Thornback Ray Fishing, Hythe

Rainy Rays and Super Blood Moons

Hythe, Kent. UK

January and Febuary fishing here in the South East UK is normally very quiet, it's been known as the scratching season in the past, where small baits and hooks is the order of the day, and bags are made up mostly of small Dabs, Whiting and Rockling, but in recent years the Thornback Rays have made very late, and very early appearances, giving the impression they never went away. And it didn't take long this year to find them. After a few failed sessions along the coast from Dymchurch to Hythe myself and Paul hit the Jackpot. It was a Thursday night with high tide at 11.50pm and a massive spring tide, which was something to do with the super blood moon, wind was 15mph NE and was briskly off our backs, all though we felt quite sheltered behind the houses, the sea was fairly lumpy with a little surf. the weather was supposed to be dry, but it was raining the whole session, but that soon didn't matter as our minds would soon be concentrating on the job at hand.

Bluey, a Kent Rays favorite

I had made 4 x long 3' pulley pennals, 60lb straight through from lead to a single size 3/0 sakuma manta extra hook, which I offset with a pair of pliers. Bait wise I took 3 Blueys, a super oily fish similar to mackerel, which was cut into fillets and then fairly small pieces and bound onto the hook with bait elastic and a sequin and rubber stop pulled down to stop the bait sliding up the snod line. All though a big super blood moon affecting this big spring tide, fishing was comfortable with a 5oz breakaway lead, and I was able to hold bottom most the night through the flood. I was using a pair of Yuki Taylor Q7 rods, continental rods with very thin tips, I really like these rods, can get a good cast with them and they even show me crabs farting next to my bait. My reels were 2 x Shimano Ultegra XSD's loaded with 14lb Rovex X10 mono in high vis red, I use these bright lines, as it helps me fish at night, seeing the lines I'm able to determine weather I'm crossed over or not, very handy in strong tides where leads and rigs travel in the tide. I don't worry about spooking the fish as the last 12 meters are clear tapered leaders With the baits out, fishing was normal, a few Whiting, a couple of small Dogfish and a Dab, and then it just got better.

New PB 9lb 8oz

Rainy Rays

Paul kicked it off with the first Thornback of the night, a female of around 4lb, this got us both excited as it was quiet early on in the session, and for good reason, they just kept coming, between us we landed 2 Rays per hour right up to the last casts, the amount of bait we went through took us both by suprise, In fact the only reason we stopped fishing was because we both ran out of Bluey, and I'm sure we would have caught more if we did!! WE both caught numerous Whiting and Dogfish and Paul ended up with 6 Rays, from 1lb 7oz to 5lb 11oz, and myself, a tally of 4 Rays from 4lb 3oz to 9lb 8oz. I may have caught bigger than 9lb 8oz in the past, but this fish was officially weighed, and is now my official PB, no more speculation. It had been a cold, wet and windy night, and as I packed up soaked head to toe, I pondered about one of the best nights fishing I've had in a very long time. One thing did surprise me, of the 4 Rays I caught, I never had a big bite, a pull down or a slack liner. I had always seen the initial couple of gentle pulls on the super thin rod tips, then I sat and watched sometimes up to 20 mins without another moment or indication, only to lose patience and reel up the slack and lift into a fish, they were just sitting on my baits and for some reason unwilling to swim off. 

PS in case some of you are wondering, I got  no picture of this truly wonderful rare super blood moon, well it was hidden behind the rain clouds, but I'm assured it was by the news and papers lol

Doing The Conger

Surprise Strap On

Princes Parade, Hythe CT21 6AQ, UK

A short blog this time, admittedly this was a half hearted attempt for a early Cod, I had picked Hythe to fish as at this time of year as it had the possibility to throw up so many species, from Eels,, Mackerel, Scad, Pouting, Whiting, Dogfish, Sole, Dab, Flounder, Plaice, Gurnards, Bass, Rays, Hounds and Cod, in fact I could even add Squid to that list. And what I was gonna land wasn't even on my rader ever, let alone on that list! the plan was quite simple, one rod at range pulley rigs with 3/0 hooks baited with lug and squid or fish baits for Cod/Rays and maybe Gurnards and live bait rigs fishing live pout or whiting close in targeting big Bass.

Well fishing was constant, the Whiting I tried to catch for live baiting were few and far between, but the Dogfish were out in force, eventually I had a live bait kicking away in the surf, unfortunately no bass took a liking to it. The other rod kept me busy, a few Whiting, Pouting and a small Hound pup, but mostly Dogfish, every bite had me hoping and praying for the double knock tell tale sign of the Cod. And I had hope all night, and then it happened!!! a firm but gentle pull down quickly followed by another, and then another leading to a slack liner, I picked up the rod and gently reeled in the line to remove the slack, I felt the fish knocking, I lifted into the fish to set the hook, immediately I knew I was into something different, and I really thought it was a Cod!, to my dismay an Eel surfaced and slide onto the beach, but it was big and then I realised that it was my first ever Conger Eel, a tiny strap conger of around 3lb 8oz. Now I know this fish is small by Conger standards, ok even tiny!, but it was my first ever!! and can only get bigger. It was shore caught at a venue that I don't thing anyone in their right mind would even think they are. And I suspect very few anglers can claim to catching a Conger off the beach in Kent, even if it's just a little strap, so I was very happy angler.

Wrasse Fishing Samphire Hoe

Beautiful Ballans

Samphire Hoe, Kent Downs AONB, Samphire Road, Dover CT17 9FL. UK

Just a few rocks to check then?

