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Another account of our most recent session – wordy in every sense of the word so make sure you have a cuppa! Hope you enjoy Video link at the bottom
Rays of Sunshine on the Solway 30/05/16
The Solway Coast, in its true sense, is vast – interconnecting the North West of England to the South West of Scotland and fed by the Irish Sea. Starting in Cumbria at St Bees much of this coast has been recognised as an AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty) and if you ever visit, you’ll understand why – the scenery is spectacular. From St Bees in Cumbria, the coastal route heads north and brackets the Solway Firth in its entirety by crossing the borders around Bowness on Solway and eventually hitting Wigtown Bay. From here it travels west across the southern coast of West Scotland and snakes around the Isle of Whithorn. The final leg of the journey borders Luce Bay before concluding at the southernmost point of the Mull of Galloway.
For generations – anglers have flocked to all parts of this beautiful and rugged coastline and, particularly in years past; have enjoyed some truly spectacular fishing. Many of the marks have been added to history books, once renowned for huge its Cod and Bass. Whilst sport can still be enjoyed at the same places, it is undoubtable that the days of monster Cod are all but gone; however the same places can still offer you the chance of a memorable session if you do your homework. Bass, Codling, Tope, Bull Huss, Smoothound, Thornback Rays and a host of other species still offer local and travelling anglers the chance to get to grips with some decent fish. Indeed in the case of the Smoothound, these were somewhat unheard of in these parts until recent years.
Often as anglers, we love nothing more than the prospect of a road trip in search of different species that don’t often frequent home turf. Life commitments usually find us planning impromptu sessions at local marks to keep up with our techniques and our love for the sport targeting species that we are used to catching – and those that know their local marks inside out are the people that bag up consistently. These are the people that keep a record of tides and ground, prevailing weather conditions, know what baits and rigs fish best and when and make the most of this knowledge by only venturing out when all the boxes are ticked – usually bagging up in the process.
Some of us (myself included) even keep a diary of such information – and this can go a long way in saving you time and effort especially when learning newer marks. I find it just as beneficial to record sessions when I struggle as well as those red letter days – as this can save you a wasted journey next time if the conditions are similar, as well as boost the chances of success when fishing in optimum conditions.
The Session
When visiting marks further away from home, the above can really come into its own. Recently Myself, Andy Copeland and Gary Pearson have enjoyed some good success on local marks and decided a trip in search of something a bit different was needed. The original intention was to travel south in search of early Smoothound and Rays – but an early indication of probable conditions and weather scuppered that plan as we knew there was unlikely to be any Smoothounds on offer due to the forecast. On this particular weekend, it seemed like everything on the east side of our country would be grim – whereas the west side would enjoy some glorious weather and, from what we could gather, favourable fishing conditions for another target species.
So the revised plan was in motion to head to the west coast of Scotland – predominantly in search of Thornback Rays, but with the added chance of still tackling an odd Smoothound if lucky. While the weatherman had got the wind direction for the west coast COMPLETELY wrong (predicting northerly when in actual fact it was more south easterly), there was an element of truth to his predictions as the further west we headed, the sunnier it got. By all accounts we’re heading out quite late compared to usual – and we don’t arrive at our chosen mark until just before 1pm at the last of the ebb. The intention is to fish the flood in its entirety.
Immediately on the scramble down to the rocks we’re optimistic – seeing 2 other anglers already landing a good sized thornback. At least we know they’re there!
We’re also hoping the brilliant sunshine and clear water is going to keep the ever ravenous dogfish at bay – at least long enough to let something else find the bait! Where there are dogfish, Sunshine and clear water is your friend. You will never avoid them completely, however conditions such as this do seem to deter them a little; they become a bit shy and often mouth at baits rather than taking them with gusto immediately. Murkey water and overcast skies and this place turns into a kennel at times! Left to their own devices though dogfish will still be on your baits quickly even in these conditions so it’s still important to check/change baits regularly enough to ensure best chance of picking out something else.
