Merlin 335
Member
I was brought up as a son of a commercial fisherman operating out of Holyhead and wasn't taught great fish care. At work, a colleague (who is a carp angler) always comments on my youtube videos, on my poor handling of fish. So I made the decision to try to improve my fish care and in particular the way I treat thornback rays. I have always used pennel rigs when targeting these fish and on occasion they will be deep hooked, so I have been experimenting with a dongle/hair rig with a circle hook. On my last session this weekend that combination worked a treat, with all the fish hooked in the corner of the mouth. It may be coincidence, but the fish seemed to fight harder when hooked in this way.
Anyway, on to my question, until recently I always held rays for photos etc, by the snout like this

But I was told not to do this as it is bad for the fish and was referred to the Shark Trust's guide on how to handle rays and sharks.
Now I hold the fish as horizontally as possible when taking photo etc. A couple of well known anglers locally to me had recently posted pictures online of them holding thornback rays vertically by the mouth (which is a common way to pose with rays), I commented that this maybe not the best method to hold the fish, but the comment back was basically that they thought it was okay to hold the fish this way for a few minutes to take a photo. So how do you hold rays and what do you think is the best method for safely handling these fish or any fish to may sure that they fight another day?
Anyway, on to my question, until recently I always held rays for photos etc, by the snout like this

But I was told not to do this as it is bad for the fish and was referred to the Shark Trust's guide on how to handle rays and sharks.
Now I hold the fish as horizontally as possible when taking photo etc. A couple of well known anglers locally to me had recently posted pictures online of them holding thornback rays vertically by the mouth (which is a common way to pose with rays), I commented that this maybe not the best method to hold the fish, but the comment back was basically that they thought it was okay to hold the fish this way for a few minutes to take a photo. So how do you hold rays and what do you think is the best method for safely handling these fish or any fish to may sure that they fight another day?