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South West Bagging up on chesil

Just one last cast

Just one last cast

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Bagging up on chesil 10/11/21

After realizing perhaps my first report was not that of a knowledgeable beach angler I returned to the shadows keeping my reports to myself for future reference however for the amateurs like me I thought this one worth sharing for comical value if nothing else.

Have I been off honing my watercraft? What ever that means? Well I had a couple of sessions at seaton caught a few guernards amongst others then was drawn back to the usual spot. but after a few sessions being blown to pieces on a windswept chesil pointing rods in every direction possible, never knowing if I had a bite & catching next to nothing though on the Plus side I did manage to catch whilst free lining some washed up bait fish in the surf. An eel.

I then decided to return on a flat calm afternoon/evening to be out just for the joy of fishing & caught numerous fish, okay-many of them were dogfish & eels but all were welcome.

This weeks option for fishing was a night session or nothing. I arrived in the rain at 6pm set up & again enjoyed quite a few bites catching numerous whiting? up to about a pound ish & a couple eels.

Another angler kindly donated me some rag worm he wasn’t going to use last week which I froze & whipped together in sausages when it became clear they weren’t going to last the week. These got a bite every time but had to be used semi frozen or very messy.

As high tide came & went I whacked out some bigger fish baits to use up the last of my mackerel.

poured a cup of tea & set watching the rods last cast before packing up when a couple of Biggish bites happened. Missed the first one but struck into the second which felt heavy, after battling it through the surf, with the batteries in my head torch fading I could just see the outline on the edge of the shingle,a long tail and big round flat white body after all this time could this finally be my first ray. Realizing it wasn’t going to be moved any further with the rod I downed tools & headed down there only to be greeted by an eel who I’m sure gave me a backwards glance as it slipped back into the sea,as they do, leaving my hook stuck fast in a white charity bag full of water. Bugger. chesil you got me again.

Oh well I’m now well past packing up time & have an extra bag to lug back across the beach its 1.30am & raining again probably why everyone disappeared about an hour ago, great, guess I’ll have to wait a bit longer for my first ray but that’s fishing (for an amateur anyway).
 
Good report mate.
Chesil is a beast, she make you, break you and destroy you.
Keep at it, its an hours game. The ray will come, i had to wait a while, now i’ve lost count of how many rays i’ve had.
Use good quality fresh baits, distance is not everything either.
 
Great report mate,pity you didn't get a ray ,but you will ,I agree with J Richards,good fresh baits are the answer,you will succeed so don't worry mate,just keep trying ??????
 
J Richards said:
Good report mate.
Chesil is a beast, she make you, break you and destroy you.
Keep at it, its an hours game. The ray will come, i had to wait a while, now i’ve lost count of how many rays i’ve had.
Use good quality fresh baits, distance is not everything either.
Click to expand...
Will do thanks
 
Well done mate, good try.

You are catching fish so better stuff will come. Some people take up sea fishing and manage to catch next to nothing for several trips, so I’d say you were ahead of the curve.

Can only echo what’s been said - try and get the best bait you can, fresh worm, etc.
We spend so much on fuel and tackle etc, so don’t scrimp on the one thing that the fish actually sees out of all that.
 
Great report one thing I’ll add when ray fishing don’t be to eager you reel on in on the Initial bite they sometimes take a long time to get hooked hate to think how many rays I lost starting out cause I thought it’s definitely on when it weren’t keep at it it will come bud ?
 
Great report mate, keep on posting! You’re doing well, keep the bites coming and more species will follow. Writing reports can help you work things out just as much as reading them I find, when you sit down to write them up, you have to think about the session, you end up analysing what worked and what didn’t, giving you pointers for next time. Like a fishing diary really. Plus replies with tips and other people’s comments on their experience gives you further things to go at. I wholeheartedly agree with the other lads comments, fresh bait is better in my experience. I’ve always done better with freshly pumped lug over wrapped fresh lug for example, although wrapped produces plenty of bites, fresh pumped still wriggling lug seem to do me better fish. With it I feel more confident, so I fish better just as a result of the extra confidence. Keep posting your sessions mate, however they turn out, you’ll only get positive and/or constructive feedback on this site, that much I’ve noticed! Good luck on your further quests! ????
 
Mr Fish said:
Well done mate, good try.

You are catching fish so better stuff will come. Some people take up sea fishing and manage to catch next to nothing for several trips, so I’d say you were ahead of the curve.

Can only echo what’s been said - try and get the best bait you can, fresh worm, etc.
We spend so much on fuel and tackle etc, so don’t scrimp on the one thing that the fish actually sees out of all that.
Click to expand...
Cheers ta
 
Tatunka joe said:
Great report one thing I’ll add when ray fishing don’t be to eager you reel on in on the Initial bite they sometimes take a long time to get hooked hate to think how many rays I lost starting out cause I thought it’s definitely on when it weren’t keep at it it will come bud ?
Click to expand...
Okay thanks, don’t usually wait as don’t like fish to get gut hooked but I’ll try waiting for a clear take
 
ouchthathurt said:
Great report mate, keep on posting! You’re doing well, keep the bites coming and more species will follow. Writing reports can help you work things out just as much as reading them I find, when you sit down to write them up, you have to think about the session, you end up analysing what worked and what didn’t, giving you pointers for next time. Like a fishing diary really. Plus replies with tips and other people’s comments on their experience gives you further things to go at. I wholeheartedly agree with the other lads comments, fresh bait is better in my experience. I’ve always done better with freshly pumped lug over wrapped fresh lug for example, although wrapped produces plenty of bites, fresh pumped still wriggling lug seem to do me better fish. With it I feel more confident, so I fish better just as a result of the extra confidence. Keep posting your sessions mate, however they turn out, you’ll only get positive and/or constructive feedback on this site, that much I’ve noticed! Good luck on your further quests! ????
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice & support
 
J Richards said:
Good report mate.
Chesil is a beast, she make you, break you and destroy you.
Keep at it, its an hours game. The ray will come, i had to wait a while, now i’ve lost count of how many rays i’ve had.
Use good quality fresh baits, distance is not everything either.
Click to expand...
Some good advice there
 
Just one last cast said:
Okay thanks, don’t usually wait as don’t like fish to get gut hooked but I’ll try waiting for a clear take
Click to expand...
Ray don’t usually gut hook themselves but they do take a long time to take the bait.
I’d say five minutes is average but sometimes it’s been 10 or more.
Bites vary but the classic ray bite is a bit of a pull down followed by nods and rattles, then the rod slowly goes over as the fish moves off. This often takes several minutes.
Sometimes especially with the smaller ones you just get a few nods, sometimes nothing et all.
Other times the rod just goes right over without warning.
You don’t EVER have to strike into a ray bite btw, just lift into the fish once it’s done all of the above. Other fish of course you do need to strike.

It’s just experience that helps you to judge whether what you’ve got on might a ray, or a dogfish, or whiting, eel, etc etc.
And even then, experienced anglers don’t always get it right.
 
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