Well, It's been a while since my last blog, I've been fishing and I've even caught fish, but life has been so busy with the little one, who's now keeping me and his mother awake, all night and every night, and even more so, he's keeping us on our toe 24/7 as he's just learnt to walk, regardless, I do occasionally get the chance to get out fishing, and this trip was a very enjoyable session. This time of year there is a lot of May weed in the water, a algae bloom that can ruin fishing session, I normally swear I'll pack the sea fishing gear away till it goes away, and start fresh water fishing for Catfish, which I do, but I did have a plan! looking at close range fishing to avoid the May weed problem, I had always fancied dedicating a day to targeting the bigger Ballan Wrasse at Samphire Hoe, although I'd caught plenty of smaller Wrasse and other species with tiny baited sabiki rigs as written about in my blog sabiki fishing Samphire Hoe , it was time to get serious, and crab baits were a must!. 

Rockworm (Rockies), tough old bait

A quick call to my friend Dave, a local match fisherman and bait collector to Samphire Hoe, and it was agreed we would go collecting at silly o'clock in the morning, having always bought my bait, Dave was gonna show me the ropes in bait collecting and make me a complete hunter gather fisherman, and it went like this!, we got up after a few hours sleep, bleary eyed and very tired, we set about wondering about for at least a few miles over dangerous rocky ground almost on all 4's only stopping, to practice heavy lifting with sharp and jagged rocks and occasionally sticking your fingers in deep and dark holes to be pincered by the local crabs for 3 whole hours!!! I would like to say this was fun, well maybe a little, but this was extreme hard back breaking work!! and maybe it would pay many of us to do this occasionally to remind us what goes into finding our bait. With the hard work, I came away with very few crabs that were peeling, the best ones for bait, but I did learn the difference between Blue Velvets, Shore Crabs and Edible Crabs and how strong the claws are off the edible crab, seriously not to be underestimated as they crush clams and mussels and a little finger is a lot softer!!!!!!! I also found some worms, believing them to be Maddies, I later found out the were something a little bit different, Rock Worms. 

Blue velvet peeler crab

With a bucket of crab and a pot with a few worms I said my thanks to Dave, and set off to Samphire Hoe to see if I could find these bigger Wrasse.. I had my 2 Dawia Therory Bass rods, paired with Penn Fierce 2 reels loaded with 12lb mono direct to pulley rigs, plain 4oz leads, with a single size 1 chinu hook baited with soft peeler crabs or hard back crabs. The sea was a little bit more coloured than I would of liked and definitely not that calm, guessing that this would push the fish away from the wall and deeper into the nooks and crannies of the big boulders, I launched the baits out about 40 yards, where I envisaged the big boulders gave way to the natural sea bed, as this should be a good place for the larger fish to patrol. It didn't take long for the first rod to take a massive pull down!, excitedly I struck the rod and played the fish hard, fearing it darting into the rocks and invariably snagging me up, the fish was free and coming up in the water, it felt big, and it was!, just not what I expected or wanted, a Dogfish!, but a welcome catch and starting the session off.

Stunning Corkwing Wrasse

Peeler crab was the bait bringing the fish, the next 5 fish all came to peeler rather than hard backs. my first was a Pouting, closely followed by a couple Ballan Wrasse of about 1lb,and 1lb 8oz, and another Dogfish and Pouting. It was fantastic fun watching the bites on the soft bass rods, and 1 thing was slowly dawning on me, I had not snagged the bottom yet, Samphire Hoe is a tackle graveyard, and somehow I was lucky enough to be avoiding the snags. Even though it was still early into the session I had another issue I was down to my last Peeler, the hard back crab rod had not had a sniff of a bite. But I wrapped the bait up as carefully and perfectly as i could, it was a very small Blue Velet Crab but fitted perfectly on the size 1 chinu hook. I sent it out about 40 yards, felt the lead down to the bottom and rested the rod, It was high water and I felt very confident. Well it took 30mins before taking a severe pull down followed by lounging runs each stripping line off the reel with a burst!!,

Best of the bunch, 2lb 6oz Ballan Wrasse

Micro Pouting likes the Rockworm

I picked up the rod, and tightened the drag, and lifted into a fish, immediately I felt it knocking down the rod, was it a Bass, or was this my big Wrasse? I bullied the fish to the surface as I didn't want to give it a chance to dive into one of the big holes between the big boulders, all by myself, and i think I need a medal for this! I lowered the drop net down, in strong winds, over a ledge, and into the sea, and scooped up the fish, with one hard, as the other was holding the rod and playing the fish!! It was my big Wrasse, a beautiful Ballan weighing 2lb 6oz, OK not my biggest, but the best looking one!! What a cracking session this was turning out to be, I had run out of peeler, and still no bites on the hard back crab, I was now onto the Rock Worm that I had found, and accounted for a few more fish, my bringing my tally was 4 x Ballans, 2 x Corkwings, 3 x Dogfish, and 4 x Poutings, This wasn't the most hectic of sessions, but peeler crab bought out the bigger stamp of Wrasse for sure, Just wish I'd had more, as the hard back crabs did not induce 1 bite!!. It had been a wonderful day, and to top off the sun burn, I got I finally got snagged up losing my rig, With that it was time to call it quits! knowing I had been a very lucky boy not to lose more tackle.

Cod Fishing Aboard Peganina

Big Baits For Bucket Mouths

Peganina launched from Rye Harbour

Peganina, Dungy bound

What can I say.....Its now November and still! there has been hardly been any wind from the South West stirring the south coast sea into a muddy lumpy mass dislodging all manner of sea life which the Cod come in close to shore to feed on, instead we have the opposite, easterly winds clearing the water to the colour of gin, its unseasonably warm still, and mackerel in abundance chasing Whitebait on to the beaches. I've had my winter shore fishing gear ready since September, but I'm still scratching around for bits with the continental rods in summer like conditions. I was growing impatient to say the least, but if the Cod wont come to me, then I was going to have to go them! and I wasn't going to mess about either!