Baits for the day are Mackerel, Squid, Bluey and peeler crab – the latter mainly for in case the hounds do show up. I’ll say it again that im really starting to become a fan of bluey as bait. Soft though it may be compared to mackerel, it packs an incredible amount of scent and breaks down more readily in water, and with enough baits and casts in the same spot you can be confident of building up a good scent trail for fish to follow.
Im fishing the usual 2 rods – the first my all-time favourite is a Greys Shadow geared up with a Penn Fathom 15, 25lb Asso Bullet Proof and 80lb Asso Ultra Flex Shock leader. The Grey Shadow is a rod that I have loved for as long as I’ve been sea fishing and as rare as hens teeth these days. One of the original UK Built rods, it feels most at home over clean and mixed ground – sporting a soft tip with credible bite detection, but enough grunt in the mid and butt section to bully large fish. It’s not to be underestimated as a rough ground rod, I’ve pulled codling out of kelp filled holes and cuckoo wrasse over car sized boulders in north wales with it and would describe it as a classic all round Greys Rod.
Rather than fishing with a second Shadow today as I normally would – my second rod is a Greys Supro. This is a newly acquired weapon of choice which I haven’t really given much of a chance to prove itself yet. The tip is notably softer than the shadow and thus gives even more sensitive bite detection, but it’s not to be underestimated again. If you load this rod up fully you’ll instantly spot the difference – the final third of the rod flexes with ease but fast tapers to the mid and butt section – which suddenly feels surprisingly ridged with some commendable strength – again suiting it to a variety of conditions. Again I pair it with a Penn fathom 15 and the same line setup.
Rig of choice is an up and over tied on 80lb rig body with 40lb Amnesia hook lengths as the rock edges here are covered in barnacles which can sever you’re gear in an instant. The up and over is always my go to rig for Rays as this not only pins your bait to the sea bed, but also keeps it away from your lead. This for me is key, as rays tend to land on and smother your bait when taking it – and the feeling of a grip lead sticking into its underside while it is attempting to eat your baited hook may deter it. At the business end I’ve decided on a pennel – something I don’t often use when targeting rays but have decided to do a little experimenting today. These are size 2/0 Sakuma Stingers, which I favour for rays due to the longer shank, allowing me to construct compact, pencil like baits that I need for my quarry. See below a reference to the rig – I like to incorporate the use of an SRT spring near to the swivel to ensure optimum tension and stop the hook from coming unclipped during the cast. It’s also worth making either the swivel or the overturned bait clip adjustable with the use of silicone sliders – again to ensure you have the right tension
I take around 2 and a half to 3 inch section off of a fillet of bluey and cut it in half length ways. I then place each section back to back (skin side together) and lash this to the hook to form a neat bait. Im varying the addition of squid on some casts by cutting the hood lengthways again, around the same size of the bluey sections and wrapping these round the bluey to form a “Jacket”.
Baits in the water – the traps are set and meanwhile im taking in the scenery and messing about with the go pro camera. Things start slowly – but Eventually Gary and Andy are the first to bring fish to their feet in the shape of the ever present dogfish. Im registering a bit of interest on both rods and soon pull into what I assume is a dogfish – only for it to come off. Much to my frustration this seems to repeat itself twice in the next 2 casts as I hook into fish only to find them come off half way! All the while Gary and Andy have had up to 3 dogfish each and so far im blanking!
Contemplating whether I’d rather catch a dogfish or continue blanking – I start to analyse why im losing fish. I’ve adapted my rig to incorporate a pennel, perhaps the root cause. But then I’ve caught plenty of dogfish on pennel rigs in the past when targeting bull huss and conger. Perhaps, as the theory goes, they are a little shy biting due to the combination of sun and clear water. Anyway I decide to stick it out.
