SURPRISE SURPRISE!
Rumours of early rays turn into a tale of the unexpected
Chris Clark seeks out some early rays.
Under normal circumstances I give specimen hunting a wide berth early in the year because the fishing has a reputation for being as hard as nails. Yet after hearing some rumours on the grapevine that a few fish were stirring two months earlier than normal from marks along the Dorset/Devon border, it really grabbed my attention. After a few hasty phone calls, I was ready to hit the road again in February with Steve Lawrence and Jamie Young, both from Poole.
We decided on Seaton as our destination, where a few early rays had been caught, and where the fishing normally springs into action with plaice, rays and smoothhounds from April onwards.
As we pulled up at the café that adjoins Seaton Angling Centre, our hopes of a bagging session were somewhat diminished by the noise of a heavy swell pounding the beach. This was the legacy of a strong onshore wind earlier in the day, but it had now gone northerly, which was directly behind us.
After a quick brew at the café and a natter with the lads from the tackle shop, it was just a couple of minutes’ drive around to the road running behind the promenade where there is free parking during the winter. In summer the pay and display machine needs constant feeding.
Seaton has a fairly steep shelving shingle beach, and there is the occasional patch of sand close to the low water line. The ground is relatively clean, with the exception of the extremities, where there are rocky reefs that hold a good variety of species.
Apart from the pounding surf, there was also a fair amount of floating weed and other flotsam, which would add to our problems. Landing a half-decent fish in that type of sea was going to be difficult, to put it mildly. On the plus side, the morning’s heavy rain had given way to a bright blue sky and the temperature had rocketed into low double figures for a few hours. It seemed to be the cue for other local anglers to get out too, with several arriving as darkness fell.
We’d arrived on the beach around 4pm, two hours before high water, and had planned to fish through until around 9pm. Our tactics and baits would vary to maximise our chances of bagging a few decent fish.
Jamie, who has a shoulder injury similar to mine, fished with a pair of Tronixpro Cobra GT rods, both with fixed-spool reels. Very much a specimen hunter, he fished size 4/0 or 6/0 hooks baited with either sandeel or squid. Steve was using more traditional beachcasters with multiplier reels, again with very large hooks, but baited with a mixture of mackerel, Bluey and ragworms.
Having not expected a heavy sea, my approach was far lighter than the others and consisted of a pair of Yuki Orata rods with fixed-spool reels, both loaded with 0.25mm mainline and a tapered shockleader. Landing a decent fish under these conditions on light tackle would certainly test my abilities.
At the business end of one rod I added a two-up and one-down trace armed with size 1 Kamasan B940 hooks baited with ragworms. For the other rod I chose a clipped-down size 3/0 uptide hook baited with sandeel, along with a small size 1 retention hook just to keep the bait nice and neat.
SIGNS OF LIFE
Initially, I was not expecting a great deal of action until darkness fell, which was just before high water. However, we were in for a surprise because within a few minutes of the baits hitting the seabed, the rods were showing signs of life. The culprits turned out to be dogfish, which were readily taking baits of all types and sizes. Apart from the doggies, I was also getting a fair number of pouting and rockling on the ragworms, but our main target species were eluding us, at least for the time being.
Soon we were fishing in the inky darkness, and high tide was done and dusted without a sniff of anything decent, although the seabed seemed to be alive with dogfish. Out of the blue I had a real wake-up call. Having just cast out with some fresh ragworms, the line suddenly fell slack just as I placed the rod in the tripod. I must have retrieved at least 30 yards of line before catching up with the culprit, which I initially assumed was a bass. I was in for a real shock when a sizable smoothhound came though the surf, the last species I was expecting in February.
Although the hound was not one of our target species (they do not normally start to make their presence felt along this stretch of shoreline until April), it certainly gave us a glimmer of hope that there could be something bigger lurking behind the breakers. As the tide started to ebb, so did the dogfish, which would give other species a chance. Soon my rod baited with a sandeel started to show some signs of life. The bite, comprised of a number of slow pull-downs, was different to that of dogfish.
After leaving the bite to develop for a few minutes, I leaned into the fish and it felt solid. The culprit was really hugging the seabed, which suggested a good ray. It was fairly nerve-racking stuff during the next five minutes as I eased the fish towards the shoreline, but landing it in the pounding surf was going to be another matter.
Once I had the fish within 20 yards of the shore I shouted for Steve to lend a hand. He scampered along the beach to join me, but just as he was about to grab the fish as it was getting knocked about in the undertow, I gave a warning shout. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a monster wave approaching, but it was too late. While the ray was safe after being washed up the beach by the rogue wave, my real concern was getting Steve to safety. With his boots, pockets and everything else filled with water, I was really relieved when we finally got him out of harm’s way. My old ticker was working overtime.
After all the commotion, it was time to weigh the fish and take some photographs. It was a small-eyed ray that took the scales to 10lb 13oz. What a beauty, a personal best, and the main target species ticked off the list. It was the small size 1 bait-holding hook that had held firm. After the excitement of landing the ray in hostile conditions, it was time to take stock and head for home. The temperature had dropped to just 3°C, and with Steve wet to the skin it was time to get him into the warmth of the car.
Anyone heading to Seaton during the next few months can expect a fair number of plaice by day, but as darkness falls there should be bass, smoothhounds and rays. Use ragworms or lugworms for the flatties, sandeels for the rays and peeler crabs for the better hounds.