Bait station ready

Some of our best inshore Cod fishing is at Dungeness, And I knew that a few Cod were being caught out in the boats, so with a few days notice I booked my self aboard the chartered fishing boat "Peganina" skippered by Ant Hill. On the day of the trip in stark contrast to the recent summer like conditions, and although the wind was just a puny pathetic cool breeze and still from the wrong direction, alas the air temp had dropped to just above zero degrees Celsius which is half way to Cod season at least. it didn't matter too much, wearing thermals on top of thermals, I hardly felt the cold at all. We left Rye Harbour at 7am, and within a hour arrived at our mark and anchored up, which coincidentaly was just off shore where my favourite shore Cod fishing spot is, if only I could cast 1000 meters, I could reach the fish, but it was nice to know they were very close to the shore, and when conditions turn the Cod wont have far to swim.

First fish and large Whiting

Anyways, I fished 2 rods, 1 uptide rod and 1 downtide rod, both were 60lb flowing 5' long traces with 7/0 and 6/0 pennel, bait was gonna be half a Cuttlefish and Black Lugworm wrap, I cut the Cuttlefish in half and stuffed about 3 worms into the body, and bound together with elastic then threaded the hooks through the bait, normally I like to be a bit more deft, but I was going big for big fish and was not going to be messing around with the small fry, the baits were massive, twice the size of anything I'd ever presented to the sea before, they were like exploding scent and ink bombs hitting the water, I reckon the scent alone from one of these would be picked up by fish in France, now all I had to do was wait. The inevitable rattle rattle on both rod tips gave away the ravenous Whiting pecking away at the baits, but I was confident it would take a good 20mins for a shoal to demolish the baits. after 10mins, my dowtide rod was indicating something a bit better was biting, I suspected a dog fish, but it was a Whiting! but a 2lb 4oz Whiting! dam, biggest I'd seen for a long time, and at least I had dinner sorted with the first cast which cant be bad!

New PB Cod 8lb 8oz

The next few hours saw a succession of small Whiting, normally 2 at a time and Dogfish landed, uptiding was proving a little bit difficult as it was low water on top of a neap tide, so very little water movement, definitely not enough to bow the line, I was practically shore fishing from a boat, with a straight line from my rod tip straight to my lead, which was holding bottom where ever I had cast it, at least I could cast around a bit searching for fish. It worked, dead on low water the uptide rod took a slow deliberate pull down, and again, then a tell tale double knock from a Cod, I picked the rod up, and felt another pulldown to which I replied with a firm and controlled strike putting a big bend into the rod and holding it, knock knock I felt, It was fish on! and a Cod for sure, I gentle teased the fish up to the boat and netted my biggest ever Cod!!! the scales bounced around 8 to 9lb as the boat rode the waves, so I took the weight of the fish to be in the middle at 8lb 8oz, a new PB, I was over the moon, and it was early, I was confident of more!

Another PB Cod, now at 9lb 8oz

After the excitement of the Cod, things seemed to quieten down, even the Whiting rattles got less and less, with only the occasional one suicidally impaling itself on a hook that was bigger than it's head. The tide had turned, well, I presumed it did, and if I'm honest I never even noticed due to lack of tide. Time was cracking on and bites were hard to come by, the down tide rod had been out for at least 30mins, I had been holding the rod most the time, feeling for bites, but I got distracted by a rattle on the other rod and set it down in the railing rest, and just then a big pull down followed by knock knock, I ignored the rod thinking it maybe just the lead bouncing on the sea bed, but again it pulled down and definitely out of time with the waves, I picked the rod back up and on the next pull down I lifted the rod hard to set the hooks, yes! I was in! as I played the fish it seemed very lively, especially compared to the other Cod, I suspected a Bass, but then out of the depths my fish hit the surface showing its self to to being another big Cod, as much as I wanted to make it 10lb, I couldn't the scales readings bounced between 9 and 10lb in the waves, and giving the same law as before, 50/50 put the fish weight at 9lb 8oz, well, another PB and a fine partner to my other catch, a perfect brace!

Bucket Mouth Hovers

I actually didn't catch another fish after that,but I was extremely content with what I'd caught, Time was up and we all reeled in for the last time, hoping that maybe a Cod was attached, but alas, all baits returned half intact and fish less. I wasn't complaining, with a new PB Cod twice over and possibly a new Whiting PB that I need to investigate, I had caught what I'd come for and had 3 keepers for the dinner table, although I only took one Cod home as I gave one to another angler on the boat who didn't catch a cod, just something that had been done for me in the past on previous trips, and seemed only right that we all got a share of the bounty. Well, I can certainly relax a little now over the lack of a Cod season so far, catching Cod from the shore is a very different beast to catching them from a boat, and now I'm going to wait patiently whilst eating my Cod and Chips for that weather to turn, and bring the same Cod I was catching today to within casting distance of the shore, where I will be hopefully ready and waiting for them.

An awesome brace of finest English Channel Cod

Thornback Ray Fishing, Deal Pier

Deal? Or No Deal?

Deal Pier, Deal, Kent, UK

Deal Pier, rods at dusk

A long old shift of 22 hours at work gave me an opportunity to have a evening fish, the weather was perfect, the gales had stopped, and the wind calmed to nothing but a breeze, the sun was out and the sea flat with a brown tinge to it. I had a freezer full of Blueys waiting the first venture of the year out searching for Thornback Rays. I gave my friend Warren a ring, who I consider to be a local Ray guru, by chance we both had time off, and we decided to give Deal Pier a bash from 3pm till 6pm. I made up a few pulley rigs, 60lb straight through to a single Sukuma size 4/0 hook, bait clip and stop knot and sequin to stop the bait travelling up the line away from the hook. I was all set and took a slow leisurely drive to one of the furthest venues I frequent.

