Stormtrooper
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2020
- Messages
- 299
- Reaction score
- 2,801
- Points
- 93
- Location
- Herne Bay
- Favourite Fishing
- Shore
Hi all.... as I’m sure most of you do too, I’d been keeping an eye on the winds and tides over this week and from last Saturday I’d earmarked last night (Thursday) as the perfect night to head southwards in search of a ray or two.
Plans were put in place and the time came, I left early too in order to ensure I didn’t miss the best of the tide and could get set up etc but when I got to my mark, it was shoulder to shoulder with anglers! I was a little peeved to say the least as I couldn’t get on there anywhere.
So, to plan B... I drove a mile or so to my next spot only to find fences and building works etc which made this mark completely inaccessible. Now I was really annoyed!!
In the end, I settled for plan “that’ll do” and finally got set up. It was pretty chilly but not too windy, I could see many a head torch along the coastline but it was fairly quiet otherwise. My first two baits were soon returned complete with their obligatory whiting as is this time of year, rebaited and sent back out again.
This continued for the next few casts but thankfully, they weren’t in plague proportions.
About an hour into the flood, I saw a bite which didn’t look quite so whiting-esque and watched on in hope... sure enough, a few moments later and a sharp pull down saw my rod go slack. I wound in and could feel weight but wasn’t convinced it was anything other than a doggie until it got close to the shore, it woke up and I could feel it tugging, sure enough moments later the low glow of two green eyes reflected back at me from the shingle.
At just shy of 4lbs, I was made up to have found my target species despite being no where near my planned venue.
I fished on for a few hours but another few whiting and a doggie aside, if anything the catch rate was slowing. I packed up before 1am for the journey home at least mildly pleased it wasn’t a wasted journey.
Plans were put in place and the time came, I left early too in order to ensure I didn’t miss the best of the tide and could get set up etc but when I got to my mark, it was shoulder to shoulder with anglers! I was a little peeved to say the least as I couldn’t get on there anywhere.
So, to plan B... I drove a mile or so to my next spot only to find fences and building works etc which made this mark completely inaccessible. Now I was really annoyed!!
In the end, I settled for plan “that’ll do” and finally got set up. It was pretty chilly but not too windy, I could see many a head torch along the coastline but it was fairly quiet otherwise. My first two baits were soon returned complete with their obligatory whiting as is this time of year, rebaited and sent back out again.
This continued for the next few casts but thankfully, they weren’t in plague proportions.
About an hour into the flood, I saw a bite which didn’t look quite so whiting-esque and watched on in hope... sure enough, a few moments later and a sharp pull down saw my rod go slack. I wound in and could feel weight but wasn’t convinced it was anything other than a doggie until it got close to the shore, it woke up and I could feel it tugging, sure enough moments later the low glow of two green eyes reflected back at me from the shingle.
At just shy of 4lbs, I was made up to have found my target species despite being no where near my planned venue.
I fished on for a few hours but another few whiting and a doggie aside, if anything the catch rate was slowing. I packed up before 1am for the journey home at least mildly pleased it wasn’t a wasted journey.
