AHoy Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 (edited) Despite my rubbish track record at finding marks and catching fish Rich Stephens offered to crew for me on Saturday and we made a relatively leisurely start leaving Cobbs Quay for the 9:30 bridge lift. We had time for a brief chat with the crew of Frisky Fox while holding for the bridge and had a bit of inspiration passed across as well. Good to see you out on the water Mike. We didn't have a specific plan, other than to avoid the crowds (as much as possible on a fine Saturday) and try a couple of closer marks first before going further afield if necessary. A couple of early drifts for mackerel drew a blank so for bait we decided to fall back on the squid, rag and "mature" mackie that Rich had brought along. In addition I had a pack of prawns salvaged from the domestic "past sell-by-date" stock. A couple of drifts across our first chosen mark provided some action so as the tide turned we anchored for the mark intending to have a quiet lunch until the flow picked up. This was not to be and lunch was interspersed with a busy three hours or so of fishing activity - quite a novelty for me We were each using a light weight rod and a medium weight rod, in my case 6-12lb and 12-20lb Shimano Speedmasters. We had our own variants of basic rigs, with Rich using significantly shorter traces than me. We had a a good take of Bream (20+) with Rich catching more frequently on the shorter rigs but my longer rigs catching the larger fish but less frequently - bit of a lesson in that for us . Rich switched across to the mackerel bait and was "rewarded" by a few Dogfish. I also managed to land a large rock (stone variety) of a few pounds which was well hooked . I thought I had snagged another large rock when the 12-20lb rod took on a serious bend and stayed well bent during the retrieve, however, after a bit of effort I was rewarded with a new species catch for me, a (Thornback, correction) Undulate ray of 10lb 12oz . All fish were returned other than a couple of larger Bream each for the table. BTW, not another boat on the mark with us all day, so we managed to avoid the crowds as well. Not a bad days fishing and good company as well. Thanks for crewing Rich. Poor pose by me with new species/PB. Edited May 12, 2008 by AHoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam F Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 That's an Undulate Ray, Al. Probably a good thing (?) Undulates are probably rarer than thornbacks and arguably a better catch. Hopefully still a 1st on the boat. http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aquarium/pages/undulateray.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHoy Posted May 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 That's an Undulate Ray, Al. Probably a good thing (?) Undulates are probably rarer than thornbacks and arguably a better catch. Hopefully still a 1st on the boat. http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aquarium/pages/undulateray.html Adam, Thanks for the ID correction, I wasn't certain from the details in my limited reference book and was going by the spines on the tail and wings: The URL you gave is a much better reference than my book. Either way (ray?) it is still a first for me and the boat, but I had better get the detail right for Mr Recorder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 sounds like a nice day out all round Al, thanks for the report. pretty much all the rays have 'thorns' and for many people 'thornbacks' becomes a fairy generic term for the odd fish they catch. we are very fortunate as you have a reasonable chance of catching most of the 'common' species in the waters around Poole. spots - spotted or blonde dark pattern lines - undulate light pattern lines - small eyed none of the above - thornback! (or possibly cuckoo etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHoy Posted May 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 Adam, Just had a good look at the "Aquarium Project" site, excellent reference for the likes of me. Just need to get online access offshore now . Alan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlieannear Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 Well done gents, sounds like you had a really good day out on the water! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
great white Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 Sounds like a very good day Alan You stayed away from the crowds and caught some good fish an undulate of that size is a good fish, specimen size is 14lb so its a good one, they are not the biggest of our rays but they can be aggressive and those wing thorns can hurt, so you are very sensible to put your gloves on. Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Fox Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 Good report Alan and Rich! Glad you had a good one, and hope some of the ideas paid off! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 I can't add much more to Allan's report, only to say that two "novice" fishermen left Cobbs with more hope than expectation and returned having had a great days fishing. Whilst we were'nt getting the three pounder bream that others seemed to be catching on other marks, we lost count of the numbers we landed and all but a couple were returned to fight another day. Even when there was a lull in the fishing, the mention of putting the kettle on ensured that the rod tips would rattle again. Our nearest neighbours, some fifteen small boats, were about half a mile away and I wonderd if they were catching bigger fish, or anything at all. I would love to know. I was trying out a new 50 gramm spinning rod for the first time and even the smaller bream put up a good fight using this tackle. Highlight of the day had to be Allans ray, which had us hunting for the I spy book of fish in order to try and identify it. I told you we were novices! If ever you get the opportunity to crew for Allan, grab it. Marsel 2 is a great fishing platform and with Allan's boat handling skills and good company you can be assured of a great day out. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 Alan, Lovely first ray for Marsel 2. I always think the Undulate Rays are one of the better looking rays. As Charlie says an Undulate of that size is a good fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swainiac Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 Well done Allan, deserved fish! Good size ray for the species, with bream in there too.....we'll forget the LSD's!! Agree with Rich, cracking boat, stable platform to fish from, extreme comfort, and good company, I learned loads from crewing weekend before last. Rich S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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