Stormtrooper
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2020
- Messages
- 292
- Reaction score
- 2,716
- Points
- 93
- Location
- Herne Bay
- Favourite Fishing
- Shore
Hi all!
So, I headed out to a local spot in search of rays on Saturday night. The sea was flat and murky, the tide was making its way in and all was calm, it was perfect!!
I got set up and shortly after, two lads showed up a few groins up from me.
it couldn’t have been 20mins before I saw one of them pull a ray up the beach. Encouraging I thought.
Well, this is where the frustration part comes in. Over the course of the night, I watched them pull in ray after ray, I think I counted at least twelve between them. Meanwhile, I’d had one whiting, missed a reasonable bite and I’d had one ray at just 4lbs 3oz. What was I doing wrong?!
I’ve had it happen before when fishing with friends but not normally to this degree, it was verging on humiliating!!
I spent the entire day Sunday stewing over the previous night and just couldn’t let it rest so, Sunday night came and back I went to the same spot.
No lads this time, just me, the sea and the darkness, let battle commence!!
I was quite early so there wasn’t much water as I started but within half an hour or so, I had a dogfish at my feet. Not the target but I hadn’t blanked at least.
Ten minutes later and my target was acquired, not a beast by any means at 3.5lbs but it helped my confidence.
Less than an hour later and a lovely slack line resulted in ray no.2, a better fish at 6lbs 15oz. I was nearly smiling by now but still not satisfied (when are we ever!!) and so I fished on.
Over the next couple of hours I landed 2 more rays to 4lbs 8oz, another pretty hench looking dogfish and of course the obligatory whiting.
As I started to think about packing up, I got one last nice pull down. I left it a moment and when I struck in, I met with a good weight straight away. I continued to make on the fish but it felt really odd. I could feel it tugging as a normal ray would but there was something not right about the way it was coming in.
When I finally got her to my feet all became clear, not only was she an absolute slab of a fish, but she also had managed to pick up 2 sets of lost gear from other anglers! This meant that including my 5oz lead, she was dragging 17oz of lead behind her!! No wonder she felt odd.
It had made a right mess but I got it all untangled and freed the fish. I was absolutely made up when I weighed her though, she went 11lbs 10oz!!
I set about trying to get a good photo but my phone battery died before I could get one that really did her justice, she was a proper bin lid!!!
Pleased with my tally of 5 rays, 2 dogs and a ting and with getting my second double of the year, I’d forgotten all about the previous night and packed up a happy chap!
So, I headed out to a local spot in search of rays on Saturday night. The sea was flat and murky, the tide was making its way in and all was calm, it was perfect!!
I got set up and shortly after, two lads showed up a few groins up from me.
it couldn’t have been 20mins before I saw one of them pull a ray up the beach. Encouraging I thought.
Well, this is where the frustration part comes in. Over the course of the night, I watched them pull in ray after ray, I think I counted at least twelve between them. Meanwhile, I’d had one whiting, missed a reasonable bite and I’d had one ray at just 4lbs 3oz. What was I doing wrong?!
I’ve had it happen before when fishing with friends but not normally to this degree, it was verging on humiliating!!
I spent the entire day Sunday stewing over the previous night and just couldn’t let it rest so, Sunday night came and back I went to the same spot.
No lads this time, just me, the sea and the darkness, let battle commence!!
I was quite early so there wasn’t much water as I started but within half an hour or so, I had a dogfish at my feet. Not the target but I hadn’t blanked at least.
Ten minutes later and my target was acquired, not a beast by any means at 3.5lbs but it helped my confidence.
Less than an hour later and a lovely slack line resulted in ray no.2, a better fish at 6lbs 15oz. I was nearly smiling by now but still not satisfied (when are we ever!!) and so I fished on.
Over the next couple of hours I landed 2 more rays to 4lbs 8oz, another pretty hench looking dogfish and of course the obligatory whiting.
As I started to think about packing up, I got one last nice pull down. I left it a moment and when I struck in, I met with a good weight straight away. I continued to make on the fish but it felt really odd. I could feel it tugging as a normal ray would but there was something not right about the way it was coming in.
When I finally got her to my feet all became clear, not only was she an absolute slab of a fish, but she also had managed to pick up 2 sets of lost gear from other anglers! This meant that including my 5oz lead, she was dragging 17oz of lead behind her!! No wonder she felt odd.
It had made a right mess but I got it all untangled and freed the fish. I was absolutely made up when I weighed her though, she went 11lbs 10oz!!
I set about trying to get a good photo but my phone battery died before I could get one that really did her justice, she was a proper bin lid!!!
Pleased with my tally of 5 rays, 2 dogs and a ting and with getting my second double of the year, I’d forgotten all about the previous night and packed up a happy chap!
