What sort of ground is best for thornbacks? This ray was within a few ounces in size as the last one. Loch Etive. A 2 to 3-inch section of bluey bait is also excellent as it gives off a massive amount of oil and will draw rays in from far a field. Just slide the prawn up the hook tail first, then place another one alongside it and secure with bait elastic. Thornback rays can hit 20 lb most fish are between 3 – 10 lb in weight. First hold the line to lift the ray up. This Ray above was caught off a pier in North Wales. We set off at 02:00 and after a five and half hour drive we arrived at Loch Etive and were greeted with this sight. . We had picked a small tide with high tide at 9am, so holding the grip leads in the tide would not be a problem. In some areas sandeel baits are good for thornbacks. A quick search online for thornback ray rigs will give your loads of options to choose from but a good old pulley rig really is one of the best options. Mine's a single hook pulley rig with a strong #2/0 hook, my preference is a Varivas Big Mouth Xtra. They can be caught from the shore and from a boat. I couldn’t see him, but he said he would give me a shout if he hooked into something interesting and it didn’t take long as I heard a yell “I’ve hooked a ray”. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Thornback rays favour both shallow and deep water over sand, sand/mud or clean gravel seabed to feed. My first ray of the year was soon flapping in the surf and weighing in at around the 8lb mark, not a bad start to the season. Bait on the day was fresh mackeral cut into large chunks on a single 6/0." During March and April it is found close inshore and the best sport is throughout May, June, July, August and September, after which it migrates to deeper offshore waters. thornback ray Loch Etive. We set off at 02:00 and after a five and half hour drive we arrived at Loch Etive and were greeted with this sight. You can also add tippets of squid for extra attraction. Thornback taken at the Shelter Island Pier in San Diego Piers : Probably the most common ray caught off southern California piers; most often caught just outside the surf area. Posts about thornback ray written by Gary Wood. A widespread species that can be found in estuaries and sheltered bays with muddy-sandy ground, in other parts of the coast they can be found on open beaches. These then float off downtide and give you a little groundbait to help attract the rays in towards the main bait. The beach here is fishable up to the Nature Reserve and after that is private, a word of warning travel light as it is a good 20 minute walk to the reserve and it can be heavy going under foot. The third hour down of the tide had arrived and the run had eased, this is usually the crucial time for rays to start feeding, prime time for some serious fishing. St Osyth beach is primarily a summer venue, with thornback rays moving in to breed from the middle of March, giant stingrays appear in May and stay for most of the summer, plus if you have plans on targeting a big bass this is the place to be. WHEN AND WHERE TO FISH They can be caught from shallow open beaches moving in with the tide and sitting in shallow gutters that run parallel across the beach where food gets deposited or on the inclines of sandbanks where food again gets left by the tide. Up and over clipped running ledger,80lb rig body 40lb trace and 2/0 bigmouth hooks.If your fishing the Mersey squid and Blacklug cocktails.The rig is more compact than a pulley dropper rig so good for extra distance. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Thornbacks are common in North Wales, especially around Anglesey and Llyn peninsula. As the tide floods in, simply keep releasing line as you walk back with the tide. Our comprehensive guide to Spurdog fishing, everything you need to know to catch this member of the shark family from boat and shore. The most important thing is finding out the marks that produce these fish. Kevin had chosen to fish the other side of the rocky groyne to me. TOP TIP 3 There is a dimple on both sides of the mouth so you can hold the fish with two hands but be careful of the tail though because they do flick it about. Their thorns and crushing jaws can cause you injury so handle with care. It is a well kept secret that bass fishing in Wales is often at its best in the late autumn. It doesn’t stay for more than a couple of weeks, but when it’s here it can cause big problems for the angler. John Popplewell takes us on an outing to St Osyth in Essex where he and a couple of fishing friends target the ever popular, early season thornback ray on this favourite venue. I prefer to use a pulley rig that I can clip down for distance. When a ray takes your bait you will get a slight rattle on your rod tip this is when the ray is first settling on your bait. cutting the wings off a live ray to kill it is downright barbaric ! The middle sized tides rising towards the biggest spring tides are the ones to fish for consistent results. A whole small to medium sized squid is a good ray bait, as is a fillet of poor cod or pout. Occasionally they can be caught inside larger harbours when casting from breakwaters and harbour walls on to clean ground. Thornback rays mostly feed once the sun has started to set, spending daylight hours … Below:My 13 year old nephew was over the moon with his recently caught thornback ray from a loch in Scotland. In this predator fishing article, Adam Fisher of Angling Dreams shares his vast knowledge and passion for pike angling…, Wales has some fantastic sea fishing and in particular bass fishing!In this video bass angling guide Vaughan Thomas talks…, Your continued use of this website implies consent for usage of cookies. Above: A thornback ray being released to fight another day. One occurs in the spring triggered by the dropping of the egg sacs by the females and then breeding, but also by the first flush of peeling crabs along the shore. Let’s start with the tackle that you will need to target rays from the shore. A lot of people say Peeler Crab is deadly bait for them but with the price of crab rising I just stick with the frozen baits. Menu. Above: A thornback ray caught at dusk on a cocktail bait of Bluey and Mackerel. Rays covered across the back with small defined spots are spotted rays … Ray baits do not need to be big. The autumn and winter months will see those large shoals of whiting appear, but funnily enough not so many codling are caught from here. Try not to keep the ray out of water for too long and when you come to release them just hold them in the water until they regain there oxygen levels you will know when they are ready to go because they will flap their wings. TOP TIP 1 Then it went quiet for a bit with only crabs robbing our baits so I decided to get the lrf rod out and have a poke about down the side of the slipway typically soon as I dropped my line down the side my main rod went and i had to scramble back over to it. Have in the past landed them on 20lb Amnesia when fishing for other species but improve your odds by going for 40-50lb, perhaps more if fishing off rocks where lifting them out from a height may be necessary. In general snood lengths of 30in-plus are preferred for ray fishing. Also think Fishing-Mark is right, up and over and long and low rigs are the same but there are two different variants with the fixed rig that is like a bolt rig and the pulley version both work for rays. Their colouration on the back is more greyish brown when living on mud, to fawn or sandy brown when on sand with a white/grey belly. Big fish from the shore are scarce, and it is not easy for most anglers to catch a fish over 5lb. Some people like to eat ray I myself prefer catch and release but it’s your choice what you would like to do with the ray you catch. Use a whole large sandeel cutting the head and tail off, feed the body up the hook and over the hook eye and whip in place with elastic thread leaving the hook point exposed. The rays here tend to feed on most of the flood tide; the ebb tide is usually the 3rd and 4th hour down. Thornback rays have a diamond shaped flat body covered in small thorns and spines on the front and back of the body with a thorny tail. Eventually your bait will be two hundred yards or more out and in ray territory. St Osyth beach nestles serenely on the Colne estuary in Essex; the beach separates into two sections for the angler, offering varied ground to fish on.