As the first couple of hours pass the tide begins to slowly push us back up the rocks and its time to move a few yards to get away from the advancing water. As im reeling in my second rod there’s an obvious weight at the end suggesting a fish has taken the bait and has been lying there. Unsurprisingly, my first dogfish of the day is at my feet and the old cheque book and pen is avoided – dunno what I was worrying about anyway
Quickly released I move upwards into a position that will set me for pretty much the rest of the tide and rebait both rods and cast. We’re about half way into the flood at this point.
Gary stays on the point for a little longer and adds Codling, Pollock and a Tub Gurnard to his species list for the day – as well as a few more dogs.
As im chatting to Andy we both notice his rod tip pull down and spring backwards, before pulling down again. This could be it – it’s a typical Ray bite. Andy picks up his rod and feels for the fish moving off and sure enough, with another positive pull, he’s hooked into what is quite obviously the first Ray of the day. Rather than kiting its way down tide however, this fish refuses to come away from the sea bed and – nearing the rock edges, Andy tries his best to get it up and over the reef. Unfortunately this fish was having none of it, and makes a last ditch dive in an attempt to get under the reef, which promptly severs the hook on the barnacle encrusted rocks and the fish is sadly lost. Not his day – but Andy takes it well and sets about rebaiting and getting out into the same spot.
20 minutes later as im helping Gary off the point I notice my Supro pull down, give a few nods then return back to its static position. 30 seconds later another slow pull down and a slight click on the ratchet suggests it might be my turn. For anglers with experience fishing for Rays, this is a tell-tale sign of a ray finding the bait as the fish lands on top of it and moves it toward its mouth. It’s important not to strike too early in case you miss the fish. I pick up the rod and wait for the sign that the fish has hold of the bait and begins to move off with it – which comes almost immediately and I lift into a good weight at the end. This time the fish comes high in the water and kites off to the left, coming to the surface around 20 yds out we can see it is a ray. Andy kindly makes his way down to the rock edges to land the fish and its mission accomplished for me – A lovely Thornback Ray tipping the scales at 8lb 4oz – a new PB. What a way to break the Greys Supro in properly, which I must say handled the fish superbly. This fish was on Bluey and squid wrap. A few photos and some footage with the go pro and its away.
My Greys Shadow is giving some rattles in the meantime but nothing convincing so I decide to leave it while I rebait and cast. Meanwhile Andy has recorded a target species for the day in the form of a lovely looking tub gurnard as well as a size Codling to his 3 hook flapper rig.
10 minutes later and no more movement on the shadow I decide to reel it in and rebait. Im surprised to find a significant weight on the end and after a few seconds, realise that clearly another Ray has found its way to my bait and has since just been sitting there. This fish, unlike the other, hangs deep and things are a bit ropey at first as I fear the reef edge at my feet will make short work of the trace if I don’t get the fish up. I feel the edge of the reef suddenly and my heart sinks but thankfully the fish comes straight over it and immediately Andy says “that looks like a better fish”.
It’s soon on the bank and pulling the scales at 9lb 8oz – PB broken twice in one day!
This time it was on straight bluey; I might sound like a broken record, but again, this bait is really starting to gain my confidence in its fish pulling abilities. It’s worth mentioning as well at this point that both fish were taken on the pennel hook – so im glad to see my little experiment has done me justice today!
A while later Andy is into another Ray – but unfortunately once again the hook pulls from this fish before we see it. He’s having a nightmare today as he’s now also got an unexplained broken tip ring - and couldn’t have deserved a ray more to be honest for his troubles.
Sadly that is the last of the ray action all 3 of us experience today – though the lads to our left manage a couple more smaller fish.
Eventually it’s time to call it quits and we make the horrendous climb back up the cliffs and banks and across the fields to get back to the car and travel into Dumfries for a well-deserved pizza.
Once again a memorable days fishing for both the right and wrong reasons accompanied by some good lads and fantastic weather. This stretch of coastline still has a lot to offer local and travelling anglers in a beautiful part of the country and no doubt we’ll be back again soon.
Credit as always goes to Andy for some brilliant photography.
