Back on the Rays

I felt like time was running out slightly for me to get into the small eyed rays this year, as there had already been reports of good catches since mid August. The plan was a short session almost straight after work to fish an hour or so up then two down. However several events beyond my control meant I arrived at the beach about half an hour after high.

As I stomped over the sand dunes I saw a head torch to the right fishing in the channel, but I headed away to the left, expecting an empty beach. On turning the corner though there was another torch an a familiar face, Richard, who was on the beach last year and had a beast of a ray just over 10lb, and was also there a few weeks back when the fishing was very poor.

After a quick chat I was set up and cast out, going slightly easy as the line was not bedded on the reel properly from last session. Wind was strong and straight in our faces but thankfully it was just about fishable, with not too much weed in the water. 30 mins past and not much happening so it was out with fresh baits, this time a bit more welly in the casts. I was moving my gear down the beach a bit when there was a noticeable pull down easily distinguished from the waves followed by plenty of slack line. The fish gave a good tussle and initially I thought I had a nice bass on, until I caught a flash of the eyes in my head torch and I knew it was a ray. I got it closer and could see it was a small eyed, mission accomplished. I nipped over to Richard, who did the honours with his camera, as mine had a flat battery.

As I was returning the ray Richard had a bite on, and as I went back to my gear I could see my other line had gone slack and I was in again, and both fish landed at the same time. Another quick photo and I was running back to my rods to get cast out again. What felt like a bit too long passed without another bite and sure enough baits came back untouched. A move down the beach and one last round of casts had the same result, it seemed as quickly as the rays appeared they had gone again.

I wasn't complaining though with target caught. They are fun to catch from the beach, giving a different fish than when catching them in the deep water so if the weather allows I might be back while they are still around in numbers.

Getting out of the Elements

So last night (Saturday) me and Paul had planned a big session, again tope would be the main target but there would always be a chance of huss and conger if they didn't turn up. Due to the weather we ended up at an area near Point Lynas that I had fished a last week and caught those nice pollack from.

After finding the way down to the first ledge a bit too sketchy we found a more suitable outcrop a made tracks towards it. Unfortunately this is where things started to go a bit wrong as I had forgotten to charge my main head torch, and Paul's decided it wasn't going to work at all so we were both down to our dimmer back up lights. As this is an area that is probably not fished at all we had to blaze a trail through waist high ferns and gorse bushes at times so by the time we made it onto the rocks I was already wet through. Still we had got a long way down just to turn around so we got fishing.

The tide was high, but we were sheltered from the worst of the weather and the swell was none existent. Big half mackerel baits went out in an effort to lure some monsters from the deep. The water wasn't as deep as I was expecting but it wasn't long before a little ring from the ratchet signalled the first bite. I left it in the hope there would be more movement while I carried on getting comfortable on the rocks. Mean while a solid take developed on me other rod so I struck into this one and could feel a bit of a fight, unfortunately the fish dropped the bait just before it was in sight, a promising start though. Upon reeling the first rod in I found a small strap conger had managed to devour the half mackerel.

This pattern continued through the night, with some good bites being missed and some fish dropping off halfway in. The next fish landed was a tiny huss of a couple of pound, followed quickly by another slightly bigger. At this point the rain made a return and I went from having almost dried out completely, to being wet through again in a matter of minutes. It didn't put the fish off though as in between a couple of missed bites I managed a slightly bigger conger, and not long after dropped a bigger huss as it hit the now exposed ledge below us. Unfortunately Paul had a nightmare, having problems with his rod after getting stuck and being unable to see anything with such a dim light. Eventually he managed to get into some fish, albeit just a few doggies and one tiny huss. The best was saved for last however as I used the last mackerel for the last casts resulting in a bouncing take and I had another better huss at the surface. With a better hook hold this one was on the rocks and despite being a bit feisty it obliged for a photo.

Once packed up it was time to tackle the long walk back to the car, and it was all uphill back through the jungle. We got back to the car exhausted after such an adventure but this is definitely a mark worth revisiting. Unfortunately the pictures aren't great but with the sporadic rain it was a case of making sure it stayed as dry as possible.

Tope update

So the last week I managed to get two short sessions out with the number 1 target of course being tope.

Wednesday morning I headed to a new mark near Amlwch. Heavy mist made it tricky to find a suitable ledge, and I ended up a bit further away from where I planned to be, but I made the most of my limited time and I got fishing. The big rods were straight out with half mackerel baits and wasn't long before the tips were nodding with doggies. I set up my third rod with feathers to try for some mackerel for fresh bait. Unfortunately I had no such luck with them, but did manage 3 decent pollack to 2lb by bringing the feathers in close to the rocks. All the big rods bought in was doggies, and I lost a couple of sets of gear so there was a few snags out there, but this was definitely a mark that I'll revisit.

