Dogfish Fishing, Sandwich Bay

Ray Is In The Dog House

Sandwich Bay, Kent, UK

Flying The Flag

To be honest, my fishing plans at the moment are not going to plan at all, I've been on what feels more like a impossible quest now, to catch a Thornback Ray, whilst everyone else is enjoying lots of captures, PB's and record hauls, it's one nut that I'm finding difficult to crack. I'm sure it's just bad luck and maybe a few more sessions will show me the error of my ways and produce more than foul hooking a few hungry Pin Whiting on a over sized hook. And even though I've not achieved my goal of landing my first ever Ray, yet!, and yes I'm still optimistic despite 5 attempts this year alone,  that's not to say I havn't had a good days fishing, far from it! whilst all other fish seemed elusive one species was out to play, the Dogfish! and just proves that "Every dog has it's day"

A Small Fish To Catch A Big Fish

I arrived at Sandwich Bay at low tide, the plan was to to fish till high water to target Thornback Rays using big "up and over" rigs to keep the bait and 40lb snod pinned to the seabed, bait was fresh Herring and Mackerel with squid and sand eels to use as cocktails, these were to be mounted on 3/0 penal's, I used 18lb main line to 15lb to 70lb tapered leader, but I cut the first 3 meters off so the leader, so it actually started at about 18lb to match my main line. and using my Greys 12' 6" TSX Centaur rod with a Shimano Ultegra XS-C 10000's which would give me a good cast with a 6oz lead and medium to large bait. The sun was out, the wind was barley a gentle breeze and reports had been good so with confidence I put one rod out as far as I could cast, and the other fished shorter at about 70m, the rigs settled nicely and I set the rods with a slightly bigger bend in the tip, and awaited the tell tale Ray slack liner.

Who's A Good Boy Then?

The rods had been out 10mins without so much as a twitch, and I was setting about baiting another 2 rigs so I could swap over and recast immediately giving me more time in the water. then the close in rod tip took a dive, and then again, and again, not the biggest pulls but definitely a fish, I waited for the bite to develop, as I read that rays can be missed due to early strikes as they can cause a lot of false bites as they settle on the bait and rig. As I finished baiting the second rigs, the second rod was doing the same, I couldn't wait any longer, it had been too long anyway. As I lifted the rod gently into air, i then took the strain and waited whilst the lead popped out, yes I could feel a weight on the end, I tentatively set the drag and proceeded to reel in, was it a Ray, maybe but no pulling back, weed? no about 20meter from the shore line I saw what was on the end start bouncing across the surface and I immediately recognised it as a dogfish, and quite a big one at that. Well that's all I need to say about the session, for the next 3 hours, a fish every cast, and all dogfish, at mid tide the bites dried up and the rod stayed still and baits returned untouched, giving me time for a little snooze basking in the sun, and awoke to find a boat sailing across the bay proudly displaying the English flag, for St Georges Day.

How Cute Am I?

I had given it my best shot at catching a Thornback Ray, but they just didn't show. The Dogfish saved the day, I wasn't disappointed, and with 12 all over 1lb with the biggest at 1lb 15lb, put me landing approximately 18lb of fish, not bad by any ones standards. Dogfish or more precisely "lesser spotted dogfish" are the smallest member of the shark family to claim the coast of Britain as its home. I love Dogfish, But over the years I get the distinct impression that people either love them, or hate them. I've sadly seen piles of dead Dogfish on beaches where anglers seem to even resent putting them back in the water, for some inexcusable reason!, and thankfully less and less in recent years. Why? Are they a pest? No, how could you not expect a fish not to eat a bait you put in the water. Are they inedible? difficult to skin, yes!, but very much edible, they have no bones, just a central cartilage, and are perfect for children and anyone who's worried about eating bones. So what is it about Dogfish? and why would a friend, come fishing with me then describe his catch in the pub as "just got a manky Dogfish". Are they really manky? Of course not! It's their sleepy eyelids slowly opening and closing to show their beautiful reptilian eyes, that makes you realise that it isn't a fish, but a shark. And maybe that's the point! some peoples impressions of sharks tend to be more of big powerful predators with teeth, and something anyone would be proud to catch and brag about, so I'm wondering if the negative way some people talk about and treat Dogfish is just them showing their disappointment at catching this little, cute, sleepy, crab crunching, piece of sandpaper when unfairly comparing it to the likes of Jaws. But lets be honest, your biggest fish next time you go surf casting from the South East UK coast is most likely to be a ?????......yes you guessed it, a Dogfish.