Cheers for reading – Here's a Video Link
Rays of Sunshine on the Solway 30/05/16
The Solway Coast, in its true sense, is vast – interconnecting the North West of England to the South West of Scotland and fed by the Irish Sea. Starting in Cumbria at St Bees much of this coast has been recognised as an AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty) and if you ever visit, you’ll understand why – the scenery is spectacular. From St Bees in Cumbria, the coastal route heads north and brackets the Solway Firth in its entirety by crossing the borders around Bowness on Solway and eventually hitting Wigtown Bay. From here it travels west across the southern coast of West Scotland and snakes around the Isle of Whithorn. The final leg of the journey borders Luce Bay before concluding at the southernmost point of the Mull of Galloway.
For generations – anglers have flocked to all parts of this beautiful and rugged coastline and, particularly in years past; have enjoyed some truly spectacular fishing. Many of the marks have been added to history books, once renowned for huge its Cod and Bass. Whilst sport can still be enjoyed at the same places, it is undoubtable that the days of monster Cod are all but gone; however the same places can still offer you the chance of a memorable session if you do your homework. Bass, Codling, Tope, Bull Huss, Smoothound, Thornback Rays and a host of other species still offer local and travelling anglers the chance to get to grips with some decent fish. Indeed in the case of the Smoothound, these were somewhat unheard of in these parts until recent years.
Often as anglers, we love nothing more than the prospect of a road trip in search of different species that don’t often frequent home turf. Life commitments usually find us planning impromptu sessions at local marks to keep up with our techniques and our love for the sport targeting species that we are used to catching – and those that know their local marks inside out are the people that bag up consistently. These are the people that keep a record of tides and ground, prevailing weather conditions, know what baits and rigs fish best and when and make the most of this knowledge by only venturing out when all the boxes are ticked – usually bagging up in the process.
Some of us (myself included) even keep a diary of such information – and this can go a long way in saving you time and effort especially when learning newer marks. I find it just as beneficial to record sessions when I struggle as well as those red letter days – as this can save you a wasted journey next time if the conditions are similar, as well as boost the chances of success when fishing in optimum conditions.
The Session
When visiting marks further away from home, the above can really come into its own. Recently Myself, Andy Copeland and Gary Pearson have enjoyed some good success on local marks and decided a trip in search of something a bit different was needed. The original intention was to travel south in search of early Smoothound and Rays – but an early indication of probable conditions and weather scuppered that plan as we knew there was unlikely to be any Smoothounds on offer due to the forecast. On this particular weekend, it seemed like everything on the east side of our country would be grim – whereas the west side would enjoy some glorious weather and, from what we could gather, favourable fishing conditions for another target species.
So the revised plan was in motion to head to the west coast of Scotland – predominantly in search of Thornback Rays, but with the added chance of still tackling an odd Smoothound if lucky. While the weatherman had got the wind direction for the west coast COMPLETELY wrong (predicting northerly when in actual fact it was more south easterly), there was an element of truth to his predictions as the further west we headed, the sunnier it got. By all accounts we’re heading out quite late compared to usual – and we don’t arrive at our chosen mark until just before 1pm at the last of the ebb. The intention is to fish the flood in its entirety.
Immediately on the scramble down to the rocks we’re optimistic – seeing 2 other anglers already landing a good sized thornback. At least we know they’re there!
We’re also hoping the brilliant sunshine and clear water is going to keep the ever ravenous dogfish at bay – at least long enough to let something else find the bait! Where there are dogfish, Sunshine and clear water is your friend. You will never avoid them completely, however conditions such as this do seem to deter them a little; they become a bit shy and often mouth at baits rather than taking them with gusto immediately. Murkey water and overcast skies and this place turns into a kennel at times! Left to their own devices though dogfish will still be on your baits quickly even in these conditions so it’s still important to check/change baits regularly enough to ensure best chance of picking out something else.
