Ray bait presentation and tips

[pingu]

ok Paul first asked about ray baits and tips as is keen to catch

i'm not the best angler for them and sure others will add to this if think
but heres what little advise i can give

firstly fish a beach where you know ray are present, they like sandy beaches with some shingle or broken ground, def not too rocky though

on southcoast here for the smalleyed ray. The best bait by a mile is sandeel, either good quality frozen or better still fresh if can get

i always head and tail and pennel mount( this is a 2/0 pennel)i always elastic a bit as well




can also wrap in a small peice of squid


and elastic together


other variants are mackeral again slimmer strips to make a tight bait 3/0 rig





or sqid and makkie together 3/0 or 4/0



on dropping tide i use a pulley rig about 3ft long =6 ft total, to max range
on riseing tide usually a 2ft pennel =4ft not so far out( this often avoids tangles in line)


up the channel for thornies i only usually take squid, or bluey

salcome estuary it has to be crab for the thornies though

there are 2 types of ray bite
they both usually start off with small rattles on rod as the fish settles on the bait( you really really need to sit on your hands now)

then
No1 ( most common) a half pull down thena bit of a relax ( do not strike this or you will miss the fish, my most common mistake)then a full bend down of rod and thats when you grab it

or No2( rarer)
a half pull down then slack line as fish comes towards you

after strikeing always keep rod up and the line tight as the fish will always try to re-settle and stick to the sand like a plaster( not so necessary on deeper venues)

hope this helps, please feel free to add as this is just my four pennies worth( i'll add more when i think of it as well)

dave

[cuckoo]

Spot on dave , i use bluey and eel cocktail this way , presentation is the key

[MRG2000]

Cracking info Dave , heres the S.Wales version .....

Various combinations of sandeel ,squid ,bluey or mackerel. All based around double sandeel on 4/0 Sakuma Manta 545 ,and 545 Manta pennel hooks to 30 lb mono for the rays.



Double sandeel topped and tailed to start,one mounted on each hook ........




Based on 2 medium sandeels ,but you can start with the squid mounted to the hooks and then whip on the sandeel if you prefer to ,same goes for bluey and mackerel.

Double sandeel ,whipped on.....


you can add whole small squid or half a big one whipped on to make a nice slimline bait for casting.

[fishypaul]

wonderful info guys,i hope to bag me a thornie this spring

[bassmanrob]

Good informative guides there gents.

Double sandeel is one of my favourite baits, the only difference I use is I leave the heads on (still remove the tail). I just find I got better results with them on. Not much luck with the rays last yet but I had decent codling, bass and PB whiting and pollock on double sandeel last year. Rays are a big target for 2011 for me....

[Portland Pirate]

They are my main target this year and with tips like this I am sure I will get into some this year.

Thanks guys.

[BaggieRich]

That's greate info guys! Cheers!

Mike: That's a brilliant way of presenting double sandeel. Up until now, I've tried presenting them side-by-side by punching the bottom hook through the tail end of the first eel and letting it slide down the snood, then threading the second eel, tail first, round the bottom hook and matching them up before binding in elastic and securing with the top hook. It's always felt a bit messy to me and I was worried about masking the hook points, but you way looks much neater, plus it doesn't leave a hook clearly visable at the top of the bait.

Nice one! I shall definately be trying that out!

[Bluesbro]

Originally Posted by fishypaul

wonderful info guys,i hope to bag me a thornie this spring

Brilliant info lads, Hey paul if you want some company give me a shout and i`ll join ya!! I yet to catch one and it aint for want or trying!!!

Joe

[dovorian]

Nice pics pngu and mrg going to try all of those variations tomorrow on the arm with fishypaul. I lobbed a big bait out the other day but diddnt get so much as a bite on that rod, just as well as I was on my own and I would have stuggled with a ray... wouldnt know what to do with it if I did get it up the wall, they look real horror show!
Thanks.
J

[pingu]

Originally Posted by dovorian

wouldnt know what to do with it if I did get it up the wall, they look real horror show!
Thanks.
J

ok i'll add this

tips to picking up ray

just behing the snout on the both sides there is a depression, pick up on this point as is just muscle, on a thornie usually no thorns at this point

its where my left hand is



with smalleyed dont hold too tight down at this point though as there is a small run of spikes that they can flare just to the sides of the snout( and believe be it grazes and hurts for ages)

there are no teeth but again by experiance they clamp down hard on fingers if go in mouth , where they have rasping plates but usually they dont deephook anyway


dave