Thornback Ray Fishing, Sandwich Bay

The One That Got A Ray

Sandwich Bay, Kent, UK

Magnificent View

My quest to catch my first ever Thornback Ray has been proving quite a difficult task, just this year alone I've had 5 sessions over two venues, twice at Sandwich Bay and 3 times at Herne Bay, I had fished day and night sessions without any luck hooking the odd Whiting here and there, except one session where I cuaght lots of Dogfish, so what had I been doing wrong? I'd mostly been using fresh Herring as bait, but reports were saying Bluey was catching better, I'd not found any Blueys untill now, but looking through a Pike bait pack in my freezer I realised that there was 4 halves of a bluey mixed in with some Sprats, Mackerel and Sardines, so now I had some bait, I also went from using size 4/0 pennel rig to a single 3/0 hook,to give better presentation.Was it the weather? I could not believe my luck as the weekend coming was my only weekend off in the month, allowing me to night fish and pick the tides, which was a perfectly timed rising spring tide, with high tide at 1.45am, a full moon and to top it off the weather was sunny with no wind meaning flat warm sea. This is as ideal for Thornback Ray fishing as it gets, So with all the signs there, I headed off to Sandwich Bay with sheer determination to catch my target species, I arrived at 10pm with the intention to fish till 3am.

Herne BayView From Bivvy

As I said before my plans don't always go right, in my hurry to go fishing, I had failed to notice that my scale batteries were flat and totally forgot to bring the camcorder, checking my phone I had 12% battery, maybe just enough for a few photos and a small video if I was lucky. But I didn't let this get me down because if ever there was a omen that I would catch a Ray then surly this was it. I fished 2x Greys 12' 6" TSX Centaur rod with a Shimano Ultegra XS-C 10000's loaded with 18lb mono, and my rigs were up and overs, with long 30lb snods with a single size 3/0 hook, I immediately baited them both up with chunk of Bluey put one to the horizon and the other at about 60meters, it wasn't long before both rods had registered attention, but the little rattling bites resulted in Whiting, the next few hours produced Dogfish and due to the tide starting to push through harder they were able to pull my 6oz breakaway lead free giving me a slack liner bite, and lot of excitement as each time I though this is a Thornback Ray, but not to be.

Where Are These Thorns

The tide was reaching high water and had started to ease off by now, still wondering and hoping that a Ray would be out there with my name on it. Then I noticed a boat coming along the coastline towards me, it was very close to the shore, but luckily went over both my lines, it then turned and headed directly at the beach 20 meters downtide of me, upon hitting the beach a large buoy was thrown over board, and the boat turned 160 degrees and powered away back out to sea. "Insert Censored Swear Words Here" I grabbed my first rod and reeled it in as fast as I could and saved the rig, but the buoy which was attached to a fishing net had now passed me at a range of 15meters and my second rod didn't have a chance. Totally dejected at the sheer disregard the boat had for me fishing, considering they could have warned me as they were well within shouting distance, but more annoyingly, I just had a long drift net floating across the whole bay in front of me, were there going to be any fish left for me to catch?.

My First Ever Thornback Ray

By now I was very despondent, having fished 4 hours and not caught a Ray, and now knowing a large drift net had just combed the sea in front of me, I couldn't even be bothered setting the second rod up, but I did manage to rebait and cast out my remaining rod. My attention soon turned to hunger, as in my hurry to go fishing I had not eaten dinner, but at least something went to plan, I was well prepared with kebabs and sausages which I started to cook on a little disposable BBQ, which whilst cooking gave me time to ponder at the beautiful stars in the clear night and the large red full moon rising above the horizon, well the fishing's gone wrong, but a BBQ on a beach on a night like this, drinking Jack Daniel's and Coke with my Mrs makes up for it for sure. I had just managed to turn my sausages a few times and I noticed a firm gentle pull on the rod tip, I look at the rod with little enthusiasm, I soon turned my attention back to the BBQ, but again a firm gentle pull followed by the rod tip snapping back to to a straight position, another slack liner, as I watched the line, it then got tighter putting a curve back into the rod which got bigger and bigger until the drag set in and started clicking releasing line, could it be?

A Pretty End To A Thorny Tail

I picked up the rod and gave the drag a quarter turn to tighten, and gently lifted the rod whist reeling in to take the strain, I felt a single thump vibrate down the rod, I was on and definitely a big fish! I reset my drag on the careful side, so as not to snap off, or pull the hook, and preceded to play the fish, this was clearly the biggest fight I had experienced sea fish in the UK, but the calm flat sea, and the fact it was dead on high tide with little tide meant that I could feel almost everything and a sheer pleasure to experience, it wasn't long before the torches picked out the nose of a Thornback Ray sticking out the water and then gliding on to the beach. Yes at last!!! I couldn't believe it,  the excitement set in, causing me to run around like a headless chicken looking for forceps and a cloth. It wasn't until I returned to the fish and pulled it a bit further up the beach I realised that this was quite a beast, and a angry one at that, it's tail covered in spiky thorns was trashing about violently and almost reaching its nose. But after some careful examination to see where I could get a hold of it without get spiked I turned the fish upside down which instantly calmed the fish down, with the mouth now exposed, I used long forceps to easily unhook the fish which was perfectly hooked. After a few, well lots of photos, I realised that this fish weighed a lot because I really struggled to hold the fish out away from my body to avoid any contact with the fishes thorns, I released the fish back into the lapping surf where it disappeared back out into the sea. I couldn't believe it, I was now over the moon! I had finally nailed my my first Ray even though my dinner was now a black smouldering mass surrounded by charcoal, I couldn't of cared less.

Dinner On A Perfect Night

I am gutted I didn't have working scales with me, not only had I caught my first Ray, I had done it in style with a large specimen, I have an idea about how much it approximately weighed as an experienced angler, and a fish lenght to weight convertor confirmed my guess to within 2lb. I'm very sure this is my first double figure fish from The UK shore, but the truth is the fish's weight will only ever be speculation, and I'm sure I would be extremely lucky to catch another of this size. I have the photo to remind me and the memory that I will never forget, the ups and downs and the effort over the years all came good in the end. As I said before with fishing, one fish can make a difference and whilst you got a line in the water anything can happen. I can now happily close the book on Thornback Rays and concentrate on other species, well at least till next time anyway.

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.