Thornback Ray Fishing Hythe

Sunshiney Rays

Hythe

Fishing has for myself has been a bit and miss lately, well a lot more miss if I'm honest, I've blanked more than I care to say. Probaly because I've been mostly going fishing at very short notice and under prepared rather than carefully planned tactical operations, due to a new arrival to the family, life is very hectic. It doesn't bother me much, as I enjoy fishing even if I do blank, but it doesn't make for a good blog. Anyways on with the hunt, we are having one hell of a hot spell here in the UK, it's been on average 28 degrees Celsius and sunny for 4 maybe 5 weeks in a row now, the best summer I can remember in a very long time!!! With the summer well and truly set in, the Hounds have arrived, although I should by all rights be targeting them, I've found myself happier getting out the light rods and targeting Sole, unfortunately a rock solid Sole venue for myself has totally been changed by a single winter storm, and on top of that, the council is doing heavy sea defence works on the beach as a result, which is no doubt putting off the more sensitive fish from coming close to shore i.e. Sole!.

So I've been trying different venues in a attempt to find my self some more Sole marks, with varied success, I've found a few Sole already, and but they have made me work very hard for them and I'm missing the reliability my old venue had. This trip was one such venture, to an old Sole nemesis as such, Hythe was the first venue where I caught Sole, and from memory 3 of the biggest I've ever had!!! but since that dream day, I haven't had any such luck, in fact I've only managed 1 Sole there since, but Hythe was a tactical decision this time, it ticked all the boxes. High tide was 1.30am and the timing was right for me to do a 2 up and 2 down, I only had 10 frozen Lugworm, not the ideal bait or condition for Sole, but it was the best I could muster with my baby brain planning, 10 weren't going to go far, so I intended to fish a second rod to target a 2nd species, so a took 6 Peeler Crabs and a Bluey, and Hythe offered a good chance of other species such as Bass, Rays and Hounds.

I arrived just after dusk, with no plan where to fish, I found the beach fairly busy, but after a 100 yard walk, found myself a nice spacious gap, which got even bigger when the guys left and right packed up whilst I was setting up. I used my normal Wessex rig with size 4 hooks, a plain 4oz lead, but rather than use my normal bass rods, I took the yuki Q7 which still is a delicate rod with good bite indication, but it offered real range if I needed it, baited with 1/3 of black lug, I cast it out to where I believed the gutter to be, and immediately the rod tore off!! ripping it from the stand and out my hand as I was still settling the rod down!!, I was in!! bang bang the rod tip went and a second burst from the fish stripped another load of line off the reel with a whizz of the drag, and bang, it came off! ouch, small hooks!!!, probably a sizeable Bass, but set me up with excitement for the session. For my second rod I used a Tronix Cobra GT, a standard pulley rig with a 3/0 short shank Owner SSW hook!! super sharp and grabby hooks can totally recommend!!. I baited it up with a large chunk of Bluey, and sent it as far as I could.

The Sole rod didn't do a lot from now on, and probably because I didn't give it the attention it deserved, yes it accounted for a few Whiting and a couple of Pouting, but I missed most of the bites and was left out bait less most the time!! this was due to the fact the Cobra Rod every 20 mins was getting pulled over or slack lined with a Ray!!! every cast resulted in a Ray, I managed a Ray every 30mins from when I started to when I run out of Bluey!!! that's the second time this has happened to me!!! running out of Bluey!! same venue as well, but unlike last time, I did have just enough to last till dawn with one rod, even the last cast was baited up with the head elasticated onto the the spine and ribs of the Bluey, which are normally thrown away but still accounted for one last Ray! I landed 8 in total, and lost what I believed to be a big one to a snag. they were all release unharmed and the single 3/0 was easily removed with forceps. weights were from 2lb 12oz to the biggest at 7lb 2oz with most around the 4lb/5lb, and they were all girls, not a set of clasps in sight! As sessions go, this was one of the best I've had for a long time, no monsters or PB's, but no weed, no wind, nice and warm and little tide run made for a lovely unexpected successful session, landing more Rays than I normally catch in a year, mostly because I normally catch a few Rays before getting distracted with other species, but it would have been rude not to catch them this time, as they were obviously in front of me, and in numbers.

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.

