east ferry specimen thornback ray..15/9/2012

People:myself and the ol'fella

Duration:8 hours

Tide:high to coming high

Weather:not too bad

Bait:mackerel and greater sandeel

Rigs:4/0 long and low pulleys,3/0 flappers single and double,flying collars,hokkais and feathers

Results:1 specimen red gurnard,1 specimen thornback ray and a grand box of mackerel.

Report:we headed off out to a mark,that in the last few days on the water had produced fine big cod and pollack about 2 mile outside the harbour mouth,unfortunatly there was nothing in comparison to the last visits,so mackerel bashing turned out to be the way of the morning with the odd few greater sandeels taking the feathers too.after filling the box,plenty for bait and the buddies who cant get enough of 'em fast enough,pure mackerel lovers especially if they're caught outside the harbour..irish steel boy urrgh... anyway after growing tired of the bashing and with the box full we headed east to a small wreck of an ol merchant ship for some real sport,so bow wards i headed and dropped anchor,not for love nor money could i get her to hold ground,so up it came again and we fished the drift behind us pushing us shoreward.i baited a 4/0 long and low pulley with a conger style snood with a live greater sandeel in to the drink and loosened my drag,dropped me other line in with a mack flapper and had a cupa coffee.
twas dead calm. well me poor aul abu bent like i never seen it bend before and my penn 4/0 senator screamed like what i can only describe as an animal surprised with a pain inflicted on it..i picked up me rod and tightened the drag to fight with a little give,only i am sorry to say i was no match for whatever was on my line,i struggled fighting with this fish.i tightened my drag again to give out no line at all and i'd say i got in 2 hawls and winds before it seemed like i was closing the gap between me and this fish.i was winding like mad when i looked down at my senator and she wasnt taking in any line at all! wtf! then there was a crack like a .22 rifle.gone.jesus the adrenaline.the swell and the wind picked up noticably in the 'ol 536 so we headed back in to the shelter of the harbour to a beach mark where 2 weeks ago i landed a red gurnard almost specimen weight,so dropped anchor and line and thank f@#k the anchor bit ground for me.so i pulled out the flask and lit a smoke.seemed i was granted a break before this litttle specimen 2lbs gurnard took my bait.sorry bout the pic! the tide was rising again so we headed in to our retrieval spot,and as gold point was on our way and i know there is thornbacks there we dropped 2 lines in ther about 50 yards form the shore,well within casting distance,inside of a couple of minutes this beauty of a thorny took my mackerel.80 cm wingspan and 23.4 lbs!! one for the nay-sayers. the next report of a specimen thornback ray will be shore caught from this mark.hopefully a spring thornie..just to settle a few doubting thomas'... and a great day was had by all

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

congrats to your specimen thornie man, nice report but your red is a tub gurnard just before anyone mentions it pity about the lost fish but haven't we all done that at some stage? And a box of mackerel is far away from being sneered at, so all in all you've had a very good day in my book

good report lucky, the gurnard is a tub gurnard i dont want to put a dampner on things for you, but i dont think your ray is anyway near 23.4 lbs, but it is a nice size male fish that tend to be much smaller than the females.
if it was 23.4lbs you would more than likley be standing up to hold it for the picture
well done either way

I don't want to be a doubting Thomas either but I have to agree with John, that ray is never 23lbs, I'd check my scales if I were you.
Sorry

to say that that fish is 23lb is quite unbelievable...
i'd guess more like 5-10lb. yip, would get those scales checked out!
heres a pic of a 22lb ray:

130912 sallie date b ray 22lb 5oz 300.jpg

great report tho. great read. lovely looking wee tub. pity about the biggy!

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

That thornie is 10lb max

Nice one Pa fine fish .Did your man let you on the bus today

cheers lads i didna weigh it just measured the wingspan and found a site online that converted length to weight...pity..was all excited
cheers for the heads up about the gurnard too boys

aw sh*t

Nice one Pa fine fish .Did your man let you on the bus today

he did man,tho it felt like he didnt wanna
didnt make it out to that mark either...balls keep it on the q.t tho man

Nice one Pa fine fish .Did your man let you on the bus today

he did man,tho it felt like he didnt wanna
didnt make it out to that mark either...balls keep it on the q.t tho man

Story man ! Fair play to you for bagging a ray from the point

to say that that fish is 23lb is quite unbelievable...
i'd guess more like 5-10lb. yip, would get those scales checked out!
heres a pic of a 22lb ray:

130912 sallie date b ray 22lb 5oz 300.jpg

But thats a photo of a 2' midget holding a ray.......................

to say that that fish is 23lb is quite unbelievable...
i'd guess more like 5-10lb. yip, would get those scales checked out!
heres a pic of a 22lb ray:

130912 sallie date b ray 22lb 5oz 300.jpg

But thats a photo of a 2' midget holding a ray.......................

aye, she looks bloomin tiny!
(think she's down on one knee here.. )

to say that that fish is 23lb is quite unbelievable...
i'd guess more like 5-10lb. yip, would get those scales checked out!
heres a pic of a 22lb ray:

130912 sallie date b ray 22lb 5oz 300.jpg

But thats a photo of a 2' midget holding a ray.......................

aye, she looks bloomin tiny!
(think she's down on one knee here.. )

Nice report Lucky13 and a nice days fishing too........................

hey lads,just to show how i made this terrible mistake having not being familiar with catching rays,i took his wingspan which was 80cm and i went online to get a weight from length converter,that having typed in the measurement showed up as being 23.4 lbs which i now know its not.here is the link,i invite any one to have a look and give the measurements i gave...just to see,other wise avoid this site like the bubonic plague.
still very embarrased about the whole thing
http://www.tagsharks.com/thornback-ray- ... d-id-guide

hey lads,just to show how i made this terrible mistake having not being familiar with catching rays,i took his wingspan which was 80cm and i went online to get a weight from length converter,that having typed in the measurement showed up as being 23.4 lbs which i now know its not.here is the link,i invite any one to have a look and give the measurements i gave...just to see,other wise avoid this site like the bubonic plague.
still very embarrased about the whole thing
http://www.tagsharks.com/thornback-ray- ... d-id-guide

Did you not tink it felt abit light for 23lb when you held it for the photo?

Did you not tink it felt abit light for 23lb when you held it for the photo?[/quote]


no.not used to holding 23.4 lbs fish.
could barely hold him for the photo.hence the rags.got stung too.check the site man,twas two weeks later i made the report so the time of judgment of his weight was well gone...
i tell ya,it wont happen me again.

that may be a 20 pound ray that girl is holding but i want to know what part of its anatomy her other hand is on cos she sure looks happy

that may be a 20 pound ray that girl is holding but i want to know what part of its anatomy her other hand is on cos she sure looks happy

LMAO ROGER!!!