Fishing With Harry - Part 3
Sorry for the long delay between parts 2 and 3 but with the publishing of the spring and bass catalogues amateur journalism has had to be put on hold! Fortunately we have still found time to do a bit of fishing and Harry’s sea fishing career is progressing steadily.
Having found the joys of Kingston Seymour this has remained a favorite venue and Harry has been on a few solo ventures which have had some highs, including his first sizeable codling, and some lows. A trip when a too high tide lead to wet feet and another when the tide failed to appear acted as timely reminders of how important a tool the tide table is to the shore angler.
The capture of the codling gave Harry the urge to try and catch a bigger fish and with the onset of spring the most likely candidates in the channel would be thornback rays and congers. Although both species can be caught from the high tide marks Jansen thought that the best chance of success would be from one of the low water rock marks. Harry was not quite as keen as his previous limited experience had taught him that rocks equal lost tackle, something which in common with most beginners he was not too keen on. A lunch hour spent demonstrating and tying rotten bottom rigs showed how the adding of a Gemini Breaker to a pulley rig can save on lost traces and that although the leads may be lost the trace, and hopefully fish, can still be retrieved. Baits would also need to be different with bigger baits helping the chances of catching a bigger fish. A whole squid or a squid and worm cocktail would be the baits Harry and Jansen tried so they tied up some pennel rigs using 5/0 Varivas Big Mouth hooks and 70lb snood line to reduce he risk of being bitten off by a strap eel.
The first trip was a rather disastrous venture to Brean Down. Just the mention of the steps will still bring Harry out in a sweat and the fishing was not worth all the efforts as a stronger then forecast wind put the fish off. One plus point was that the rigs worked and this helped to reduce Harry’s loathing of rough ground marks.
The next attempt was a little further up channel at Sand Point and more favorable conditions had Jansen hopeful that they might achieve their target. Harry was watching his rod like a hawk and after a few minuets he saw it lift slightly. Before Jansen noticed what was happening Harry picked the rod up and feeling a slight pull he lifted into a heavy weight. Alas his whoop of joy was short lived as the unseen weight made a lunge and the rod went light as the fish was lost. After the cursing died down Jansen explained that because a ray’s mouth is under its body it can take them a while to take the bait and it is best not to react too quickly to a bite but wait until it develops properly. As if to prove the point Jansen’s squid and lug baited rod gave a small nod and slackened slightly in the tide. As they watched the tip lifted again but this time the line kept falling slack and by the time Jansen skidded across the rocks to his rest the line was lying on the beach. This bite resulted in what turned out to be the only fish of the day which was a female thornback of about 8lb neatly hooked in the corner of the mouth on the top hook of the pennel.
Having now seen a ray landed Harry was all the more determined to land one for himself and after a couple of other failed low water trips he finally achieved his mission from of all places his favorite spot at Kingston Seymour. Unfortunately he had left his scales in his coarse kit but he was keener to see the fish returned then know the exact weight so he put her back without being weighed but from the picture he took we would guess she was pushing 10lb which is a nice fish to catch as your first ray.