could envisage what was to come.
The weather forecast was for temperatures around 30 degrees with a light wind.
Arena lake is a doughnut style lake with 30 pegs that is only available for matches meaning it is not fished that often. The lake is stocked with carp averaging between 12oz and 1lb with an odd fish up to 3lbs.
The draw was made at 9am and anglers went to their pegs. The ‘all in’ was called at 10.30 and the match began. Anglers were immediately into fish. Most had taken Eddie the fishery managers advice and were fishing pole top two sections a foot or so out from the bank.
To say that the fishing was incredible would be an understatement. Up to this point only two Northumbria anglers had ever broken the 150lb barrier, with the match record standing at 168lb 8oz. Would this be beaten today.
Anglers all around the lake continued to catch throughout the duration of the match with Northumbria angler Paul Hutchinson having to go walkabout in order to borrow additional keepnets from other anglers as he had filled all of the ones he had brought.
At 4pm the end of the match was signalled. The weigh in was one of the best I have ever witnessed.
1St 215lb 14oz Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria)
2nd 166lb Roy McLean (Durham)
3rd 147lb 7oz Dave Brown (Northumbria)
4th 91lb 7oz Ian Nicholson (Northumbria)
Congratulations Hutch on a remarkable catch. If the fish averaged 1lb then that is catching and landing a fish every 2 minutes which most anglers would agree is a magnificent achievement.
Northumbria Police Invitational match 3
Monday 5th August 2024 at Bowes Lake, Angel of the North lakes, Birtley.
Anticipation had been building for this latest match in the 4 match series. The weather for the day was forecast to be sunny and warm but with a gusty wind that could make presentation difficult. The team at the Angel of the North complex had been kind and given us all of the lake to fish so hopefully some good weights were to come.
The draw was made at 10am and anglers went off to their respective pegs. The all in was called at 11.30am. It was a slow start for some but Andy Bell on peg 6 was catching from the off. Andy had been unlucky in recent matches but was determined to put a 100lb plus catch on the scales. On peg 16 stalwart of the section Boyd Weddell had left all of his float fishing gear at home and decided to feeder fish down the edge. Boyd was also catching regularly and what a good stamp of fish they were.
Dave Brown on favoured peg 1 was fishing up in the water and was again catching regularly.
Time was called at 4pm.
Some excellent weights were caught
1st peg 1 Dave Brown (Northumbria) 193lb 8oz
2nd Peg 16 Boyd Weddell (Northumbria) 125lb 2oz
3rd Peg 6 Andy Bell (Northumbria) 98lb 13oz
Last match in this series is Monday 2nd September 2024 at BowesLake.
Durham Invitation Forest Lane
Friday 16th August 2024, the sixth match of this series took place at Forest Lane, on Furlong. The weather was dry, warm with very light winds.
Furlong has 30 pegs equally spaced out with the far bank at thirteen meters, it is stocked with Carp, F1 carp, Tench, variety of silver fish even goldfish. Eddie the complex owner stated, the lake had been fishing very hard, so we would have to work hard to get the fish to feed and keep them interested.
The draw was made at 09:00hrs and all anglers attended their allocated pegs. At 10:30hrs the ‘All In’ sounded. After the first hour not a lot of fish had been caught, some anglers went to the far shelf to catch the odd small carp, some stayed short and fished shallow, fish were cruising on the surface of the lake but not taking the bait offered. After 14:30hrs the lake started to switch on for some, with some decent fish being landed. The last hour anglers caught most of their fish to boost their weight, this was on tactics down the edge.
‘Time’ was called at 16:30, the scales went to each peg.
1st Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) 84lb 08oz
2nd Dave Brown (Northumbria) 73lb 10oz
3rd Paul Anderson (Durham) 58lb 13oz.
Last match of this series will be held on Friday 13th September at forest Lane fishing Oaklands.
Northumbria Police Invitational
Match 4 Monday 2nd September 2024 Bowes Lake, Angel of the North lakes, Birtley.
This was the final match in the series of 4 and anticipation was again high. The weather gods had been kind and it looked like it was going to be a good day for fishing with it being warm, overcast with little or no wind.
The talk at the draw was who was going to draw favoured peg 1. The lucky angler was Paul Hutchinson. The pressure was on to make it count and put fish in the net.
The “all in” was called at 11am. Dave Brown on peg 35 saw a large carp around 10lbs swimming through his swim, he swung his pellet hookbait out in front of the fish which took it immediately and after a short spirited fight the carp was landed. A good start which unfortunately was not to last. Paul Hutchinson was making the most of his good draw and was catching fish regularly. Other anglers around the lake were catching two or three fish in spells then would have a quiet period. Andy Bell on peg 33 had a good last hour catching around 40lbs of carp down the edge.
At the weigh in Paul Hutchinson had done more than enough to secure the win.
1st peg 1 Paul Hutchinson (Northumbria) 142lb 12oz
2nd Peg 33 Andy Bell (Northumbria) 94lb 5oz
3rd Peg 35 Dave Brown (Northumbria) 78lb 9oz
Overall results
1st Dave Brown 434lb 3oz
2nd Paul Hutchinson 342lb 10oz
3rd Andy Bell 302lb 5oz
4th Boyd Weddell 214lb 14oz
A special mention to Andy Bell who is relatively new to the section. Andy has yet to break the 100lb barrier having caught 3 x 90lb+ nets in this series. Andy I am sure you will achieve this feat soon.
Thanks also to Scott and his team from the Angel of the North complex for the help and advice given to those fishing.