Thornback Ray Fishing, Hythe Ranges

Thorny Rays on Lovely Days 

Dymchurch Road, Hythe, Romney Marsh, TN29 0TY. UK

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

Bass Fishing, Hythe

Silver Bars From Heaven

Hythe, Kent. UK

Well it should be winter and the Cod season should be in full swing, but it isn't. With a long warm summer, the sea temp is still very warm, and of coarse the wind direction is completely coming from the wrong direction, all though this wouldn't stop me from at least trying. My rigs are ready, reels serviced, batteries all replaced, new line, and with 60 finest Dungeness Black Lugworm and a box of Squid, I made my way to my intended mark, looking out to sea the surf was awesome, with a ferocious side wind of 35mph gales, this was gonna be a tough little fish I thought, I phoned a friend who was possibly coming fishing, and found out he was all ready fishing at Hythe, Mackerel were bubbling in the sea, he and his friend were catch Mackerel with feathers and using them as live bait and getting bites from big Bass, well what could I say, I looked out at the mean sea at Dungeness and thought, a more sheltered fish where I had company and fish were showing now! It was a no brainer, especially combined with the fact I really wasn't confident of catching a early Cod. I set off with speed and great expectations to Hythe.

Perfectly presented whole squid on 6/0 pennel

As I arrived at Hythe, my friends had both caught a Bass each of around the 4lb mark, unfortunately they had lost a fair few too, but things looked promising and the Mackerel were still along the shore line, obviously being corralled against the beach by the Bass and giving their location away by the diving seagulls hitting the sea. Dam I didn't have feathers, why would I? I was going Cod fishing! Alas, I set up my rods one with 1 single large Black Lugworm, and the other with a whole Squid, both on 6/0 pennel pulley rigs. both cast out at 10 and 20 yards, I sat and waited. I had 1 bite within 10 mins, but I missed it, the Mackerel shoal seemed to dissipate all though a few brief show in front of me gave me hope, All was quiet, then the joyous screaming from my friend Warren, I knew something was up, so I ran over to see him just land a monster Bass, and the biggest Bass I'd ever seen, A new PB for him at 9lb 8oz, a beast of a fish, I was made up for him, so happy, that's what I love about fishing is it doesn't matter who catches what, I like the banter but I've never been jealous, it's the joy it brings to other people, that make me happy too.

First Bass of the night

The next hour was quiet, apart from the odd Whiting I dragged in. A very happy Warren had not surprisingly decided to call it a night. All though it had gone quiet, I decided as I had bait and time, I was out for the night, I prepared for the night, and decided to revert back to try for a Cod, big Lugworm and Squid baits to be fished at range. The Lugworm seemed to attract Whiting and Pouting one after the other, whilst the whole squid bait seemed to be left alone, I soon got fed up of the pesky Whitings, and both rods were now baited with whole Squid, one at range and one close in, because as low water come and past the wind picked up dramatically giving rise to similar surf I saw earlier at Dungeness, I sat there thinking this now looks like perfect Bass fishing, and I sat quietly confident. It wasn't long before I had landed 2 Bass, one from far out, and one from close in, they were both around the 2lb mark, but even still, I had a feeling I would either get a Cod, or a Bigger Bass and maybe even a Ray.

Gonna need a bigger tape measure

I wasn't disappointed, the rod at range had a few sharp pull downs, then a classic slack line, I reeled in to take the slack, and immediately the fish on the end was pulling back hard, I was using my 7oz big bait casting rods, and not the most refined fish rods, but I knew that the fish was pulling very hard to put a bend in the rod. I first though a big Cod, the fight was pretty short lived with the end tackle I was using, as I dragged the fish out the water up the shingle, I had to look twice maybe 3 times?!? first I thought it was a plastic bag, then I though a strange shaped fish, as I focused and worked out what it was, I realised I was just looking at a very big round fishes head straight on, with it's mouth opening and closing, the reflections of the scales and darkness inside the mouth was quite distracting. I literally threw my rod down, and run over to the fish and then I realised what it was, the excitement took over, I grabbed the fish, it was a monster of a Bass, definitely the biggest I'd ever had caught, a new PB for sure, I weighted and measured the fish, it came in at 72cm long and 9lb 8oz. It was immaculate, a pure beast of a predator, a perfect silver bar, I struggled taking selfies with the fish, and I wish there was someone to take my trophy photo of the fish, but after working out my phone didn't have a timer mode, I made my way to the water and released him without a second thought.

9lb 8oz Bass, a 72cm bar of silver, beautiful!

