Ray Fishing in Daylight

[RemoteWanderer]

Would be interesting to hear the opinions of those on here who fish for rays far more than myself. Fishing for rays at night can often be near on impossible on a lot of my marks with the amount of dogs that come on the feed. I appreciate that patience fishing through the dogs is often part of ray fishing but at night on these marks it'll be two dogs a pennell in a minute or so and just gets silly with nothing else having a look in. I get that night time is optimal for a lot of ray activity, but was wondering whether people have much success in daylight? Certainly wouldn't be nearly as many dogs about, so would make it more viable and see those in the channel do well on the rays in daylight when the water is coloured. Have had thornies in daylight that can often feed well at these times but this question was more aimed at small-eyed and spotteds. I'm assuming overcast days with a bit of colour in the water/after a blow would provide best chances during daylight? Any experiences or info would be much appreciated, tight lines,

 

[Mr Fish]

Erm, depends where you fish.

They get them on Chesil in daylight and also North Somerset ie minehead etc where it can work out better during the daytime to avoid the dogs.
Further up the BC in the dirty water I don’t find dogs nearly as prolific, whereas Chesil and minehead area after dark can be serious dog and strap territory.

But my local surf beaches are very shallow and aside from the rubber seals problem, in my experience you don’t get a touch in daylight.
Yes a few dogs after dark too but not swarms of them.
For eg I have in the past fished surf beaches in summer and had ray/bass but as soon as the dawn light gets on the water, all bites cease.

 

[RemoteWanderer]

Erm, depends where you fish.

They get them on Chesil in daylight and also North Somerset ie minehead etc where it can work out better during the daytime to avoid the dogs.
Further up the BC in the dirty water I don’t find dogs nearly as prolific, whereas Chesil and minehead area after dark can be serious dog and strap territory.

But my local surf beaches are very shallow and aside from the rubber seals problem, in my experience you don’t get a touch in daylight.
Yes a few dogs after dark too but not swarms of them.
For eg I have in the past fished surf beaches in summer and had ray/bass but as soon as the dawn light gets on the water, all bites cease.

Yes mate thanks for sharing that makes sense, the marks I have in mind are 8-15m deep depending on tides, so was hoping that with a bit of colour in the water and decent cloud cover might be able to get a few out. Agree with the shallow beaches, only time I fish them in the day is for the flounder or golden greys, tight lines,

 

[Mr Fish]

Yes mate thanks for sharing that makes sense, the marks I have in mind are 8-15m deep depending on tides, so was hoping that with a bit of colour in the water and decent cloud cover might be able to get a few out. Agree with the shallow beaches, only time I fish them in the day is for the flounder or golden greys, tight lines,

Yes quite possibly, depending on the area.

And yes, the mullet and flatties will be around on the shallow beaches and probably bass too, but around here it’s typically too rammed with surfers to even try and bother in daylight.

They don’t annoy me, I just avoid the spots where they go in daytime - never understood the anglers that plonk themselves on a busy beach in the middle of the day then complain it’s almost impossible to fish because of other beach users

 

[GPSguru]

All my Ray fishing is from my boat during daylight hours.

Mainly on the Skerries banks, where the blonds run to High 20's, and a 10lb plus Small Eyed is not at all unusual.

Dogs can be an issue, but usually feck off when the tide starts running, and that is when the big rays move in.

Grandson with a decent Blond,

 

[Mr Fish]

All my Ray fishing is from my boat during daylight hours.

Mainly on the Skerries banks, where the blonds run to High 20's, and a 10lb plus Small Eyed is not at all unusual.

Dogs can be an issue, but usually feck off when the tide starts running, and that is when the big rays move in.

Grandson with a decent Blond,

View attachment 81495

I think he meant shore fishing

 

[GPSguru]

I think he meant shore fishing

I know , but I am only 4 miles off shore ( a decent cast )

They catch a fair few small eyed from Blackpool, slapton, and beesands, mostly daylight fishing

 

[Seymour]

When I used to fish for small eyeds I only used to go in the day. Clean, clear water and clean sand. They were never particularly shy. Water there is reasonably deep, maybe 10 to 15 meters.

At night, spearfishing, they are very active, and come really quite shallow, on the beach I visit.

Nighttime probably better if I were to target them on the rods again, but quite happy to go on a sunny day if I fancied it.

