POOR PERFORMING PULLEY RIGS
The pulley rig is one of our most popular  shore rigs, especially for rough ground, but few anglers realise it can cost  you fish when fishing very shallow water at long range over 100-metres.

The pulley rig relies on the lead being  lifted and sliding upwards through a swivel by the force of the fish as it  takes the bait and swims away. In shallow or deep water, if the lead is free to  lift, or slide across the seabed, then the rig is virtually self hooking, the  hook point getting a grip induced by the weight of the lead working against the  fish and pulling it up short, and also by the drag of the line between it and  the rod tip.

Problems occur when fishing shallow water  in very snaggy ground. The angle of the line as it enters the sea to the rig is  very flat. If the lead is jammed and cannot move easily across the seabed, then  the fish only comes up against the weight of the jammed lead when it fully pulls  the hook snood tight. Given that the hook snood will usually be less than  24-inches, then this small amount of distance is often not enough to give the  fish the freedom to have built up enough travelling speed to fully set the  hook. This is typically seen on the rod tip as a single pull down and shudder  as the hook point fails to sink and the fish releases the bait.

The other factor in shallow water is that  the fish takes the bait as its swimming uptide towards the bait. This means it  comes up initially against direct pressure from the rod tip and line as the  pulley effect starts to work, which as the fish pulls, dips towards the fish  and the mono line stretches. This cushion of stretch not only fails to induce  enough pressure to fully sink the hook, but the fish gets an early warning that  all is not right. The fish has the time to bounce free before pressure is fully  transferred to the lead and before the angler has chance to pick up the rod and  strike.

I’ve talked to a lot of experienced anglers  about this and we’ve all found pretty much the same when it comes to fishing  pulley rigs over shallow ground. They cost you a good proportion of bites that  you would normally expect to hook.

In contrast, when fishing in much deeper  water at close to medium range the angle of the line from the rod to the rig is  that much steeper giving a greater likelihood of the lead actually lifting  upwards and free of the snags as the fish takes the bait. This is when the  pulley rig works at its best.

To prove this I switched one of my rods to  a plain fixed paternoster using the same length of hook snood as on a pulley  rig used on the other rod. Over time fishing shallow water, the fixed  paternoster has consistently hooked a far greater proportion of bites than the  pulley rig. The reason is that the fixed paternoster brings the fish up against  the dead weight of the lead, the drag of the reel line and the rod tip response  simultaneously as it takes the bait and turns away. The fish will invariably  hook itself. Experiment and try for yourself.

TIPS AND TRICKS
If you’re using frozen bait during really  cold weather, the chances are when you get to the beach your bait is still as  stiff as a board. I’ve seen us putting wraps of lug on the vehicles still warm  exhaust manifold just to get it thawed out enough to start fishing.

Nowadays I try to think in front, and when  its bitterly cold, I thaw a couple of packs of black lug, squid, a pack of  mussel etc, out by taking them out of the freezer a few hours before I leave  the house, just to get me started.

When it comes to fish baits like mackerel  you can thaw these out using the microwave for about 30 seconds, though again I  prefer to try and let proper fish baits thaw out naturally. Using the microwave  for thawing, I’ve found fish baits loose a little of their attraction qualities  and firmness.

ESTUARY BOAT THORNBACK RAY TACTICS
Many of our bigger estuaries like the  Thames and Bristol Channel, also the southwest estuaries like the Tamar are  about to see the first influx of thornback rays, and these tend to be the first  sizeable fish back inshore indicating winter is on the way out.

The rays tend to head for the deeper holes  in the main channels at the mouths of the estuaries. These deep holes, often  situated on the inside of major bends in the channel, allow the main tidal flow  to pass over the heads of the rays, but at the same time lets food borne along  by the tidal current fall down in to the hole making easy feeding for the rays.  The rays move sides with the change of the tide sitting on the side the tide  hits first, then switching to the other side as the tide changes direction over  slack water.

In the bigger estuaries the rays will also  sit on the sides of the channels, especially after a week of rising  temperatures and no rainfall that just gives the sea water a slight rise in  temperature.

To fish these holes, the skipper of the  boat will anchor up above the hole and use the tide current to trot the baits  down over the edge of the hole and down the incline to find the rays. To fish  the flanks of the channel a good tactic is to anchor just above and to one side  of them, then using uptiders cast to the upper edge of the channel side and  again let the tide current drag the baits down the sides to locate the fish.

A good rig is a simple 3 to 4-foot flowing  trace of 35lb mono on a sliding ledger rig. Use an inverted bait clip just  above the lead on the rig to hold the hook bait in place when initially  casting. Hook sizes need to be a 4/0, and stick to a single hook crimping the  barb down to make unhooking easier.

Good baits are mackerel tipped with squid,  or herring. Allow the ray to settle on the bait, and pull the rod tip over  before striking. Rays sit hard on the seabed and big fish may require a few  seconds of heavy rod pressure to move them. Once swimming they will use their  bodies to kite in the tide.

Weather wise, cloudy day’s fish better than  bright sunny days if the water is relatively shallow, but in the very deep  holes it makes little difference.