Baits For Rays

Can I please have opinions on which bait is the proven best for thornback, and hopefully stingray?

Replies:

1. "I used to fish for Skate with a long flowing trace on a in line boom, swivel, big hook and a mackerel flapper.

Feed the line out, hit bottom, when it is off the bottom, feed more line out.

No secret weapons here for Skate, if they are feeding you will catch them if you are in the right place."

2. "I'm not sure about the thornbacks as we don't get many locally, but for stingray the local bait is either peeler or king rag. I think the main thing for stingray is finding a location where they can be caught."

3. "As far as baits for stingrays go your best bet is king ragworm.

There are four main baits that catch thornies around our coasts. These are; chunks of either fresh herring or mackerel, squid and peeler crab. One bait that is rarely used, and one that has caught me a lot of rays is chunks of fresh garfish."

4. "One of the best baits I have found for catching rays from the shore is a sandeel mounted on a pennel rig with a 1 inch wide by 3inch long stip of squid whipped along one side.

Cut the head and tail off the sandeel first and thread it up the bottom hook, tail end first. Then secure the top hook in place by passing the point through the wrist of the tail. Cut your squid strip and hang it from the top hook, then apply a good dose of bait elastic to the bait.

It works well in Wales, especially after dark!"