Homemade Pulley Rigs single 4/0 

I met Warren in the car park at Deal sea front, we learned that a few Rays had been out along the arm which filled me with confidence, but we made our way to the bottom deck to fish the deeper water as the tide receded. within minutes, our first rods were cast out at range, the tide wasn't that strong during our trip, but being advised that it can be very snaggy, I opted to use a fixed wire 7oz lead real good for holding bottom, and if it got snagged the wire would just bend straight out releasing the lead. I held bottom without any trouble, I probably could have gone lighter, but I was comfortable and felt confident fishing so used it the whole session. We had loads of space, with only a couple of other anglers on the bottom deck and it didn't take long to get some action, my first and second baits were stripped by whiting, whilst Warren landed 2 Dogfish on his first casts.

1st Thornback Ray of 2016, Deal Pier

I never put a second rod out, and it was just nice having time to watch the rod tip and waiting for them bites. on my third cast my rod took a big pull down and then slack lined, the line was flapping in the breeze, and without moving the rod I reeled in till the line tightened, it had traveled a little way down tide, and with another pull down, I picked the rod up and struck. I was on, there was no doubt in my mind this was a Ray, and it put up a fair good fight, I wasn't sure if it was because of the deeper water than I'm used to fishing from the shore, but slowly and steady I bought the fish to the surface, I have to say it looked quite small looking down, but Warren had the drop net ready and landed the fish for me. Close up it was a bit bigger than I first thought, a female Thornback Ray weighing in at 8lb 2oz, well, for my first session for them this year, target caught, and a decent one at that, I was well happy.

The Rays Hayes

It didn't take Warren long to stamp his mark, taking the next Thornback Ray again on Bluey, this time a male at 5lb. We were both very happy now, with the target fish achieved, the only question remained, was "Are we to go elsewhere?" and continue fishing when the pier closes, We didn't, I really didn't have the energy, I had bitten more off than I could chew with a 22 hour work shift and only a few hours sleep, my body clock was smashed to bits. We fished right till the end with the pier attendant very politely ushering us off the pier in the dark. We had 2.5 hours of fishing and without snagging the bottom and losing any tackle with 6 casts each, we had caught a Thornback each and a mixed bag fish, with Warren's Dogfish, and a a Whiting and Pouting for me, the weather was glorious for the time of year albeit a bit cold, but I was dressed for the occasion. It's always a pleasure to fish with Warren and I'd very much enjoyed my first proper pier fishing trip, something I've always avoided due to not having a drop net, but probably if I'm honest, mostly because I try to avoid the crowds piers attract, allthough today we did had the whole of the deck.

Cod Fishing, The Boardwalk, Dungeness

A Well Timed Brace

Dungeness, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29, UK

Live Bait Rig, Bait the small hook

After waiting what seemed like an eternity, firstly for a months worth of easterly winds to change direction, and when they did they turned to perfect strong South Westerly gales that battered the shore line, turning the water brown with mud, dislodging and smashing up worms and shellfish that then get blown into the shore and washed up on the beach which is what the cod come into feed on, waiting even more the weather changed hourly for days, and after a week the perfect window appeared on the met weather, 15mph winds with gales of 22mph and no rain, which is as good as it gets especially as the gales had been in the 40mph and even 50mph the preceding days. It was a school night and although I had work the next day I wasn't going to miss this opportunity, low tide was at 11pm which I prefer to high water, honestly its a easier fish, less weed, less tide, the only thing to consider is location, and I picked the boardwalk at Dungeness, a steep shingle beach which at low water with a decent cast can still put you into deeper water.  It was going to be a quick 4 hour fish which if went to plan should see me back at home in bed by 3am after a 1 hour 3o min drive.

A Hungry 4lb 5oz Predator with bait

I arrived at 8pm, 3 hours before low water, and conditions were perfect, light wind, no rain, and coloured water with angry swell. I fished 2 rods my 12'6" Greys Centaur TSX 4-6oz paired with my Shimanos Ultigra 10000 XSC spooled with 15lb Daiwa sensor with 15lb to 70lb tapered leaders. I fished one with a live bait rig, which has 2 hooks one smaller baited to catch a whiting, the another bigger hook just above designed to hook a cod that eats the whiting. The other rod was fished on a clipped down pennel with 6/0s baited with large cuttle, squid and lugworm combos. Within minutes of casting the Whiting were showing, mostly little pins the ideal size with a 7/0 circle hook hanging in front of their nose. they keep me busy for a few hours until the tide came to a stand still. Then the Whiting became more scarce at distance, and my rig returned empty twice, so I scrapped the live bait rig and was now on 2 clipped down pennels with 6/0s. I was watching my other rod which had been rattling away for at least 5 minutes with a Whiting clearly hooked, unwilling to bring it in, I left it out as a live bait, well I did have 2 big 6/0 hooks so a good chance of hooking any predator that attacked it. 

2nd Plump Codling at 3lb 3oz

On the other rod I had landed 2 dogs and 2 pouting which were quite large, and got the heart pumping as they gave big bites. Then the first rod which I had left out with a whiting on took a slow pull down, too big for the whiting, then again another slow pull down, not very big, but deliberate. was there weed on the line? I waited for a slack liner or big pull down, it never happened, but I knew something was not right, and after a few minutes of the same I lifted the rod and struck gently to set a hook just in case, I kept pressure on the rod till the lead broke free as it had been a long time out and been buried in the sea bed, it popped out eventually, and immediately I knew I was in, no dramas in the slack tide, I just gently slide a nice 4lb 5oz Cod onto the beach. not sooner had I landed it then the other rod baited with cuttle started doing the same sort of bite, not big enough to get you excited, but very gentle deliberate pulls, again I waited for big pull down or slack liner, it didn't happen. again I lifted the rod and immediately knew I was in confirmed by a knock or two felt down the line, a second Cod of 3lb 3oz. I was over the moon, and as much as I expected to catch another but unfortunately that was it on the cod front, as the flood tide started to gently push though, the Whiting returned with a vengeance, it was time to pack up. I'm really happy I caught one on a live bait, shame it wasn't on a purpose live bait rig, but I'm sure I will soon, It just goes to show how predatory these Cod are, they have bucket mouths and considering the size of the Whiting they eat its hard to see them as innocent fish and chips.

