OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
Why short-notice sessions can be the best, providing you’ve got a handy supply of bait
Last-minute ray fishing off Swansea.
Many of the very best boat trips that I have been fortunate enough to have been involved with over the years have been those arranged at short notice. Typically, these have started with an unexpected phone call from a skipper or friend advising me that the fishing has been very good and that the weather forecast for the next day would be perfect. Would I like to jump aboard for a day’s fishing?
This was the case in the autumn when I had a phone call from Glyn Pressley, inviting me for a day’s fishing. Along with his pal Andy Samuels, we’d be targeting rays and other species in the Bristol Channel aboard their co-owned pride and joy, Happy Days.
One problem with such trips is obtaining bait at such short notice. Back in the days when autumn and winter fishing off the coast of South Wales was all about cod, obtaining sufficient quantities of freshly dug lugworm for these was often problematic. Such was the demand for fresh worms that at most shops bait had to be pre-ordered days, if not weeks, in advance.
I can even remember standing in line with other anglers, queuing before dawn for the shop to open or their digger to deliver the bait. Our wallets would take a hefty hit from the cost of purchasing a couple of pounds of fresh blacks.
It is well documented that the cod fishing in the Bristol Channel is, at best, a mere shadow of its former self, so there is much less demand for freshly dug worm bait. What fish are around can invariably be targeted successfully with frozen baits such as squid, mackerel and sandeels.
On my trip aboard Happy Days we would be targeting blonde rays, which in recent years have appeared in truly incredible numbers throughout the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel.
While these strongest and largest of our commonly caught species of rays can be taken on a wide variety of baits, including all those mentioned above, a whole squid or two takes a lot of beating.
Squid is relatively cheap, at least compared to black lug or live peeler crabs, and it can be stored in a freezer ready for use at short notice. Provided it is kept chilled throughout the day, it can be re-frozen and used the next trip.
RAY SESSION
Along with a small group of other private angling boats, most of whom headed west towards the prolific inshore grounds west of Sully Island, we exited Cardiff Bay at 6.30am through barrage lock No. 1. We’d heard about good numbers of rays caught at several marks between Sully Bay and Aberthaw, with a patch of ground off Porthkerry having been especially productive the previous day. This is where we anchored.
Blonde rays are typically found in areas swept by strong to very strong tides, especially in the Bristol Channel. Combine this with the fact that blondes frequently exceed double figures, and you really need to use suitable tackle if you are going to stand any chance of landing them.
A 20/30lb-class rod can be used as a minimum, while in many situations a 30/50lb is more suitable. Uptiding is still popular in the Bristol Channel, but many anglers are now using
modern boat rods in the region of 7ft 6in to fish both up and downtide, either with or without a grip weight as the run of tide dictates.
There is little need to use anything other than a simple running leger rig for blonde rays, just so long as you ensure that every individual component of your rig is strong.
Hooklengths should be a minimum of 80lb to withstand the considerable sustained pressure of holding a large flatfish hanging in a strong run of tide. I use a 4-6ft hooklength to keep the bait fishing hard on the bottom. Hooks must be strong and sharp. Inadequate hooks will simply straighten out or snap. My choice for blonde rays is the Sakuma 545 Manta Extra in sizes 6/0-8/0. Depending on the type and size of bait, I rig these either as a single or Pennell rig.
PERFECT PLAN
In addition to targeting species such as rays, congers, bull huss and cod, autumn in the Bristol Channel is also prime time for dogfish, and before the sun started to climb aboard the eastern horizon behind distant Steepholm Island, we’d all boated our first doggies of the day.
There were four anglers aboard Happy Days, fishing two rods apiece, which ensured that the scent trail of our squid baits would drift downtide to attract any ray in the area. Our plan worked to perfection.
Within half-an-hour of starting to fish, Andy Samuels was the first to boat a blonde. It was a modest fish that might have just made it into double figures.
Less than 10 minutes later he hooked a more substantial fish, which used the strong ebbing tide to get well down tide of the boat. This is the worse scenario when ray fishing in a strong tide. After five minutes of trying to coax the big ray back against the powerful flow of water, the inevitable happened and the line parted.
Off the South Wales coast the ebb tide is usually more productive than the flood, and our trip had been planned to fish from high tide down to low water. Throughout the first half of the morning we caught fish at a steady rate, with
our catch including a couple of rays, plus dozens of strap congers and dogfish.
ON THE MOVE
Listening to reports from other boats, and making calls to their crews, it quickly became apparent that Aberthaw was the day’s hotspot.
We reeled in, hauled anchor, and headed a few miles further west, eventually repositioning over another patch of broken ground.
Here we enjoyed a couple of hours of really good fishing before the strength of the flood tide forced us to call it a day.
We all caught several rays, with the biggest blondes approaching the 20lb mark, while variety was provided by a couple of thornbacks. Several boats fishing nearby reported catching a few cod into double figures and even, surprisingly, a couple of smoothhounds, which is very unusual at the end of October in these waters.
About an hour after low water, just as the tide was bordering on the unfishable, the wind started to increase from the west very quickly, making conditions uncomfortable.
For once the weather forecasters had been accurate in their predictions, and with a good supply of bait in our freezers we had been able to take full advantage of a perfect, short-notice window of opportunity. ■