Wow, what a fish!, I was in shock, and my heart was still pounding, I laid my back on the beach, in the now howling wind, I looked up to the stars, and I believe I spoke to and thanked my god. What a night, I had seen 2 of the biggest Bass I'd ever seen, and had caught maybe a fish of a lifetime! I had no intention of continuing fishing, yes I may have caught more, but I didn't care, I didn't fish, I didn't even go home, I just sat on the beach with my tackle in a total mess around me, my 2 rods laying badly on the shingle like matches throw down, without a care in the world, savouring the moment for as long as I could.

Sole Fishing

Summer Sole Searching

Hythe, Dungeness, Hastings

Traps set, now to wait till dusk

This blog is a bit different to the previous ones I post, I have been searching for Sole since late June and it's now September. not only has this been a challenge, but thrown up some lovely fish and a few welcome surprises along the way, this blog is over 11 sessions and a few venues. The plan was simple enough, to fish small hooks and small worm baits close in during dusk and night. and to pin the baits to the sea bed where the Sole are more likely to find it. I had made myself up plenty of 2 hook boom rigs with size 4 Aberdeen hooks in preparation. One of the things about summer fishing, is the fact the calmer sea allow you to lighten up everything, 12lb main line, 50lb leaders, Bass rods rated at 2 to 4oz, and small leads makes for a much more enjoyable and less strenuous session, something which I very much look forward too after the brutal strain and stress that winter fishing into a stormy sea, in bitterly 20 to 30mph winds and rain.

Best Bass of the summer

2 hook boom rig, size 4s

Now having a full time job where I work the same amount of hours again in overtime doesn't leave me much choice in when I can go fishing, so with limited free time and sometimes I was lucky enough to have my last job of the day by the coast also gave me a opportunity to go, rather than the tide, weather and sea conditions, this was where my tackle was ready at a moments notice and I would be taking every opportunity when I could within reason of coarse, but if I'm honest, sacrificing a nights sleep on a work day isn't beyond me either, well my job prepares me well for sleepless long days. Ideally weather would need to be hot and a sunny day with high pressure and a gentle Northerly wind with a clear water and fish a rising tide. I think the first 4 sessions I done, the only thing that was right was that I was fishing in the dark, conditions were not hot, and the sea was angry with stiff Southey wind giving rise to a very muddy and angry sea with big surf, more akin to Bass fishing.

New species Horse mackerel

Although conditions were not right for Sole, The fishing was good, I fished multiple places along Hythe and Dungeness, catching Bass with a few nice keepers for the frying pan, also plenty of Rockling, Pouting, Dogfish, a new species for me Horse Mackerel and more Eels than I've ever caught in my whole life, now I'm not a Eel hater, and I'm happy they seem to be making a big comeback after becoming a protected species, but seriously they are rig wreckers and hard work to unhook, twisting the rigs into slimey "tangballs" (my invented new name for this particular tangle ) which results in it being chucked away. needless to say, the bigger Eels that I caught of around 2.5lb gave brilliant accounts of themselves on the light gear and heavy surf, that definitely gets the adrenaline going.

Biggest Eel of the year

Still Soleless, I decided to try a different bait, I'd been fishing local black Lugworm, but had my suspicions that Ragworm maybe the right bait. This in itself created a new problem, my local bait shops did not supply Ragworm, so I used a online store to deliver live Ragworm to my home address the day I had planned to go fishing, this did not go smoothly. the first delivery ended up at the wrong address, where a elderly lady accepted my delivery of live Ragworm, and opened it up in her kitchen believing it to be a new kettle, I would of loved to be a fly on the wall when she reached in and found the worms, needless to say, now with a traumatised complaining neighbour and having to send my wonderful wife on a peace keeping mission to collect the worms, I did get to go fishing with Ragworm as bait which resulted in my first couple of Sole this year, both were very small and released to grow, but very welcome none the less. Convinced the Ragworm was the difference between catching Sole and not catching Sole, I ordered twice again, but both deliveries failed, and left me baitless and unable to go fishing, I don't blame the online shops, but the parcel companys that seem unable to deliver to my address, and make a purpose made process where getting in touch with them to complain or locate the parcel is almost impossible.

