Rokers roar
The Thames Estuary is often the place to visit if you’re looking for some stand-out sport for thornback rays
It’s no secret that thornback rays have made a healthy recovery over the last decade or so. This seems to be widespread throughout the country, but particularly in the Thames Estuary area where I run my charter boat from Mersea Island on the Blackwater. Having read the ‘Fall and rise of the raja’ article by Dave Lewis in Sea Angler 581, I agree with his points about the increase in these fish. Over the last decade, here in Essex we have come to expect these fish to be present in varying numbers throughout the year.
As other species come and go, we rely on the thornbacks, known locally as roker, to provide us with some great sport. They don’t disappoint. This year has been no different. Thanks to another relatively mild winter we were able to fish through all but the worst weather and often found good numbers of these fish.
One or two sheltered marks were producing up to 40 rays a trip. When the water warms up, more fish move inshore and become more active and widespread.
Our first big influx of rays happened in March, just before the country was locked down, but we managed to get in a couple of bumper days despite some decidedly average weather.
FISH ALL DAY
I’ll tell you about two of our trips, both with seven anglers consisting of my regulars and a couple of newcomers. Unfortunately, the weather wouldn’t allow us to get right offshore, but we salvaged the trips by fishing inshore and seeking shelter behind one of the many sandbanks that surround the Blackwater.
On both occasions we arrived before slack tide in the morning and fished the next tide for six hours until it eased off and we headed for home.
The first day’s fishing produced a steady stream of rays throughout most states of the tide. The weather had been keeping the other boats inshore, and, with a strong wind beam on, my boat would have been stuck closer inshore, too, if it hadn’t been a catamaran.
Apart from the rays, we caught occasional dogfish and a few whiting. When the tide was at its strongest, bites slowed down a little, which is often the case, but we resisted the temptation to move. This paid off when the tide backed off and more fish pushed through. These were a far better stamp, with several females in double figures. We release all the females and nowadays people are sensible and only keep a male for the table very occasionally.
We had several multiple hook-ups, including, at one stage, five people into fish at once. One fish appeared to have a growth, like a dorsal fin,
out of its back. It was a small male fish caught by Stephen Clarke, who wasn’t in a rush for a trophy picture so I got a quick snap on deck and returned it.
As the tide started to turn, we were still catching fish and, tempting though it was to stay, we headed home with 94 rays for the day.
AT THE DOUBLE
The next day proved to be very similar. We started off well on the last of the tide, although fishing went a bit quiet over slack water, but there were more whiting. One of the anglers was James Slater, who fishes for the England junior shore team. He switched rigs and was pulling out treble shots of whiting, but it wasn’t long before he turned his attention back to the rokers.
The fish were not as obliging as the day before and, once again, I resisted the temptation to move. It paid off because the latter part of the tide produced more rays. These included some double-figure females, the biggest two both over 16lb, were caught by Alec Branton and a lad on his first sea fishing trip. Neil Cox caught his first double shot of rays from a boat, which he had set out to do from the start of the trip.
By the time the tide started to die, we headed home. As I hauled the anchor, the lads boated ray number 80. Fishing like this is not to be sniffed at, particularly on a windy day in March. Although numbers like these aren’t uncommon in the spring, our average catches are understandably lower. We regularly expect 20-50 each trip, and in late spring we see more bass and smoothhounds mixed in before the rays start to move further out in early summer.