The Bace Together, Meet Battered Cod, & Cod Pie hmmm

Beach Fishing Dungeness

BBQ Bass and Sunday Sole

Dungeness, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29, UK

I think I can honestly say the summer has arrived, with night time temps of around 15 degrees it was time to do a over nighter, so where and what should I fish for?  I had all ready caught some Rays this year, and being May a little early in the year for Smooth Hounds, I left it right to the last minute to decide, checking catch reports and weather forecasts, I was so confused!, seriously the options were vast, and the choice baffled me, and then somehow I just decided to go target Dover Sole, how? I'm not entirely sure, I hadn't seen any catch reports saying they had even started showing, but the weather conditions and the calm coloured water was ideal for them, and If I'm honest Sarah was coming, and the hunter gatherer in me had decided that we was eating fresh caught fish cooked on a disposable BBQ on the beach tonight. I just had a gut feeling that these small mouthed flatties were happily feeding close to the shore whilst most were throwing big fish baits towards the horizon in search of Rays, 

Add caption

I had my bait ordered 40 fresh Dungeness Black Lug, BBQ and tackle ready, Myself and Sarah headed off to Dungeness, The plan was simple, to fish two rods, 1 at close range of about 20yards and a second fishing at 40yards, both with the same same Wessex rigs on, 2 flappers with short shank Aberdeen size 4 hooks to target the Dover Sole with 1" pieces of Lugworm as bait, and the bottom running leger hook, a pennel Aberdeen size 1/0 hooks for presenting a large whole lugworm to target the Bass. We arrived to a beautiful sun set, the wind was gentle, the sea was flat and the temperature was definitely a lot warmer than it had been all year or even forecast. What a lovely night! It was low water as we set up camp on the high tide mark, I cast out the rods and put the stand half way between the water and camp, and waited....... and waited.........., and waited a bit more? I checked my baits, yes they still on and untouched, so didn't forget to put bait on the hook. This didn't look good. I checked the baits several times over and the sea was well on its way in by now..

Time flew past quickly, 3 hours and still no bites? I was sitting in the beach shelter talking to Sarah, where we was considering cooking the emergency sausages that we had bought just in case I blanked for dinner. I made the statement "I'm really not impressed with this!" and as if by magic my Vercelli rod had a big pull down! running down the beach shouting "That's a big bite!"  I lifted into a fish which was a fair way down tide from where I cast, and soon landed a lovely 46cm Bass weighing 2lb 4oz, perfect! just perfect!, this fish was descaled, gutted, filleted and sizzling away on the BBQ within 15mins, Sarah had pulled out a nice bottle of white wine, cant say it gets much better that that! the Bass was delicious, the company was excellent, the scenery was outstanding and the weather was dam good for England, I didn't care if I caught another fish now, But the fishing gods had something else lined up for me, After eating our fill Sarah feel asleep and I decided to cast the rods out and fish the few hours over high tide.

It was fish from the off, well not exactly fish, but Dogfish! ranging from 20cm to 60cm, I had to laugh I took a tiny dogfish into the bivey to show Sarah who has a fondness for them, she awoke shocked as I waved the fish above her face, then as she realised what it was, she smiled and sleepily reached out to stroke it with affection only for it to bite her finger! luckily they don't have teeth! I have to say, the Dogfish tonight were all very lively, had plenty of fight and big bites, maybe the warmer water temperature had something to do with it. I fished relentlessly till dawn, apart from a handful of tiny Whiting and Pouting the majority I caught were Dogfish, Having fished later than I expected too, I was down to the last baits, The tide was about 3 hours into the ebb by now and retreating fast whilst the sun was just cracking the horizon, bites were slowing down, and the last bite was a now familiar nice firm pull down, followed by a some rattles, as I reeled it in expecting another Dogfish I was surprised to see I had landed a Dover Sole! 34cm and 15oz! get in! Could this night get any better! I really had enjoyed this session, one of the most enjoyable for a long time! I had fished close range no further than 50 yards all night long with light rods, light leads making the fishing so easy, baiting the hook with lug was a breeze compared to the messy and long winded big baits bound with elastic. I had caught lots of fish, eaten fresh BBQ Bass with glass of wine, and to top it off had my Dover Sole to take home for Sunday dinner! 

Ray Fishing, Sandwich Bay and Leysdown

The Thrornbacks Are Back

Sandwich Bay, Kent. UK
Leysdown-on-Sea, Kent, UK

A Lost Puppy

After catching my first Thornback last year, Ive been eagerly awaiting for this time of year again, when the Thornback Rays turn up on the shallow sandy beaches and within casting range. This time I would be targeting them with the knowledge I picked up last year, when I landed a one off large specimen, and my hopes were high. I kicked off the season quiet early, actually very early, back in February when the winds were low and the sea was flat, but with temps around 2 degrees Celsius and freezing fog, were we too eager? Three of us set off to fish Sandwich Bay, myself, a local lad Warren and his friend Matt, armed with Blueys and Herring, Pulley rigs with 3/0 and 4/0 hooks we found a completely deserted beach. We planned to fish 6 hours from low water to high, and within 10 minutes of arrival all rods were cast and resting on the tripods, and we all waited with great anticipation of that tell tale pull down followed by a slack liner.