Its a start, a little Slip Sole

Although I'd found a couple of small Sole, I wanted to do better, at least get a keeper to take home and cook!. The next lot of sessions were Soleless even though the weather conditions seemed perfect, back to locally bought Black Lugworm I just continued to catch Eels, Bass, Whiting and Pouting, by now I had worked myself all along Hythe beach front over the summer, fishing a different mark each time, I'd fished close in and at range, I'd fished 2 marks at Dungeness with no avail, I was confident of my tactics and bait, even though the Rag had worked, there was no doubt in my mind the Lug would be taken by Sole if they were there, so more the question was what was I doing wrong? It had to be locations, and work came to the rescue and offered the chance to fish Hastings, obviously I would have to repair a chiller in a store along the sea front, but damn it would be rude not to take the rods with me for after.

Slimey tangballs

After procuring some local Lugworm, a lot smaller than the Dungeness Blacks I'm used to, but they were top quality live Lugworm, and the absolute perfect size for a small size 4 hook and small mouths of the Sole. Setting up on my favourite mark the wind was ferocious, the surf was big, again I thought Bass rather than Sole. I struggled with the light Bass rods, they bounced about all over the place making bite detection almost impossible, but the fishing seemed the same Whiting, small Bass, and yes even more rig wrecking slimey sea snake Eels! I had almost given up hope of a Sole, as I sat there way later than I had anticipated, I had now changed one rod to a live bait rig, which Whitings were happy to attached them selves to, in the hope of a big Bass nailing it during the darkness in the rolling surf, and my other rod still a boomed Sole rigs cast about 15 yards out. Then bang, a big pull down followed by a slackliner on the Sole rig, the biggest and most definite bite for the night!, as I reeled in I knew a fish of a bigger stamp was attached, a bass or big Eel I thought, but no! finally my target species! a 36cm Sole, a plump fat keeper, perfect for dinner for 2!, I was over the moon, it didn't stop there, I had another 3 more smaller Sole in the consecutive casts, until I ran out of bait, and I'm sure I could of had more.

Biggest of the year Dover Sole

Well what have I learnt?, this has been one hell of a challenge catching a Dover Sole, let alone a decent sized one, I tried my hardest, and 10/10 for effort, I'm sure I was just unlucky, or possibly was fishing the wrong venues or tides, I just haven't nailed this Sole fishing quite yet. But I was catching fish, and lots of them, with new species of Horse Mackerel, some lovely Bass, and Eels, on top of the normal species, the surprising thing was how close these fish get to the beach, most of my fishing for Sole was around the range of 10 to 30 yards out, and many of the better fish were taken even closer in! Using the Bass rods light lines and leads was a sheer pleasure, I also enjoyed the warm summer nights and appreciated them knowing the pending winter season is closing in. And I definitely haven't had a very successful Sole hunt this year, but the one bigger one I did catch, was well deserved, I enjoyed sharing this top class eating fish with my wife, and who knows although winter has started, we have just had our hottest day of the year, so maybe just maybe I may get another crack this year before the winter comes.

Plaice Fishing. Hastings

Right Plaice, Wrong Place

Hastings, East Sussex, UK

Spring has sprung, Hastings

In all my fishing it had dawned on my that there was a species that had eluded me, I'm not sure how but the Plaice has managed to avoid me for a long time, to be fair I hadn't really targeted them specifically, more so I had just targeted flat fish in general. Now that the Plaice was firmly on my radar this was now the time to start trying for them, with an exceptionally warm winter I was guessing that they would appear early and with some settled weather the Northerly winds clearing the water, conditions looked good. Now all I needed was a venue, a few stuck out but with only a few Plaice being reported so far this session and that was only hear say, I decided to pick my venue on a hunch, venturing further west along the coast I felt would give me the best chance of a early Plaice and Hasting struck out to me as a low water venue fishing a sand bank good for flat fish, would the Plaice be there? I didn't know but there was only one way to find out!

Homemade rigs are the best

I arrived as early as the bait shop opening times would allow me, with 60 fresh Black Lugworm and a box of Squid I arrived at my mark at 8.30 am a few hours after high tide, my intention was to fish all the way down and up a little for a 6 hour session. upon arrival I had the pick of the beach surprisingly I couldn't see another angler at all. I set up next to a concrete groin where I had had some good sessions before. I fished 1 rod at range with a single 1/0 Aberdeen hook on a up and over rig with beads and sequins to attract the inquisitive sight predatory Plaice, baited with a whole Lugworm and a slither of squid to tip it off, I used a plain lead and cast out as far as I could uptide and let it roll across in front of me seeking out any dips or gullys where food would congregate and hopefully find the waiting fish. the second rod was a simple size 2 hook flapper with size 1 Aberdeen hooks with a gripper lead baited with half a Lugworm, which I cast about 40 -60 yards straight out off the end of the concrete groin, from previous visits on bigger tides, I had seen that there was a gully where the tide flowed stronger around the end of the concrete groin, which I believed any fish swimming from one section of the beach to the other would swim along it.

