Trying to find Ray

Another week passed by, it’s properly spring now, the first leaves on the beech hedge broke out earlier than ever before out and a few warm days followed, one of which saw me heading to the coast hoping for Rays again.  High tide was due in mid afternoon and I made my plans to fish a popular beach that can fish well at all states of the tide.  I arrived around 1400 to find a lot of people had the same idea as me, I should have known better.  My antisocial self-took over, I returned to the car and made my way to another spot I knew would be quiet but if I’d stopped and thought about it for a minute, I’d have realised the state of the tide wasn’t so good here.  Also, although I’ve done spectacularly well at this beach on a few occasions it’s always been later in the year, never this early.

None of this had entered my head as I stood looking down at a fairly flat and inviting sea, there was barely a breath of wind and it did look good for a Ray.  I fished one rod long and the other mostly close with baits out of freezer and started off fishing with confidence.  I had a couple of rattles on the tips around high tide but these didn’t develop, still I was sure something would happen eventually.  As time passed this began to feel unlikely.  I stayed on hoping that the onset of darkness would change my luck but not even that worked for me this evening and I gave it up soon after.  Having started off feeling confident of a Ray, I tramped back to the car knowing I’d got it totally wrong tonight.

A few days passed and forty eight hours before my next planned visit to the beach things had looked spot on, high tide due at about 2230 and there should be little or no wind.  A day later the forecast had been revised and I could expect a ten to fifteen mile wind blowing into my face which is never ideal.  I could go fishing or I could stay at home, no decision really but I felt just the one beach would be suitable with the time I had available.  I left home in mid afternoon knowing full well what to expect when I got to the beach but hoping for something different, they don’t always get it right do they?  When I broke through the scrub and onto the shingle I stood for a couple of minutes watching the waves roll in, knowing my chances of catching a Ray weren’t great.  I tried to be positive; the wind often drops away with at dusk, maybe things would settle down.

I set up with two pulley rigs and blasted a couple of big baits out then got the shelter up as quickly as I could.  The wind was a chiller and it’s always five degrees cooler on the beach.  One of my rods was rattling within minutes and I wound in to find a little Turbot had managed to get a whole squid in its gob.  I don’t catch many flatties of any kind so I always enjoy the novelty.  For the rest of the evening I had bites on almost every cast, it didn’t matter what I used as bait or how far I chucked it, the bite was just a matter of time.  I dragged six decent size Dogfish and two Whiting up the beach which is all good fun but these aren’t the fish that motivate me any time of year and I could have predicted this before I left home.

Everything came to an abrupt end an hour before high tide as there were loads of big lumps of weed being carried in on the flood tide.   I’m not sure what it was but after a little look on Google I think it might have been bladderwrack.  First one rod was wiped out by a drifting raft of weed which took an age to clear and before I’d even managed it the second rod was taken out too.  I didn’t bother to recast after that just packed away the rest of the gear and hiked back to the car park.

I wasn’t planning to fish again quite so soon but a few days later I had some time off again, this coincided with an even later tide and crucially there was a light off shore breeze.  In theory everything should be perfect for a Ray, I simply couldn’t resist testing this.  High tide was due around 0130 so I finished work and had a leisurely couple of hours before loading up and heading across the green heart of the county.  I parked up and when I got out of the car I felt the breeze which gave me a few seconds pause but I expected to be sheltered from this by the time I’d hiked to my destination.  When I reached the top of the beach I could see that the sea was flat and the waves were small, it looked perfect.

I was set up with two rods on the tripod by 1915, I used two identical pulley rigs baited with squid or large strips of mackerel.  One of these rods I whacked as far as I could every cast but the other was fished at all distances.  To begin with I fished both baits at long range, my thinking was any fish would be way out because I was fishing a shallow beach, just half an hour into the flood.  Even so I didn’t expect anything much to happen this early but on the first cast one of the rods started banging and I found myself trying to haul something heavy towards me.  It was a Ray of a couple of pounds or so, not a monster but the species I set out to catch which gave me a sense of satisfaction.  Every time we fish, we learn a little more; having started sea fishing with no idea at all, in time I learned which areas fished best for which species and now I’m learning when to fish and just as important, when not to bother.  This last lesson had been reinforced on my previous visit!

The hour or so of daylight passed without any more fish but constant attention to the baits, easily seen on the rod tips which were unaffected by wind or tide.  I somehow missed a decent bite at dusk but it was 2115 before I hooked another fish and this was another good ‘un hooked on a shorter cast.  This was another Ray, twice the size of the first and like the big one I caught earlier in the spring it tried to bury itself in the sand.  Unlike that fish I managed to move this one and soon had it in.  On the beach it arched it’s back and extended its tail which made it seem really angry.  I’ve seen a few Rays do this, I expect it’s some kind of defensive posture but it actually looks really aggressive, perhaps that’s the point.

For the next three hours I had constant action on both rods.  It didn’t matter how far I cast or what bait I used, a bite would come.  I caught a couple of Whiting but most of the fish were Dogfish, some of which were as small a Doggy as I’d ever seen.  I also caught two more small Rays, one of these gave me a spectacular bite, banging the tip over then slackening off.  In my mind I always think these bites will lead to a big fish but unfortunately that was not the case.  There’s a lot to be said for this kind of all action fishing but to be honest it’s all a bit much for me.  I like to just sit on my backside and do nothing for a while but there wasn’t a chance tonight.  Also when there are loads of Dogs about there’s less chance my bait will be unmolested for long enough for a Ray to find it.

I packed up just after midnight, high tide was still an hour or so away but by this time I was knackered and virtually out of bait.  I still had a little bit of mackerel left which I could have eked out but I’d had enough and my bed was still an hour away.  I had a tired drive home with the stereo turned up but i'd got it right tonight.