jarrowviking
Well-known member
For the past two years I have had the odd visit to the Durham beaches during Summer in the hope of catching the very elusive North Sea, Thornback ray.
My venue had to be a beach giving a good depth of water at high tide which has thrown up one or two rays in the past for anglers willing to wait it out.
The chosen beach which I was lucky enough to have just about all to myself, happy days.
Bait can be the key to success or failure when targeting certain species so a bucket of peelers was the bait of choice today, these I'm told rays love.
One rod was cast out as far as I could cast which isn't very far to be honest and a second lighter Bass rod was cast short at around 50 yds in the hope of picking a Bass up. Three hours passed very quickly in the glorious sunshine but I hadn't had as much as a touch on either rod.
I was just thinking about calling it a day when my Bass rod steadily pulled down and that was it for a moment, ???? I thought a bit of weed had snagged my braid so I picked up the rod to see what was going on and that was when all hell broke loose, something big, alive and heading for Norway was obviously on the end. After what seemed an eternity and one of the best fights I've ever experienced a new personal best Thornback was beached.
An 8lb 4 ounce cracker.
The beasty...
Was I pleased?, you bet I was, only one bite all day and only one fish but this was one of the best fishing experiences I have ever had. Tightlines, J.V.
My venue had to be a beach giving a good depth of water at high tide which has thrown up one or two rays in the past for anglers willing to wait it out.
The chosen beach which I was lucky enough to have just about all to myself, happy days.
Bait can be the key to success or failure when targeting certain species so a bucket of peelers was the bait of choice today, these I'm told rays love.
One rod was cast out as far as I could cast which isn't very far to be honest and a second lighter Bass rod was cast short at around 50 yds in the hope of picking a Bass up. Three hours passed very quickly in the glorious sunshine but I hadn't had as much as a touch on either rod.
I was just thinking about calling it a day when my Bass rod steadily pulled down and that was it for a moment, ???? I thought a bit of weed had snagged my braid so I picked up the rod to see what was going on and that was when all hell broke loose, something big, alive and heading for Norway was obviously on the end. After what seemed an eternity and one of the best fights I've ever experienced a new personal best Thornback was beached.
An 8lb 4 ounce cracker.
The beasty...
Was I pleased?, you bet I was, only one bite all day and only one fish but this was one of the best fishing experiences I have ever had. Tightlines, J.V.