Friday evening I zoomed straight from work to a nearby rock mark for a few hours. Fishing the last few hours up to high on a big tide normally isn't the best for this mark but it was worth a go. The swell was never dangerous but it kept me on my toes as it got dark. I managed just one mackerel which took one of the big baits on the retrieve, this was quickly dispatched and cut in half for the last round of casts. unfortunately I fudged one of the casts so arguably I only had one bait fishing. I left the one good cast rod out while I packed everything away. As I went to reel the last one in there was a definite bite, I struck and there was a fish on and there was a bit of weight to it as well. After a brief tussle I eventually got it to the surface and onto the rocks below me where I could grab it. A decent huss and a good way to end the session, hopefully get a longer session or two on the tope next week.

Tope Hunting

So in between all the sessions I have been reporting I have also been going for a few sessions after my first shore tope.

It began towards the end of July, I had a few hours at Ty Croes chucking out big mackerel and sandeel baits. Unfortunately the main ledge was already taken at 9am so I settled further to the left. I fished over low and about half the tide up but the action was very slow. A couple of doggies were the only takers on sandeel cast as far as I could, but big mackerel baits came back untouched.

Next effort was 9th August, I packed the bike into the car and missoned up to Fort Belan and fish the mouth of the Straits. Despite moving a couple of times and finding some deep water, the current proved too strong and the weight of the seaweed snapped my line both times, and I called it a day. The very day after was my trip to Pwllheli that is detailed in another post, safe to say there was no tope caught that day either!

About a week later I had a crack at a new mark on Anglesey called the Ranges. It took a while but eventually I found a ledge that was fishable, unfortunately the current was incredibly strong, carrying my gear out to sea. I made a slight move to an area that looked like there was less of a tide run and managed to hold bottom. As it got dark the current still couldn't make its mind up and I watched a lobster pot buoy float initially to the left, then right, then back to the left again. As the current went slack briefly I had my only bite which resulted in a huss about the 9lb mark. It would have gone bigger had it not spewed a giant softie edible crab on the rocks. The current picked up again and after losing a couple of sets of gear I cut my losses and packed up.

Then it was back to Dinas Dinlle on a big tide. We positioned ourselves at the first bend, where in front of us there was a bit of deep water and the gully was filling nicely. Unfortunately, despite throwing out big mackerel and sandeel baits again there was no action at all, not even a doggie came out to play.

Back Bassing

The weather and tides coincided Saturday just gone, to give me a bit of optimism to try the corner for bass again. I met up with Paul and Arwyn at Penmaenmawr to dig worm for the session. With plenty for the session we made a quick stop for food before setting up at our mark. As the water was still quite a way out I used to time to knock together a few more rigs, though this was forced as I left most of the ones I planned to use at home!

I went all guns blazing with 3 rods and big lug baits, a settled down waiting for the ratchet to go. First cast there seemed to be a little bit of interest, however upon reeling in the weight and bait was smothered in green mat weed, not a good sign. Next round of casts there was no action, but on reeling in, one of the baits had obviously been mauled by an eel as it was horribly tangled with snotty slime all up the line. Inconvenient to say the least as I had to chop up the rig and tie on another, wasting a bit of time. While that was happening Arywn had landed 2 eels, and Paul had moved 50 yards to the other side of the beach to try and find a bass.

I was standing by my bass rod when I noticed a pull down, a quick strike and fish on. It came in a bit easy but there was enough fight to suggest it was more than an eel. Sure enough a bass was soon sliding up the beach, small but a bass is a bass!

With the little one returned, we fished hard for another but it just didn't happen. I think that the presence of so many small mackerel all around North Wales that the bass are still out there chasing the shoals of baitfish instead of grubbing around inshore for worms and crabs. Back after the tope this week, the big bass will have to wait a little longer!

August Round Up

The last month or so has been occupied mainly with tope hunting, however that has been fairly uneventful. To break the blank cycle I've had a few goes targeting other species.

While at Pwllheli I originally pitched up by Gimblet Rock in the hope of tope. After Nothing at all showing I moved down to the other end of the beach and before they went of the feed I manged a couple of bream. Only small but still another species knocked off the list.

Also had a session after the bass to see if they had turned up at the corner in numbers. Unfortunately the forecast wind never arrived, so the water was flat calm. Both me and Paul managed a schoolie each but given previous years we expected to be pulling them out like doggies.

Last session was Wednesday just gone, with Paul pulling out a few rays on the Monday we hit the beach again with high hopes for the small eyes. I got there just after high tide with Paul, Arwyn and 2 other fellas already set up. Those two had fished all the way from low up without luck but we expected the action to begin on the ebb. We chased the tide out further and further with no sign of action the two fellas left. Was getting towards packing up myself when I had a codling, and decided next casts would be the last. One rod was away and I thought I saw a bite on the other but I put it down to weed. It wasn't until the last part of the retrieve when I was the line moving off to the left I realised I had a fish on and sure enough it was a ray. Turned out to be a thornback, not the species we were after but a very welcome bonus, making the late night worth while.