The Rock Slugs are back!!!

Well, it was fish from the off, both rods were only out a few minutes before the tips were rattling away, small Dabs and small Whiting were out in force keeping me so busy I barely had a chance to have both rods out in the water. Then on the close in rod a bite that was notable bigger than the rest, I struck and lifted into a weight that put a big bend on the light Bass rod, excitedly I slowly reeled in and landed a larger Whiting at 33cm and large Dab at 26cm, 2 keepers right there! Now firmly finding my place to cast to, I recast the close in rod to it, again within seconds rattle rattle the rod tip went, and again a bigger bite than the previous, it bent over again, and I struck, yes something a little bigger maybe a sizable Whiting, but as the fish approached the beach it skimmed across the surface, it was a flat fish and a decent one at that, I expected a Flounder, why I'm not sure I was targeting Plaice!, and a Plaice it was at 34cm, I couldn't believe it,my first Plaice! mission accomplished and the session was only early, so I set myself another mission, as family were over visiting, I thought it would be nice to catch enough fish to put on a Sunday spread.

The Flounder

With in the next 3 hours I had another 2 target Plaice at 33cm and 37cm, a Flounder at 35cm, several Rockling, lots of Whiting and another larger keeper, and lots of very small Dabs, but also another bigger one which I kept. It had been nonstop all day and as the tide turned the fishing very much slowed, there were still plenty of fish biting,but now I was having to wait 5 mins for a bite and frustratingly missed a lot. Whilst most my action and all the keepers I'd caught had been on the close in rod with a plain flapper, the distance rod with a purpose made blinged up drifting Plaice rig had only been picking off Whiting at range of approx 120meters, But It did account for 1 Plaice dead on low water, and the biggest of the 4 that day at 37cm a new PB weighing in at 1lb 1oz.

The days bounty soon to be sunday dinner

Biggest Plaice of the day

I fished the flooding tide for a few hours as planned, and amongst the tiny Whiting and postage stamp sized Dabs with the odd bigger one, i did pluck out my 4th and final Plaice at 28cm, I fished till I run out of bait. I have to say there are some sessions that you hate, some session you love, and some sessions like this one, where you just really enjoy yourself, which is what I did, it seemed the winter cold and dark with gales and heavy rods and line was over, the sun was out, the wind was calm, I was fishing the continental and bass rod both very light rods and back to using braid instead of mono, ok it helps with casting but even more so it makes the bites from little fish exciting. I can honestly say this was a pleasure trip to remember and its not very often I take fish home for the table, but I had 3 Plaice, 2 Dabs and 2 Whiting to take home, just enough to feed the family on Sunday. And not forgetting I had finally found my illusive Plaice, and considering the rigs I used and the range I was casting to, I really cannot believe I've never caught one before as this is exactly the way I've fished for Soles and Dab for many years now, but hey, maybe it was all about location, or maybe as I suspect the Plaice normally turn up a little later in the year when the dreaded May water is about, which is a time where my rods stay firmly in the shed.

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

Hythe Beach Casting

Mixed Bag Of Suprises

Hythe, Kent. UK

Hythe at night

With Winter approaching the lure of getting out the heavy hitting rods and smashing big leads and baits into a stormy brown coloured sea for Cod is proving too alluring, well its not quiet time yet, but you have to have a line in the water to catch, and at the very least test the rigs and tackle and make sure its up too the job for when things get going. Well, early in the year as it may be, reports of a few Codling were already known, in anticipation, I had some pulley pennels and live bait rigs made up, also a freezer full of frozen lug, squid, blueys and a few crabs. Only work was getting in the way, I'd worked 13 days straight many of which were 24 hours shifts, but with a full day of strong SW winds dying off into the night, and a night time high tide at midnight, It didn't take me long well a nano second if I'm honest to decide that as tired as I was, this was a window that I wasn't gonna miss.