 

[Mr Fish]

I know , but I am only 4 miles off shore ( a decent cast )

They catch a fair few small eyed from Blackpool, slapton, and beesands, mostly daylight fishing

Meh, never seem to hear a decent report from those beaches apart from mackie on occasion…

 

[flappy]

Meh, never seem to hear a decent report from those beaches apart from mackie on occasion…

My grandad lived in torcross.. he used to dive for spider crabs.. he would get loads..

 

[Mr Fish]

My grandad lived in torcross.. he used to dive for spider crabs.. he would get loads..

No shortage of those things!

 

[RaM]

I've caught more rays in the daylight than night time but I have had more rays in one session when it was dark..
Personally I think if they are there they are easy to catch with the righ bait.. oily fish and squid cocktails on a 4ft pulley pennel always worked for me..

 

[crablante]

In case my experience is helpful - I don't target rays and I only fish during the daytime, and I've caught many Eagle rays (northern Spain) using fresh muscles.

 

[Mr Fish]

Depends where you fish, as I said.

I invite anyone to stand on one of my local surf beaches in daytime and catch a ray, you’ll have a fair wait.
Plenty of sport with rubber seals though

 

[GPSguru]

Meh, never seem to hear a decent report from those beaches apart from mackie on occasion…

Hmmm, TBF those beaches are fished by numerous locals, some with a youtube presence and extensive blogs on the internet, however, they rarely admit to fishing those marks and certainly keep quiet about their catches.

They are all 'knowledge' beaches, you have to fish them in exactly the right conditions, with the right bait, and they all produce.

Boat fishing the Skerries is similar, which of course is just offshore of those marks, I need to fish the banks with the right tide, the right weather, and the right baits to get the results.

 

[Mr Fish]

Hmmm, TBF those beaches are fished by numerous locals, some with a youtube presence and extensive blogs on the internet, however, they rarely admit to fishing those marks and certainly keep quiet about their catches.

They are all 'knowledge' beaches, you have to fish them in exactly the right conditions, with the right bait, and they all produce.

Boat fishing the Skerries is similar, which of course is just offshore of those marks, I need to fish the banks with the right tide, the right weather, and the right baits to get the results.

Yep admittedly they’re not beaches I really know. Just rarely see decent reports on forums or Facebook, but then as you say, sensible people keep decent catches quiet, or at least the location.

Never bother with YouTube vids really, not my cup of tea.

 

[GPSguru]

Never bother with YouTube vids really, not my cup of tea.

I guess it is the modern day blog media, rather than a blog website.

There are a couple that I keep an eye on, one very local, and one in Guernsey.

The local guy is out of Salcombe, and although he tries to hide his marks by not saying much about them, i.e its a reef or a wreck, I know his marks because I can tell more or less where he is from the coastline background in camera shot

The other is just interesting.

 

[Mr Fish]

I guess it is the modern day blog media, rather than a blog website.

There are a couple that I keep an eye on, one very local, and one in Guernsey.

The local guy is out of Salcombe, and although he tries to hide his marks by not saying much about them, i.e its a reef or a wreck, I know his marks because I can tell more or less where he is from the coastline background in camera shot

The other is just interesting.

Yep, couldn’t really say why I’m not a fan exactly, I watched plenty of tv fishing shows back in the day.
Internet videos don’t really do it for me.
I think mainly because a lot are sub par productions compared with the old John Wilson shows etc (that were heavily edited, obviously) but also I find the 10 minute talks on what rig they’re using boring as hell, though I know a lot of anglers like that technical aspect.

I’ve seen the odd good one, a lot of very poor ones. Mostly I give them a miss, but that’s a ‘me thing’ as opposed to believing all YouTube videos are crap.

 

[crablante]

I’ve seen the odd good one, a lot of very poor ones. Mostly I give them a miss, but that’s a ‘me thing’ as opposed to believing all YouTube videos are crap.

Have you come across one you liked?

 

[Seymour]

I guess it is the modern day blog media, rather than a blog website.

There are a couple that I keep an eye on, one very local, and one in Guernsey.

The local guy is out of Salcombe, and although he tries to hide his marks by not saying much about them, i.e its a reef or a wreck, I know his marks because I can tell more or less where he is from the coastline background in camera shot

The other is just interesting.

Smash Fishing? I like to watch a bit of Smash Fishing when I do the washing up. He's a hunter gatherer I can relate to. Terrible chef though

I can't watch anything with shrieking hyperbole, it's the same in real life. Quiet satisfaction with a catch is what I'm after in a fishing companion. Any sort of music is out also. Natural sounds only on a YouTube experience.