Best Ray Bait

Warren kicked the night off with a Dogfish, and not long after I had a big bite as my rod tip bent over hard, it then slack lined and I watched the loose line start to bow over my other rod, I picked the rod up, no dogfish could of pulled the rod like that, I reeled in the slack and struck to set the hook, reeling in with a fish on the end, I was sure it was a Thornback Ray if only a small one, but my face dropped when I saw a Dogfish, Warren clocked it straight away, " That's a Smoothhound!" I looked again and sure it was!, that explained the big bite, only ever catching one before I was actually quite happy, and catching one so early on in the year and on fish baits was a bit unusual to say the least. the rest of the session for me was a mixture of Dogfish and Whiting, whilst Mark managed his first ever Rays of 4lb and 5lb with Warren landing 1 himself and the biggest at 10lb, it just wasn't my day, but we proved they were there.

Warren Showing Whos The Ray Master

The next session was a return to sandwich a few days later where myself and Warren both blanked on the Ray front, and I only just managed the one bite, which resulted in a small Whiting, such a big difference a few days can make, but 'Im finding with Rays they go as quickly as they come with each tide. Convinced Sandwich Bay was a bit too quiet, my next 2 sessions were a day and night fish over high water on the Isle of Sheepy at Leysdown, a known Ray mark, but totally new to me, I was helping my Father renovate a old clapped out shell of a holiday chalet into a luxury apartment,luckily just round the corner from my mark, both session resulted in bite less blanks with as much action as a documentary about garden wildlife, my baits were totally untouched and only necessary to change as to put some scent into the water in the hope of attracting a passing fish.

Leysdown, Shallow And Sandy

Reports of Rays were now coming thick and fast as if to temp and tease me, and annoyingly from marks I had been fishing, It seemed they were all over the North Kent coast now. It was decision time, with a new order of Blueys for bait in the freezer and new rigs pulley rigs made up with pennel Sakuma 4/0 manta extras, I was still debating up to the last second as to where to go,  I picked up an old friend Kieth from his home. Decision time! I followed my instinct and gut feeling to fish Sandwich Bay, I went against the grain, I wanted to keep away from the masses following the reports, weather conditions were ideal with light 10mph NE winds, 10 degrees at night and the water still a little cloudy. it was Friday night and would of been very busy at any producing mark, Sandwich was going to be quieter, and I decided to fish along the bay where I caught a Ray last year,

Nice 4lb 1oz Female

We arrived at our mark, a hour before low water, we fished 1 rod for Ray and used a continental rod with flatties rigs to see what was about, well Dogfish, Small Rocklings, Smaller Whiting and even smaller Poutings were about, It wasn't long before the novelty of reeling in these micro fish wore off, We were there for the Rays, The Ray Rods had been quiet all night and only accounted for a solitary Dogfish. Although I tried to keep optimistic, it was hard as all the reports and evidence pointed to go elsewhere, and even Kieth knew that. With a renewed optimism, the tide started to push through which I know will change fishing conditions and with fresh baits hoped would bring the fish in. I was right and my continental rod pulled down hard, I ran to the rod and it down it again, hoping for a a slack liner or movement from the tip, it stopped dead where it was originally, the excitement turned to disbelief, the rod tip did not move a millimeter again.

Nasty 5lb 12oz Male

I stood by the rods wondering whether to reel in the continental rod and check the bait, then my other Rod bent over hard and went slack line, they had finally turned up! I watched the line gradually start to tighten with the rig and fish well down tide now, I picked up the rod and wound up the slack and struck with confidence to set the hook. I was into a dead weight, to say it was a fight would be a lie, I think I dragged it 80 odd yards along the seabed with the Ray using its nose as a shovel. It wasn't the big fight I'd experience before. I though maybe this was a real big fish, but I was wrong, a 4lb 2oz female Thornback slid onto beach, I was relieved that she was hooked nicely in the mouth, she was unhooked, weighed and photographed in a few minutes, and released with minimal fuss. and after a minute of floating in the gentle surf, slowly disappeared in the darkness.

The fish were here, I baited up and re cast the rod as quick as I could, my heart was pumping with excitement, I then reeled in the continental rod, and the bait seemed untouched despite the big pull downs, maybe fish swimming into my leader. It wasn't long and my rod tip started wobbling slowly and deliberately and finally ping straight as the fish pulled the lead free from its grip on the sea bed, this fish was exactly the same fight, a lot of effort and pumping the rod, Then I had landed my second Ray, this time a larger male at 5lb12oz, This fish was angry and arched his back and tail and when upright on the beach looked like he was standing up, I flipped him over and saw that both hooks were inside his mouth, I struggled with long forceps and decided to get closer with stronger long nose pliers and used them to open his mouth which he was keeping stubbornly closed, then with out encouragement he opened his mouth and astonishingly both hooks minus bait flew out his mouth like he was spitting them out, job done, again the fish was released without much drama. It was nice to see a male and female together so close, the male was angry, covered in lots more thorns and more diamond shape with its clasps hanging like a big set of balls either side of his tail whilst the female was calm, had far fewer thorns and a more rounded shape. Unfortunately that was it fish wise for the session, I really wished that Keith had of caught one, but fishing is like that. his time will come, I had found them on my 5th attempt this year, it's a waiting game for them, they are there one night and not the next and even if they are there you may get a hour and they may miss your bait and pick up everyones around you, so the key is putting the time on the beach and waiting, and with some luck your paths will cross in the darkness, I've thoroughly enjoyed targeting these Rays, and makes a nice change to be fishing on a calm night rather than severely windy in your face bad weather Cod session, but there is one down side, I need to warn you about, seriously! Bluey, as good a Ray bait as it is, it stinks real bad, and even after 2 washes my fishing clothes have been hidden in the garage from the Mrs, if she gets hold of them, she won't hesitate and bin them!.

