Set off from a very warm sunny Liverpool Marina at 7-00am for a 10 hour trip aboad "MERLIN" skippered by the excellent Roger Daniels.Todays plan was to target Thornback Rays.After the short 10 minute sail in to the river via the lock the 3'0 and 4'0 hooks on 3 foot long running traces were loaded with large sections of Mackerel and some with Squid.10oz fixed wire leads were required to hold bottom to start with,the action was instant and within 10 minutes of the anchor going down i was in with the first of my 7 Thornbacks(sweepstake taken early ). 30 rays were taken by us today ranging between 2lb and 9lb along with loads of very good sized whiting,some very good dabs and a good run of large dogfish.The action was fairly constant with only the odd quiet period as the tide slackened.Baits used today were Squid,Mackerel,Ragworm, live peeler Crab and fresh Lugworm with the Squid and Mackerel accounting equally for the Rays."Supreme 2" skippered by Steve Andrews was fishing 50 yards away from us and for the 3rd day in a row eclipsed everyones Thornback Ray total by some margin.Let us know where we are going wrong Steve please .A brilliant day was had by all in the fine autumn sunshine.Looking forward to our next trip on 10-11-2009.I have finallly managed to upload a couple of scene pictures.

A great report from a fellow city fan happy days

Good report.

Nice to hear of a few fish in the river, lets hope the Cod follow them in.

A great report of a cracking days fishing.

Well done!!!

Your far too modest Steve.Being in the right place at the right time once mabe lucky,twice is the sign of a good angler,3 days in a row is the sign of an exceptional angler and indeed skipper.We gave Roger(Merlin's Skipper) some proper stick of course(all in good heart).We have requested on our next trip with him on the 10-11-2009 that he anchors up even closer to you than last time if thats possible .We have also told him unless he improves his customer service/relations we may have to consider another skipper especially the one whose boat is having new faster engines fitted soon ...For reasons of censorship we dare not print his reply

P.S. I would like to add on a serious note how good the quality is of all the Rhyl skippers and boats,the standards just seem to be improving year on year.You all have helped to create a terrific atmosphere and experience both in Rhyl and in the Mersey during the winters.We can as anglers and residents be very proud of all of you.

I have finally managed to upload a couple of scene pictures.Thank you Headwyn for the great advice/sticky on how to use Photobucket.For those of you that have never tried the Mersey give it a go,the scenery is amazing as is the fishing.This years Ray fishing on the Mersey has been the best anywhere in Britain,couple this with huge quantities of good sized Dabs and Whiting plus the possibility of a good run of Codling.



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Nice photies!!!

Thank you Hedwyn for the kind words,as you liked them i have added a couple more.

nice report well done on the fishing mate
only a blue could do it

Nice report well done