Stormtrooper
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2020
- Messages
- 292
- Reaction score
- 2,717
- Points
- 93
- Location
- Herne Bay
- Favourite Fishing
- Shore
Hi all, with a little break in the weather and a not-too-early start on Friday, it seemed only right to have a little dabble locally on Thursday evening.
I got set up by about 20:30, there still wasn’t much water and high was 01:30 but it was a really nice evening to be out.
My second cast of the night produced a doggie which aren’t as common here as other venues so I was pleased enough not to blank.
This was shortly followed by a sizeable whiting but still no sign of my target ray.
About 23:30 though, I had a text-book pull down followed by a slack line… here they are!!
Sure enough, before too long my first spiky dab of the night came up, a female at 3lbs 3oz. Not the monster I was hoping for of course but it’s always nice to get the target.
Within half an hour or so, number 2 came out for the session. I knew this was a male as it gave me quite a good tussle and it was at least a marginal improvement on the first, going 3lbs 13oz.
I wasn’t waiting long for another good pull and this one felt a bit better too but disaster, I snagged!!
Although it didn’t look like it at first, I came to the conclusion I was hooked up on the end of the wooden groin. I could still feel the fish pulling and I tried all sorts to free it, I went left, right, in line, gave it slack, pulled it hard, bounced it….. everything I could think of but it just wouldn’t budge.
After about 20mins or so I was exhausted and was fairly sure I had a bite on my other rod. Sh*t or bust time, I pointed the tip at the snag and slowly walked backwards until inevitably, the line broke. I was gutted as I was sure the fish was still on it.
I returned to my tripod and started to wind the other rod in, my suspicions of a bite were confirmed and ray no.3 came in. Another nipper at 3lbs 2oz.
By this time, it was pretty much high tide and despite wanting to continue I had to call it a night and packed up around 2am.
Still bothered by the lost fish (and tackle!) the following morning as I left for work, it dawned on me it was low tide!! A quick check of the time and I decided if I was quick, I’d have time to run down to my mark and get my gear back!
I got down there pretty quick and sure enough, there was my gear, wrapped around someone else’s gear which was snagged all over the groin but also, there was my ray, still with my hooks in its gob! What really astonished me however, was that when I picked it up to remove them, it was still alive!!
I took a quick piccy, it was bigger than the others from the previous night, about 5lbs (I didn’t have my scales with me) and quickly ran out to meet the water. It was great to see it actually swim off let alone retrieving my tackle and someone else’s gear too!!
But does it count towards my yearly tally? I think so, my hooks were still in its mouth and it still swam off… I just took a long while getting it in!! Lol
I got set up by about 20:30, there still wasn’t much water and high was 01:30 but it was a really nice evening to be out.
My second cast of the night produced a doggie which aren’t as common here as other venues so I was pleased enough not to blank.
This was shortly followed by a sizeable whiting but still no sign of my target ray.
About 23:30 though, I had a text-book pull down followed by a slack line… here they are!!
Sure enough, before too long my first spiky dab of the night came up, a female at 3lbs 3oz. Not the monster I was hoping for of course but it’s always nice to get the target.
Within half an hour or so, number 2 came out for the session. I knew this was a male as it gave me quite a good tussle and it was at least a marginal improvement on the first, going 3lbs 13oz.
I wasn’t waiting long for another good pull and this one felt a bit better too but disaster, I snagged!!
Although it didn’t look like it at first, I came to the conclusion I was hooked up on the end of the wooden groin. I could still feel the fish pulling and I tried all sorts to free it, I went left, right, in line, gave it slack, pulled it hard, bounced it….. everything I could think of but it just wouldn’t budge.
After about 20mins or so I was exhausted and was fairly sure I had a bite on my other rod. Sh*t or bust time, I pointed the tip at the snag and slowly walked backwards until inevitably, the line broke. I was gutted as I was sure the fish was still on it.
I returned to my tripod and started to wind the other rod in, my suspicions of a bite were confirmed and ray no.3 came in. Another nipper at 3lbs 2oz.
By this time, it was pretty much high tide and despite wanting to continue I had to call it a night and packed up around 2am.
Still bothered by the lost fish (and tackle!) the following morning as I left for work, it dawned on me it was low tide!! A quick check of the time and I decided if I was quick, I’d have time to run down to my mark and get my gear back!
I got down there pretty quick and sure enough, there was my gear, wrapped around someone else’s gear which was snagged all over the groin but also, there was my ray, still with my hooks in its gob! What really astonished me however, was that when I picked it up to remove them, it was still alive!!
I took a quick piccy, it was bigger than the others from the previous night, about 5lbs (I didn’t have my scales with me) and quickly ran out to meet the water. It was great to see it actually swim off let alone retrieving my tackle and someone else’s gear too!!
But does it count towards my yearly tally? I think so, my hooks were still in its mouth and it still swam off… I just took a long while getting it in!! Lol