My Cod special

In my mind I had decided to go to Dungeness, because it fishes well after SW winds, but whilst talking to my friend Keith who at short notice was accompanying me on this late night venture had another plan, with some family camping at Hythe he had secured some fresh lugworm which we would pick up on the way, and rather than drive back along the coast to Dungeness, we decided to stay and fish at Hythe, We arrived at Princes Parade and parked randomly along the beach where we could see a gap big enough to fish comfortably without interfering with the fisherman either side. A little later than expected but we were set up and baits were in the water 30mins before high water. I wasn't messing about tonight, big baits and big hooks for Cod, 1 rod cast to the horizon with a live bait rig, a rig with 2 hooks, a small baited hook to catch a whiting (live bait) and a larger hook further up the snod designed to catch a Cod that takes the whiting. and on the second rod a more conventional 6/0 and 5/0 pulley pennal rig baited with lug and a squid head a successful combo I used last year.

Tub Gurnard, A New Species

It wasn't long before both rods were tapping away with the tell tale knocks of whiting, I left the live bait rod out confident the whiting was still on, and reeled in Whiting 2 at a time on the pennel rig, I was off the mark, and the tide had just started to recede, I decided to try a different bait and sent a bluey on a small hook pennel out as far as I could cast. At range the Whiting seemed more sparse, and the rod tip stayed still for a whole 4 minutes longer that at closer range, as the rod tip rattled away, I reeled in what I expected to be a Whiting, but to my surprise I had just landed my first ever Tub Gurnard, known as the butterfly of the sea, it was a beautiful fish, terracotta in colour with a massive head and extremely large pectoral fins, well I didn't expect that! that alone made this session for me, but things were going to get a bit more interesting. Having messed about a bit, I decided to change again whilst Keith was catching Whiting and Pouting on a size 2/0 flapper rig, I decided to have 2 live bait rigs out and use them plentiful Whiting as bait in the hope of a large Cod.

First Cod Of The Winter Season

Keith's First Ever Cod "SMILE!"

I had only just recast the 1st rod at range, and was still baiting up the second rod, when the rod tip made a quick rattle rattle like a Whiting bite but a lot bigger, then went slack line, by the time I had put my second rod down, the line was well down tide, I picked the rod up and lifted into a fish, I wasn't sure what it might be, as the bite wasn't a conventional Cod bite, I thought maybe Bass, but it was putting up quite a fight with a lot of knocking felt down the rod, I beached the fish and to my joy it was the target fish, a lovely 52cm 2lb 15oz Codling, The fish had taken the small lugworm intended for the Whiting but with its bucket sized mouth was hooked by the large 6/0 hook I was over the moon by now, and Keith wasn't going to be left behind and quickly landed himself 50cm 2lb 6 Codling himself on a size 2 hook, Unfortunately this was as many Cod as we were going to catch tonight, but the Whiting and Pouting kept us very busy.

Thorny Suprise

I was getting a bit tired of the Whiting, and whilst keeping a live bait rod out decided to fish the other with very small hooks close in and see if any Dover sole were around, they weren't just hundreds of micro Pouting and Whiting, by now I was just plain exhausted, to give me a rest I decided to try and advoid the Whiting, I decide to put a Bluey bait at far range, as earlier this seemed to avoid most the Whiting. It did, my rod stayed still for at least 5 minutes. as I watched the rod tips the bluey rod tip was slowly dipping and going straightening again, Keith also pointed out my rod tip was moving, not constantly but every 40 seconds or so, presumably I said that's a Ray, I'll wait for it to eat the bait and take off resulting in a big pull down or slack liner, it never happened, and I curiously wondered weather a plastic bag was just wrapped around my line and moving the rod tip or maybe a Dogfish was just sitting there doing nothing as they do, I lost patience after about 10 minutes, I reeled in the rod, something was heavy on the end, I kind of expected to see a Dogfish but when I dragged a small 2lb 8oz Thornback ray up the beach I was ecstatic!!

We had been fishing for 4 hours it was very early morning and now Keith was snoring away, I decided that it was time to call it a night before I felt the same with a long drive home I woke him up to pack up. This session had been full of surprises, normally you target a species and catch a few others, and if your lucky get your target fish, not only had we caught a target fish each, tonight left me never knowing what I was going to pull in next, considering Bass and Dover Sole were also on the cards and a good possibility of catching them, The decision to fish Hythe had payed off, between us we had caught over 60 fish and 9 species in 4 hours, we each had one keeper for the pot, Keith had caught his first Cod and I had caught my first Tub Gurnard. Tonight was a special trip that I will remember for while, not only was the fishing good, the company was also good, and even the rain stayed away. happy days!

6/0 Pennel Good For Two Whiting At A Time