Baits for the day are Mackerel, Squid, Bluey and peeler crab – the latter mainly for in case the hounds do show up. I’ll say it again that im really starting to become a fan of bluey as bait. Soft though it may be compared to mackerel, it packs an incredible amount of scent and breaks down more readily in water, and with enough baits and casts in the same spot you can be confident of building up a good scent trail for fish to follow.
Im fishing the usual 2 rods – the first my all-time favourite is a Greys Shadow geared up with a Penn Fathom 15, 25lb Asso Bullet Proof and 80lb Asso Ultra Flex Shock leader. The Grey Shadow is a rod that I have loved for as long as I’ve been sea fishing and as rare as hens teeth these days. One of the original UK Built rods, it feels most at home over clean and mixed ground – sporting a soft tip with credible bite detection, but enough grunt in the mid and butt section to bully large fish. It’s not to be underestimated as a rough ground rod, I’ve pulled codling out of kelp filled holes and cuckoo wrasse over car sized boulders in north wales with it and would describe it as a classic all round Greys Rod.
Rather than fishing with a second Shadow today as I normally would – my second rod is a Greys Supro. This is a newly acquired weapon of choice which I haven’t really given much of a chance to prove itself yet. The tip is notably softer than the shadow and thus gives even more sensitive bite detection, but it’s not to be underestimated again. If you load this rod up fully you’ll instantly spot the difference – the final third of the rod flexes with ease but fast tapers to the mid and butt section – which suddenly feels surprisingly ridged with some commendable strength – again suiting it to a variety of conditions. Again I pair it with a Penn fathom 15 and the same line setup.
Rig of choice is an up and over tied on 80lb rig body with 40lb Amnesia hook lengths as the rock edges here are covered in barnacles which can sever you’re gear in an instant. The up and over is always my go to rig for Rays as this not only pins your bait to the sea bed, but also keeps it away from your lead. This for me is key, as rays tend to land on and smother your bait when taking it – and the feeling of a grip lead sticking into its underside while it is attempting to eat your baited hook may deter it. At the business end I’ve decided on a pennel – something I don’t often use when targeting rays but have decided to do a little experimenting today. These are size 2/0 Sakuma Stingers, which I favour for rays due to the longer shank, allowing me to construct compact, pencil like baits that I need for my quarry. See below a reference to the rig – I like to incorporate the use of an SRT spring near to the swivel to ensure optimum tension and stop the hook from coming unclipped during the cast. It’s also worth making either the swivel or the overturned bait clip adjustable with the use of silicone sliders – again to ensure you have the right tension
I take around 2 and a half to 3 inch section off of a fillet of bluey and cut it in half length ways. I then place each section back to back (skin side together) and lash this to the hook to form a neat bait. Im varying the addition of squid on some casts by cutting the hood lengthways again, around the same size of the bluey sections and wrapping these round the bluey to form a “Jacket”.
Baits in the water – the traps are set and meanwhile im taking in the scenery and messing about with the go pro camera. Things start slowly – but Eventually Gary and Andy are the first to bring fish to their feet in the shape of the ever present dogfish. Im registering a bit of interest on both rods and soon pull into what I assume is a dogfish – only for it to come off. Much to my frustration this seems to repeat itself twice in the next 2 casts as I hook into fish only to find them come off half way! All the while Gary and Andy have had up to 3 dogfish each and so far im blanking!
Contemplating whether I’d rather catch a dogfish or continue blanking – I start to analyse why im losing fish. I’ve adapted my rig to incorporate a pennel, perhaps the root cause. But then I’ve caught plenty of dogfish on pennel rigs in the past when targeting bull huss and conger. Perhaps, as the theory goes, they are a little shy biting due to the combination of sun and clear water. Anyway I decide to stick it out.
