Thorny Rays on Lovely Days
Dymchurch Road, Hythe, Romney Marsh, TN29 0TY. UK
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| Traps set |
After kind of finding my fishing mojo, I was meeting up with my friend Jason at Hythe. It was a new venue for me, a classic shallow sandy beach broken with breakers. I'd heard a few things about, and was very keen to go and fish this venue. Our target was to be Rays, with a second target of Sole. Our plan was to fish from low to high tide, an all nighter involving dusk and dawn. We all met up after work an hour before low water, the sun was out, the wind nothing more than a gentle breeze blowing over ours shoulders, and the sea was calm, conditions were near perfect for our targets and for us! I set up a Yuki Q7 and my old faithful Vercelli Spyra fiamma both with Shimano Ultegra XSDs loaded with 20lb braid, both rigs were pulley droppers, one with a single size 2/0 Sakuma manta extra with 30lb snod for the Rays, and the other rod was a single size 4 Aberdeen with 15lb snod for the Sole. And baits were to be Bluey and Lugworm.
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| 1st ray at 4lb |
With both rods cast out, The Ray rod cast to the horizon, that's as far as I can cast, which is closer in reality and further in my mind lol, well only thing I'm sure it's over 100m. And the second rod for Sole cast around 40meters. I sat back and waited, the rod tips held perfectly still, baits untouched by crabs and the apparent lack of Whiting or Pouting which can be a nuisance, was leaving the baits out and confidently fishing for their intended targets. It was very quiet indeed, the sun went down, and in the darkness I expected a deluge of bites, but nothing! Then out of the blue a big big pull down followed by a slack liner. I watched the rod tip, it didn't move again, but I noticed the line peeling off downtide to the right towards Jason, the fish was on the move and in a hurry!!!, I reeled in the slack line, and lifted into the fish to set the hook. It was a weird and very hard fight, it literally seemed like I dragged the fish nose first through the sand all the way in! it was a Thronback Ray around the 4lb mark and a very welcome catch.
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| 2nd ray at 6lb |
Although having caught a Ray, I should of been happy, but the truth was I was having a nightmare casting, I'd cracked off 5 times with wind knots, I never had this issue before, well so many times in one session, compared to a few times over a year! not only was I down to my last rigs, and no components to make any more, I was at a loss, and was considering calling it a night. After a sulk and chat with Jason, I decided to carry on, I stripped about 70m of braid off my spools, as I was convinced it was loaded to close to the lip, I'd lost about 50meters in wind knots, and now I had removed even more, this left me about 150meters on each spool, it was s'#t or bust!!, one more crack off and it would of been game over!! I was casting carefully, and purposely not overpowering it, 1.) because I didn't want to crack off again and lose my last rigs, and 2.) I could see the spool as there wasn't very much braid left on it after casting. The plan worked, and after a series of successful cast saw a big pull down that continued to strip braid off the spool, I hit the fish straight away! a very different fight where I could feel it fighting and pulling back, I slipped it out of the water and onto the sand, another Thornback, and the biggest of the night at 6lb.
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| 3rd Ray at 3lb |
It had been one hell of a beautiful night, and a stunning dusk and dawn, the fish had been few and far, and the lack of tide and crabs meant the rods were staying out for long periods of time, giving me time to relax, which I really, really enjoyed, it's something we all need from time to time. The Sole rod had been quite all night and only accounted for a few Whiting, but I had 2 Thornback Rays and cheekily reeled in 3rd weighing in at about 3lb on the last cast. The venue was stunning, more rougher around the edges than Dymchurch main beach and sandier and shallower than most of the main beaches at Hythe. I would definitely come back! All I needed to do now, was drive home safely after no sleep, and re spool my 2 reels, now what line to put on them? oh.... and not forgetting to tie lots more rigs!
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