World Dab Championship, Dungeness

The Tronixpro World Dab Championship 2015

Dungeness, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29, UK

Its not very often these days I fish in a competition, but there is something about the World Dab Championship that really appeals to me, well quite a few to be honest, 1.) Its for a good charity the RNLI "Royal National Lifeboat Institution" 2.) It's only once a year. 3.) the winner gets to be a world champion 4.) its emphasis is being a friendly, and finally 5.) Its on my local stomping ground, so I should stand a chance shouldn't I? there isn't anything to dislike about this and I've been looking forward to it since last year where I was unable to attend due to work commitments, this time I had even booked the weekend off as holiday just so I didn't miss it. My brother Scott would be joining me on the little adventure, we set off early and arrived at about 30 mins before registration took place and was surprised to find the life boat station open, quick use of  the wash room facility's,  and a sausage bap cooked on a BBQ for breakfast washed down with a cup of coffee just in time to get registered. Scott had just enlightened me to the fact he's never caught a dab before, not that this really mattered but we did have a giggle and got a few laughs and strange looks as he deliberately and loudly with a very serious tone kept  asking me "What's a Dab?"

Plenty of rigs

Registered and with our score cards we headed for the beach, I had decided to fish behind the boats, in the past I have very good Dab sessions before, and I thought it would be better to have the wind in your face, The weather was sunny with a little cloud, and the wind was North Easterly quite strong at 25mph gales in the morning but dropping to a gentle breeze in the afternoon. I expected the water to be quite clear and flat, but it was the total opposite, the sea was still muddy and ferocious waves were smashing against the shingle, I think this even caught out a fishing boat that tried to launch and ended up being thrown sideways back onto the beach with a crash. well, all though it looked more like a Cod sea, we were there to catch Dabs, and I had made a good selection of rigs to cover as many situations as possible, and straight away I knew that I would need a clipped down rig to get any distance in the fierce headwind, as we waited the long 2 hours till the start of the match more and more people arrived and with each wave kept filtering in between the existing fisherman till a constant stream of anglers every 10 to 15 meters could be seen going into the distance. I did expect this to be fair, but I didn't think we would be so close to each other, and with the weather I was thinking this is going to be tangle city.

On your marks, get set, 2 hour to wait

The matched started quite relaxed, the different times on peoples watches meant we all kind of started with a few minute of each other, and no mad scramble all casting out at the same time like I had envisioned. I was using a 5oz plain lead, and was surprised at how little tide movement there was, and even held bottom quite comfortably, Straight away I had little knocks on the rod tips, and so did my brother, and both reeled in a double shot each of Rockling, in the first 20 minutes I think we landed about 14 Rockling and Scott got to know what a Dab was, landing himself a small one, but well under the size limit so didn't count. It then went dead, I tried, far out, close in, further out and ridiculously close in, I watched where the anglers to the right and left were casting, and mostly within 30 to 60 meters, so I opted to stay fishing at range as no one was catching close in. I wanted to use the current to move the rig on a plain lead about to help find the fish, but the severe lack of tide meant even my plain 3 oz lead was holding, so I opted to put the 5 oz plain lead on so I could cast as far as I can, and use the reel to drag the lead and rig back towards me 2 meters, every 60 seconds in a vain bid to locate some fish, but this didn't make any difference, there were no fish about, and now only the tide would bring them to us. High Tide came and went and for 3 hours I hadn't seen anyone catch, and my rod tip had been deathly still especially because the wind had almost died off. And I dont know if it was coincidence but the famous Dungeness seal was on the hunt around where we was for about 30mins till I lost track of him, and I'm always suprized at how big he is.

Dog not Dab

With a hour of fishing left, the fish returned with a bang, my rod at range,  buckled over hard, and again, what the hell? I picked the rod up and took the slack and felt a big pull, I didn't strike with the braid but lifted the rod gently to set the hook and reeled in, I felt the weight of a bigger fish, and honestly thought with the bite this was a Cod, but I'd forgotten how sensitive my Vecelli Continental with braid is, which gives excellent bite registration. It was a small Dogfish, the next hour was a fish a chuck, all at range, a mixture of Whiting, Pouting more Rockling and another Dogfish and 2 Dabs both of which were under sized by a long way, My brother was getting bites too in the last hour, but his fish were Rockling at closer range and another undersized Dab. we fished hard till the end hoping for one double shot that may put us in a placing, but it wasn't to be. It was time to pack up, It had been a good experience, and took me a lot longer to pack up as by now as between me and my brother we had 8 x 3 hook rigs out all needing tough sticky lugworm cleaned from the hooks.

My undersized best effort

As we arrived back at the lifeboat station for the weigh in, it was obvious by the number of buckets being carried, lots of people had caught Dabs, the length were being double checked on a match ruler, then being weighed on some big scales, it was a really good atmosphere, and I couldn't resist the smell of the BBQ and had a big double burger, as I was quite hungry as I neglected to take any other food for the day. The raffle started and a few hundred anglers stood listening as hard as they could for numbers being called, and for good reason, a large table full of goodies was up for grabs, A Zziplex rod, untold goody bags, cakes, a bait pump, to name just a few but 7 nights accommodation in Norway did catch my eye. the first winner was actually one of the raffle collectors, but in a honourable act he didn't take any of the so called top prizes and left with the bait pump to a loud appreciated applause from the room. As the draw went on the room got louder and louder, and the table was slowly stripped bare, I done good, having three numbers and getting some braid and some lures, I did miss one though as I was collecting a prize already when another one of my numbers was called out, It was a great day and the results were revealed and the presentation, with 2 new World Dab Champions being crowned. It was a wonderful day, and a very big and well organised match, which raised a fantastic £5160 for the RNLI, congratulations to all the organisers, the sponsors and all the 192 competitors for making it such a event, and not forgetting the new 2015 TronixproWorld Dab Champion Alan Wood Brignall with 6 dabs weighing 1.38kg and the new 2015 Junior Tronixpro World Dab Champion Kane Wood Brignall with 7 Dabs weighing 1.44kg.

Clueless ^^^^^^ "Whats's a Dab?"