As the first couple of hours pass the tide begins to slowly push us back up the rocks and its time to move a few yards to get away from the advancing water. As im reeling in my second rod there’s an obvious weight at the end suggesting a fish has taken the bait and has been lying there. Unsurprisingly, my first dogfish of the day is at my feet and the old cheque book and pen is avoided – dunno what I was worrying about anyway
Quickly released I move upwards into a position that will set me for pretty much the rest of the tide and rebait both rods and cast. We’re about half way into the flood at this point.
Gary stays on the point for a little longer and adds Codling, Pollock and a Tub Gurnard to his species list for the day – as well as a few more dogs.
As im chatting to Andy we both notice his rod tip pull down and spring backwards, before pulling down again. This could be it – it’s a typical Ray bite. Andy picks up his rod and feels for the fish moving off and sure enough, with another positive pull, he’s hooked into what is quite obviously the first Ray of the day. Rather than kiting its way down tide however, this fish refuses to come away from the sea bed and – nearing the rock edges, Andy tries his best to get it up and over the reef. Unfortunately this fish was having none of it, and makes a last ditch dive in an attempt to get under the reef, which promptly severs the hook on the barnacle encrusted rocks and the fish is sadly lost. Not his day – but Andy takes it well and sets about rebaiting and getting out into the same spot.
20 minutes later as im helping Gary off the point I notice my Supro pull down, give a few nods then return back to its static position. 30 seconds later another slow pull down and a slight click on the ratchet suggests it might be my turn. For anglers with experience fishing for Rays, this is a tell-tale sign of a ray finding the bait as the fish lands on top of it and moves it toward its mouth. It’s important not to strike too early in case you miss the fish. I pick up the rod and wait for the sign that the fish has hold of the bait and begins to move off with it – which comes almost immediately and I lift into a good weight at the end. This time the fish comes high in the water and kites off to the left, coming to the surface around 20 yds out we can see it is a ray. Andy kindly makes his way down to the rock edges to land the fish and its mission accomplished for me – A lovely Thornback Ray tipping the scales at 8lb 4oz – a new PB. What a way to break the Greys Supro in properly, which I must say handled the fish superbly. This fish was on Bluey and squid wrap. A few photos and some footage with the go pro and its away.
My Greys Shadow is giving some rattles in the meantime but nothing convincing so I decide to leave it while I rebait and cast. Meanwhile Andy has recorded a target species for the day in the form of a lovely looking tub gurnard as well as a size Codling to his 3 hook flapper rig.
10 minutes later and no more movement on the shadow I decide to reel it in and rebait. Im surprised to find a significant weight on the end and after a few seconds, realise that clearly another Ray has found its way to my bait and has since just been sitting there. This fish, unlike the other, hangs deep and things are a bit ropey at first as I fear the reef edge at my feet will make short work of the trace if I don’t get the fish up. I feel the edge of the reef suddenly and my heart sinks but thankfully the fish comes straight over it and immediately Andy says “that looks like a better fish”.
It’s soon on the bank and pulling the scales at 9lb 8oz – PB broken twice in one day!
This time it was on straight bluey; I might sound like a broken record, but again, this bait is really starting to gain my confidence in its fish pulling abilities. It’s worth mentioning as well at this point that both fish were taken on the pennel hook – so im glad to see my little experiment has done me justice today!
A while later Andy is into another Ray – but unfortunately once again the hook pulls from this fish before we see it. He’s having a nightmare today as he’s now also got an unexplained broken tip ring - and couldn’t have deserved a ray more to be honest for his troubles.
Sadly that is the last of the ray action all 3 of us experience today – though the lads to our left manage a couple more smaller fish.
Eventually it’s time to call it quits and we make the horrendous climb back up the cliffs and banks and across the fields to get back to the car and travel into Dumfries for a well-deserved pizza.
Once again a memorable days fishing for both the right and wrong reasons accompanied by some good lads and fantastic weather. This stretch of coastline still has a lot to offer local and travelling anglers in a beautiful part of the country and no doubt we’ll be back again soon.
Credit as always goes to Andy for some brilliant photography.
Cheers for reading – Here's a Video Link
Anyway once again thanks for sharing.
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