Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 360
- Reaction score
- 3,336
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
After finally getting back on the bass trail, it was time for a change of pace on Tuesday, when I took 2 of my boys out to the West coast of Anglesey, with the aim of getting them their first ever rays. The weather was lovely and sunny, but with a moderate Northerly breeze blowing, there were some pretty big swells crashing ashore. This meant that we couldn’t get to my first choice ledges, but I soon found a nice spot, safe from the crashing waves, and we set up base camp for the day 
The was one slight problem, and that was the rocks which ran out to sea in front of the mark, but with the tide still rising, there should still be a decent depth of water for landing anything we would hook.
For the sake of simplicity, all 3 of us would be fishing 2 hook flapper rigs, armed with size 1/0 hooks and baited with a selection of squid, some dodgy sandeels which had seen better days ?, mackerel, bluey and some left over rag from last week’s match.
The first baits of the day were soon sitting on the sea bed, and it didn’t take long before my rod showed the first sign of interest. The bite didn’t look like anything particularly interesting, and my first thought was that it was probably a doggie, so I gave it a bit more time to develop. After another few minutes though, when I judged that the fish should be properly hooked, I picked up the rod and lifted firmly to get the rig moving and I was instantly met with a solid resistance. I could tell straight away that this wasn’t a snag, so I maintained the pressure for a few moments until eventually I got the bait snatcher moving. I knew immediately what the culprit was, and from the resistance I could tell that it was a decent ray. Not wanting to risk losing it, I took my time pumping it towards the shore but part of the way in, I suddenly felt the unmistakeable feeling of braid rubbing on rocks ?. At this point I thought the game might be all over, but again I kept the pressure on the line and finally the fish swam free again.
After another minute or two a decent ray was beaten in the swells beneath the ledge, but now came the dilemma of how to land it. It was too big to lift using the rod, so I first tried to strand it on a higher rock with the help of a swell, but I couldn’t get it high enough to escape the subsequent surging waves. Things were looking dire, but then I got the break I needed, as there was a momentary period of slightly smaller waves. Passing the rod to Sam, I was able to scramble onto a slightly lower ledge, from where I could just about reach the top of the rig and to lift my prize ashore. I said I would show the boys how to catch a ray and I had done just that, with a 7lb 8oz beauty ?.
The boys were over the moon to see a ray for the first time, and after a quick lesson in how to safely pick one up, she was released to hopefully grow into a double.
With such a decent ray showing on the first cast, we were all expecting a cracker of a session but incredibly it wasn’t to be.
Soon afterwards I caught a small dab
and Sam saved the blank later in the day with a doggie
but Josh had to settle for just a spider crab
It was still a first for him though and he wasn’t too disappointed with the lack of fish.
So a session which started out with so much promise had fizzled away to nothing, and as with my session on the small eyed ray back in February, the curse of the first cast lunker had struck again.
The was one slight problem, and that was the rocks which ran out to sea in front of the mark, but with the tide still rising, there should still be a decent depth of water for landing anything we would hook.
For the sake of simplicity, all 3 of us would be fishing 2 hook flapper rigs, armed with size 1/0 hooks and baited with a selection of squid, some dodgy sandeels which had seen better days ?, mackerel, bluey and some left over rag from last week’s match.
The first baits of the day were soon sitting on the sea bed, and it didn’t take long before my rod showed the first sign of interest. The bite didn’t look like anything particularly interesting, and my first thought was that it was probably a doggie, so I gave it a bit more time to develop. After another few minutes though, when I judged that the fish should be properly hooked, I picked up the rod and lifted firmly to get the rig moving and I was instantly met with a solid resistance. I could tell straight away that this wasn’t a snag, so I maintained the pressure for a few moments until eventually I got the bait snatcher moving. I knew immediately what the culprit was, and from the resistance I could tell that it was a decent ray. Not wanting to risk losing it, I took my time pumping it towards the shore but part of the way in, I suddenly felt the unmistakeable feeling of braid rubbing on rocks ?. At this point I thought the game might be all over, but again I kept the pressure on the line and finally the fish swam free again
.After another minute or two a decent ray was beaten in the swells beneath the ledge, but now came the dilemma of how to land it. It was too big to lift using the rod, so I first tried to strand it on a higher rock with the help of a swell, but I couldn’t get it high enough to escape the subsequent surging waves. Things were looking dire, but then I got the break I needed, as there was a momentary period of slightly smaller waves. Passing the rod to Sam, I was able to scramble onto a slightly lower ledge, from where I could just about reach the top of the rig and to lift my prize ashore. I said I would show the boys how to catch a ray and I had done just that, with a 7lb 8oz beauty ?.
The boys were over the moon to see a ray for the first time, and after a quick lesson in how to safely pick one up, she was released to hopefully grow into a double.
With such a decent ray showing on the first cast, we were all expecting a cracker of a session but incredibly it wasn’t to be
.Soon afterwards I caught a small dab
and Sam saved the blank later in the day with a doggie
but Josh had to settle for just a spider crab
It was still a first for him though and he wasn’t too disappointed with the lack of fish.
So a session which started out with so much promise had fizzled away to nothing, and as with my session on the small eyed ray back in February, the curse of the first cast lunker had struck again
.
