Colliery beaches

[stevie69]

Is it just me or is there something up with our beaches. Ten year ago you could go down to the flight at blackhall or the rocks at blackhall rocks or crimdon even hartlepool for that matter,they used to be crawling with sealife ie limpets, winkles, musscles,sea anenomies, crabs, covered in bladder rack seaweed now their just barron a bit of green moss stuff nothing in the rock pools in holes zilch. I'm local to blackhall and have seen the decline of life on the rock marks over the years and just wondered if this decline of life could be having an effect on the fishing as i do go quite regulary to the beaches to fish and have seen catch results plummet and not just my catches over this time.
I look forward to your theories.cheers.

[codseeker]

all seems to gotten worse since the pits closed for some reason i did hear good sessions from the blast many moons ago but doesnt happen now with many good doubles

[Davey-m]

Aye the cleaner they have got the worst they have become in fishing turns.

Dare to say in its hayday the blast beach was the beach cod capital of the northeast.

[dabcatcher]

the beaches were steeper and water permenantly coloured.

[Fishygone]

Lyneburn & Lynemouth beaches dont throw as many good bags of fish as they did when the pits were tipping, like has already been said the water isnt as Dirty & Cloudy as it was then.

john.

[harry barker]

Is it just me or is there something up with our beaches. Ten year ago you could go down to the flight at blackhall or the rocks at blackhall rocks or crimdon even hartlepool for that matter,they used to be crawling with sealife ie limpets, winkles, musscles,sea anenomies, crabs, covered in bladder rack seaweed now their just barron a bit of green moss stuff nothing in the rock pools in holes zilch. I'm local to blackhall and have seen the decline of life on the rock marks over the years and just wondered if this decline of life could be having an effect on the fishing as i do go quite regulary to the beaches to fish and have seen catch results plummet and not just my catches over this time.
I look forward to your theories.cheers.

Yes you re spot on there mate,I have fished these beaches all my life and they has declined year by year and I agree with other posters on here it's a lot to do with the pits closing and the beaches getting a lot cleaner and also a lot shallower.

When the blast was in it's heyday we used to love a strong westerly blowing and the sea would be as flat as a fart but that was the best time to fish it with a big tide during the day in bright sunny conditions,wouldn't happen now.

When the blast started it's decline I then moved up to Lynemouth as this still had the looks of the blast with the colliery waste still being dumped and it was just as good for daytime fishing for the cod and I would say gave a better chance of a doubler.Not now though.
Then it happened........the big E closing and the power station not being fed from the pit the beach started to return to it's old self of sand and shallow beach.
I still fish Horden and can get a good bag but nowhere near what it used to be like.
Also over fishing has done the beach angler no help,but the decline of sea life close to the shore is a mystery and I have also noticed this as you said,is it chemical pollution from Hendon I don't know.

I know a lot of keen beach angler have just given up fishing these beaches now and I think I will be joining them very soon.
Regards H

[john/r]

myself i believe another option is to fish two or three hk rig during calmer conditions maybe not everybodys cup of tea but i enjoy,then in the more favourable conditions for cod fish your normal cod methods.

present day fishing is a shock to the system as to when the pits were producing waste but thats life and can remember saying it would effect the fishing only one person agreed jim dobie.

at the present time the beaches do now produce other species bass/plaice /odd thornie but they have always been there and i believe in the not to distance future we will be catching good smoothounds from our shores up here.

35 cod i had one easter weekend off the blast in the early eighties howling westerley wind all on worm do i miss it ?

[seanyrooroo]

The pits made the beaches the cod meccas of the Northeast. But I do wonder what they were like before the pits opened in the first place. All thats happening now is nature is reclaiming what the collieries had changed.

They're not as productive as they once were (where is?) but they still produce when the conditions allow. Long gone are the days when a sea wasn't needed due to constant colour in the water, the sh!t pipes have now been replaced and the sea bed is changing every year. The Chems is a perfect example, I've never seen so much kelp and bladderwrack down there but every year it gets thicker. This wasnt the case when the pits were open, I remember fishing the beach (yes beach) in front of the greenwall and in front of noses.

I agree with John, I think there will be more variety of species available in years to come. I do wonder if species such as smoothhounds were regular visitors to these beaches before the days of coal mining.

[stevie69]

Cheers lads some intresting results there.
But my point was why the decline in the sealife on the rocks surely if the waters getting cleaner as stated would this not be better for the eco system or were all the winkles and mussles and crabs ive ate over the years solely surviving on pit waste and sewerage? my guts dont feel to good now

[john/r]

maybe its all the velvet crabs eating everything.

[Charlton]

it's the same everywhere, years ago at this time of year you could find flounder in the sandy pools on Tynemouth beach, haven't seen one for years. During the summer the lack of sea life starfish, sea anenomies, etc etc is frightening

[Deans]

going a bit off topic here, but does anyone know what the under water outlet is about 300 yards off the front of noses point.

think its been operating a couple of years, i remember the divers doing work on it.
and when the sea is flat you can see the water above it bubbling up.

summit to do with the sewage works a mile in shore behind the factories??

not a clue.

[CHOPPER]

Cheers lads some intresting results there.
But my point was why the decline in the sealife on the rocks surely if the waters getting cleaner as stated would this not be better for the eco system or were all the winkles and mussles and crabs ive ate over the years solely surviving on pit waste and sewerage? my guts dont feel to good now

That was beginning to be my thought as well, nasty!!!! Nice thread!

[smartmp]

I think it's all to do with the improvement in the the water quality since the raw sewerage dischrges were stopped. The worms,limpets,mussels and other smaller crustacea fed on the raw sewerage and the cod fed on them;the sewerage feed was removed and so the food chain broke down....hence the lack of fish close in.

[codcatcher3000]

might have to have a poo on the beach months in advance before i fish ....just kidding lads.......it does make sense what u all have said earlier.hopefully the seas will bringeth the cod to horden tomoro