Cod Fishing, Dungeness

The Good, The Bad And The........Allright

Dungeness, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29, UK

Beautiful Dungeness

The clocks have gone back, and winter is finally here, the winds have picked up, with strong South Westerly gales and the sea has been turned into mud soup, Cod season is now underway, and just like many others I couldn't help but go a little fishing mad with the lure of a big Cod. This blog is over 3 short, 3 hour sessions, that were all about being flexible, watching the weather and hitting the beach during the calm periods of the storms, and by calm I mean a very modest 20mph wind which makes fishing difficult, but not impossible.  I really wanted to fish Dungeness, it can throw up a real monster at times with some luck. Dungeness had low tides all week in the evenings, so finishing work at 5pm and heading straight to the beach, put me right on my mark to fish over low water and into the start of the flooding tide. The weather was right, the tides were right, what could possibly go wrong?

Big Leads And Bigger Baits

Well my first session could well have been my last ever! if I wasn't so keen on angling. Seriously windy and everything I did resulted in snapped lines, components breaking, getting hooks stuck in my fingers, knocking over my tackle box, rigs getting tangled every cast, it was all thrown at me this night. I nearly gave up when the wind blew a spare rig which resulted in a size 8/0 hook going through my bib and braces, 1 tracksuit bottoms and 2 sets of thermals, to embed itself in my shin, as I walked away from my rod stand to which the rig was attached, it fell over on top of me throwing my 2 rod on the shingle as I screamed obscenities, really I was beat!, with 6 rigs lost or ruined by tangles I called it quits and just for more for the mix, I went on a 100m sprint to attempted to catch my bucket lid which the wind blew down the beach like a bicycle wheel at great speed till it disappeared into the darkness. Round 1 was definitely a win for the Cod, although a dreadful session, I had caught about 20 Whiting, mainly on live bait rigs, and I even managed to hook a Cod of about 3lb, which I lost in the surf, thankfully days like this are rare.

It's A Start

It didn't take long for me to get back out there, a lull in the storm and with a spare Friday night whilst my Mrs was going to her office Xmas party, I set off to Dungeness again, this time for revenge! or at the least to still prove I could fish. What a difference!, the weather forecast was all wrong, it had gone from rain and 50mph gales to not a cloud in the sky, and absolutely no wind in the few hours it took me to drive there, this was a beautiful calm, cold and starry night, the sea was brown and angrily moved about with powerful swells, conditions couldn't be more perfect for Cod or angler. With renew faith and optimism, I set about fishing Size 8/0 single clip down rigs baited with 2 lug tipped with a whole squid head, I wasn't going to play about with big baits and bait elastic, a conscious decision made due to the havoc it caused me the previous session. my plan worked well, I was organised, quick bait ups and a seriously lack of Whiting about, gave me ample time to relax and eagerly watch the rod tips for the tell tale knock of a hungry Cod.

Biggest Of The Trio

It wasn't long, at low water as the tide stopped whilst it turned I had my first Cod bite, I waited a while as the rod tip kept nodding just to make sure the fish had taken the bait, then lifted the rod, nothing!, oh well, but very exciting to see big slow deliberate pull downs on a dead still rod tip, rather than the wavey wobble of the wind and constant rattle bites of Whiting. It was a good start at least, and my optimism wasn't mislead, all in all I had 7 good Cod bites and landed 3 Cod, the first was tiny and must of been just under 1lb Which I released, the second went 2lb 15oz and the third was 1lb 7oz, both keepers for the pot. Although not big fish, this was as good as its ever been for me, I was a happy angler. I believe that I had missed so many bites because of the lack of current which would of forced the fish to grab the baits hard, rather than what I believed they were doing, which was mouthing the bait and dropping it when they felt any resistance, the single hook wouldn't of helped either, all things to consider on my next session. But what a lovely night, and to be fair after staying on a hour longer than I should of, the cold at about 2 degrees which felt more like -2 actually got the better of me, with work early the next day I had to call it a night.

Rigs A Ready

The third and last session was again at Dungeness, but in a third location. and I was to start fishing during the day, weather was breezy, and had warmed up enough for Sarah to come along, It was nice to have the company, and had asked her if she could do some filming and take pictures for this blog, as waiting for a random passing strangers to stop and ask to take pictures seemed a bit odd, but that's my hang up, as everyone at Dungeness seems to be either be a fisherman or photographer, both of which wouldn't mind taking a picture I'm sure. I would be fishing low water, but with the missed bites last time, in the back of my mind, I had made up 3 new rigs, opting for pulley pennels with size 6/0 and 3/0 fished with large Cuttlefish, Lugworm and Squid, I was going for the one big fish. the session started off different, maybe because it was daytime, but no Whiting but I caught 4 Dogfish in a row, all with eyes bigger than their belly's.

Big Old Pout

Still I didn't mind catching the Dogfish, dusk was at low water, and that was when I really expected to catch a Cod or two. I was right!, dead on cue, a few firm tugs of the rod tip resulted in a small Cod of about 1lb 6oz, I released him with great anticipation to catch a bigger one. Unfortunately it didn't happen, the rod was still most the night, I think my camera woman  knew something I didn't, and promptly disappeared to go source her own Cod from a local pub, ready cooked in batter!. Although no more Cod for me, I did catch some rather large Pouting whilst it was dark, And with all my bait used up, I happily packed up to join Sarah in the Pub. I have to say, this year has been a good year for Cod, considering I've only caught one a few years ago. All over the South East people have been catching lots of Codling with the odd big one showing. I wonder if these the same micro Cod that I caught in Hythe during the spring? I'd like to think so, and if these fish manage to dodge the fishing trawlers, we could, fingers crossed, just maybe, be looking at a really good Cod season with these fish between 5lb and 10lb in 3/4 years time.

Best Of The Bunch