The night hunters
Thornbacks are now an all-year target in many areas, even in winter, so why not get out there and catch some?
Thirty years ago, thornback rays in West, Mid and North Wales would disappear from the inshore grounds during November for breeding, typically venturing back inshore in late February, sometimes even earlier, in many areas. Their return coincided with the cycle of herring shoals and the first peeling crabs shedding their shells out in the warmer, deeper water below the spring tide line. Now, with the winter producing, on average, higher overall sea temperatures, they seem to hang about throughout the year.
There is also a wider spread of the outward and inward migration pattern through the spawning period. If you know where to look, it’s still February, with its increasing hours of daylight and, hopefully, sunshine to kick-start the inshore food supplies, that still signifies the real return of the rays in numbers in many areas.
WHERE AND WHEN
You’d assume I was about to mention rock ledges into deeper water here, but I’m not. There are rock ledges in Wales that produce early rays, but the more consistent fishing is from the western surf beaches, and at the mouths of our larger estuaries.
The beaches of West and Mid-Wales are rarely fished this early in the year, but rays are present, especially at Newgale, Newport, Aberporth and Borth, as examples. In North Wales, look to the beaches north of Barmouth, Pwllheli, Nefyn and Dinas Dinlle.
Thornbacks also appear at the shallower beaches at Llanfairfechan, Llandudno, and from the outer marks on the Dee Estuary, with a few taken off Rhosneigr and the beaches near Malltraeth on Anglesey.
This is just a guide to where my fishing buddies and myself have caught late-winter and early-spring thornbacks in past years.
If you’re fishing open surf beaches, choose middle-sized tides rising towards springs. Thornbacks move inshore with bigger tides in greater numbers and locate on ground immediately below the mean low-water line, then move in as the tide floods. The peak time on many marks seems to be the middle flood when the tide is pulling hardest. The rays quickly move out to deeper water as the ebb gets underway.
Things are different when fishing estuaries such as the Dee. The fish may follow the middle tide pattern, but also show in the two hours up to high water as the tide eases, especially when the tide run is very fast through the middle flood period on a mark.
Thornbacks, generally, do not like rough seas or a big surf and move out to deeper
water. Anglers should look for a fairly settled period of weather with lighter surf and settling seas. Gentle onshore winds, or even light easterlies tend to bring the fish closer. They will also tolerate water carrying some sediment, and such conditions can see them move tighter to the surf tables.
If the water has some clarity, thornbacks stay in deeper water during daylight, unless it’s a very overcast day. If your only option is daylight, choose a period when several overcast days coincide or when a tide begins to flood in full darkness. This is when the best catches occur because thornbacks are natural night hunters using the cover of darkness to venture closest to shore.
RIGS
The most suitable rig is a pulley. Mine is made from 60lb mono about 56in in length. I tie a clip at one end, slide on a 5mm bead, a pulley rig bead and another 5mm bead. Let the beads slide down to meet the clip.
Hold the rig at the top to form equal lengths of rig body and hooklength. A fraction past that midway point of line, tie in a figureof-eight knot in the hooklength to trap the beads and pulley rig. This knot is not under any real pressure during the cast, nor will it cause an issue when playing fish.
I prefer one length of line to form both rig body and hooklength because it is stronger. The pulley rig bead spreads the casting load on the rig body much better than a single-eyed swivel and, in my opinion, is essential. The angle of the line when it is pulled through the pulley bead is less acute and works much better.
Crucial to this rig is a bait stop. You’ll be hitting a big bait very hard on the cast, and this can cause the bait to slide up the hooklength away from the hook. My bait stop is created by sliding on a normal rig crimp, followed by a 3mm rig bead then a size 8mm round bead.
Without the 3mm bead, a small rig crimp will pass through the central hole in most 8mm beads, especially under casting pressure. Squeeze the crimp in place with just enough force to let it slide under very heavy finger pressure. The ability to slide gives you some adjustment for different bait sizes.
Some anglers use a two-hook Pennell rig, but I can’t see the point because a ray isn’t a hit-and-run fish where the double hook might be an advantage. A single hook is plenty for a sensibly sized bait. I use a Mustad Viking size 4/0 honed razor sharp, which also has some give, allowing it to flex a little under pressure. Some chemically-sharpened hooks lack this give and can snap on big fish. Squash the barb down so that the hook is easier to remove from the fish.
BAIT
In February, fairly fresh mackerel or herring is hard to source, but will give you an edge. The likelihood is that you’ll be using frozen bait.
I like cocktails when using frozen, and the best is a combination of squid and mackerel. Cut a 2½ inch length of mackerel strip with plenty of flesh left on it and position this on the hook, passing the hook through the skin side first, sliding the strip up the shank, then passing the point back through the skin. Now cut roughly the same length of squid and bind it on the hook shank under the mackerel strip, building the bait up from underneath to leave the point well clear.
Another option is a ‘coffin bait’, with the mackerel pushed up inside the body cavity of the squid then bound with bait elastic. This my choice when crab activity is a problem.
Whole squid is good when crab activity means your baits are whittled down quickly. Only use the main body of the squid, not the head. Pass the hook through the body two or
three times, then bind it with bait elastic to make a streamlined sausage shape.
If you want to fish only mackerel, then cut off the tail fin, and cut through the body about 2½in up to form a cone shape. Pass the hook down through the inside of the flesh under the skin, and then out through the wider cut end, and bind well with bait elastic.
I want a streamlined bait for casting, but when fishing at night or in coloured water, I want smell, and lots of it. Achieve those two criteria, and you can have confidence in your bait finding a fish.
TACTICS
Rays congregate well beyond the low-water line on surf beaches. If you can reach them with a good cast, then as they begin to move out to look for food, you’ll pick up early fish.
There’s often a visual lift of a sandbank at the mean low tide line edge and, as the tide floods, the rays move towards this. They wait beyond it until the tide floods the mid-tide line deep enough for them to advance in further. This is when they’ll move on to ground above the low tide line.
They’ll often be in gutters and gullies that run parallel with the beach during mid-flood, even if only a few inches deeper than the surrounding ground.
If you can locate bowl-shaped depressions where shallow sandbanks form, then this is another good area to put your bait.
I fish with two rods at the same distance initially, and try to keep them within about 10 to 15yds of each other. This gets that bit more smell in roughly the same area. These are biggish baits, so they can be left for around 20 minutes, before retrieving and putting on fresh.
At night and in coloured water, rays are hunting by smell, so keep it fresh and oozing juices. Two different baits work too. Try a mackerel/squid cocktail on one, and a whole squid on the other.
Normally, you’ll be using breakout weights, but a tactic in areas where you can let a bait drift with the tide a little, is to use pyramid weights, especially luminous ones. In clear or slightly coloured water, these seem to attract rays. Letting the bait trot around with the tide allows it to drop into natural depressions where rays are found.
Bites are simple affairs. The rod tip may shudder a few times and pull forward as the ray takes the bait and moves away. A breakout weight allows a ray to self-hook, but you should set the hook as soon as the rod tip pulls down to avoid deep hooking.
Tighten into the fish and retrieve as it swims away. The fish will kite in the tide, maybe attempt to hold on the seabed, but light pressure shifts them. A ray may swim off for short distances when entering shallowing surf or if you’re landing a ray at the edge of a deeper estuary channel.
Given the time of year, it’s easy to sit at home and not bother, and, like I said, these beaches see few anglers in late winter and very early spring, but the rewards are there for those who try their luck. ■