It was the middle of the week and the usual Facebook messages were pinging about between me and my fishing buddies, the usual ideas were being put forward only for the next message to dash that idea with some reason behind why it couldn’t be done. The wind was swinging north west which on the Suffolk coast puts it coming off the land, meaning the sea would be as flat as a pancake but as the wind had been blowing on shore for the previous couple of days it would have colour. At this time of year as we move into autumn this meant the whiting would be out in force but also there was that slight chance the Thornback rays and Bass could be feeding as well. Then the idea popped into my head, what about heading to Aldeburgh and walking up the dirty wall, it’s a good hike but it holds deeper water, and in the past has always proved to be a winner. I put this idea to the lads I was going to be fishing with and although a couple of groans were heard due to the hike they still agreed that it could well be the best idea given the conditions. Original plans were to fish on the Friday night but due to one of my wingmen falling ill (dodgy curry I reckon) we changed it for the Saturday night which worked out better as it meant high tide would be later so we could definitely access the beach.
Saturday evening came and at 6pm I was making my way through Aldeburgh high street heading to the shingle road that leads to the gate signalling the start of the Dirty wall, despite the name this isn’t actually a wall it is a shingle spit that leads onto the famous Orford ness measuring approximately 10 miles in length and divided from the mainland by the River Alde that runs behind it. The main thing about the dirty wall is that the land is owned by the National Trust who allow the Orford Ness Angling Club (ONAC) special access up the wall through the gate meaning they can drive 4×4’s up the spit or walk up on the shingle road. If you are not a member then you will have to time your walk up right to coincide with low tide and you have to walk up the low tide line. To be honest this is a faster easier walk anyway than using the shingle as you are walking on hard sand, if you are caught on the shingle road by the National Trust warden (and they do patrol up here) you will be asked to walk along the beach. This is due to the area being of special interest with certain birds and plants growing up here which the National Trust want to preserve so please adhere to the walking at low tide rule for the benefit of not just yourself but others as well.
Pulling up at the gate my long-time friend and fishing buddy Damien Baldwin was already waiting by his car ready for the 45 minute yomp loaded up like cart horses to our chosen spot. We were soon on our way walking along the hard pack sand on the low tide line and after what felt like ages but was really only 45 minutes we reached the area I had hedged my bets on. We had arranged to meet Ste Chambers and his mate Marc Neale up there as they had been a bit ahead of us and upon arrival we stopped for a brief chat. It turned out the small bass were on the feed along with a few whiting, but it was still daylight and these fish were coming to small baits presented on a flapper, not how I was intending to fish. Once our greetings had been exchanged and after a little bit of banter was thrown about I walked 50 yards past them and took my spot. Looking at the water in the dying light of the Autumn sum I could see the colour was still there and it was as flat as a pancake, that was my mind made up, both rods were to be fished on whole squid baits attached to up ‘n’ over rigs presented on a pennel hook arrangement. Normally for rays I would fish single hooks but up here we could get anything from whiting to double figure Bass so pennel’s were the order of the day.

My plan was to fish the TEKLON COMP 2 rod around 60 -70 yards and fish the VERTIX JACK close in to see if any Bass were lurking. First casts were out and I sat back to take in the surroundings, it’s a beautiful place up there, so quiet and no light pollution once it gets dark so on a clear night the milky way is clear to see and what a sight it is, also if you keep quiet enough up here you can be visited by some of the local wildlife with Muntjac deer, Foxes and Hares having paid us visits in the past. Back to the fishing and it was still my first cast when the inside rod, no more than 20 yards out, gave a solid smack followed by a little slack liner at which point Damo walked over and just as I stood watching my rod saying to him I had just had a bite all hell broke loose the rod violently smashed round and wasn’t stopping in a hurry, quickly lifting into the weight I could feel a fish pulling on the braid trying its hardest to shake the hooks but to no avail and after a great little scrap feeling every move through the braid a lovely chubby silver Bass was slid up the shingle. Now I was one happy bunny, it’s been a struggle for me this year on the silver torpedo’s and although this fish wasn’t a monster I was just as happy to catch it as I would have been an 8lber. With a few pics taken she was slid back into the water, my headlight following her back as she slowly made her way out before gliding out of sight, another squid bait was plonked out close in and I sat back waiting to see what happened next. The only problem with catching something nice first cast for me is that it can normally spell the kiss of death for my session, the curse of the first cast fish is a reality in my world and I was just hoping it wasn’t going to rear its ugly head tonight. Over high the rods sat pretty motionless with just Marc seeming to find the fish on the flapper rigs pulling in Dabs, Flounders, Whiting and small Bass along with a Weever fish, a lot of people dislike the Weever’s but I think they are an incredible little species that demand a lot of respect, so pretty but yet so deadly (like one of my ex’s) these little fish can pack a punch so beware of the various spines that contain the venom, best bet is to use forceps or a disgorger and shake them off into the water or cut the snood if needs be.
With high tide coming and going we still hadn’t seen any rays and as the run started the Whiting seemed to come on the feed, ferociously engulfing the baits within minutes of the squid being in the water, it was one after another at all ranges for around an hour when they just seemed to disappear as quickly as they had arrived, then it was the Dogfish’s turn to be the plague species, great fun on braid but a pain when you are hoping for other fish. Around 3 hours down I heard a shout from Ste that sounded a lot like “ray on Matty”, I could see a nice bend in his rod and the thumps on the tip signalled the rays had turned up at last, number1 for him was soon on the beach and he was chuffed to bits, around 20 minutes later he shouted again and he was into another, going 7.4lb this was a bit bigger than the first and another pristine female ray was soon making her way back to the depths. I was still pulling in Dog after Dog when the further out rod showed signs of interest, solid tugs followed by a little bit of slack but no definite bite this went on for a good few minutes but with no positive bite I sat on my hands waiting, Ste wandered over for a chat when I decided to wind this rod in, lifting up it felt snagged but slowly I was moving it, feeling like a dead weight I was really leaning into it and inch by inch it was coming in when it started to pull back. The rod was at bent triple, and it felt like I was pulling a body in, to be honest I was preparing myself for something awful coming out of the water but a body doesn’t pull back and these were definite thumps , after about 5 mins of whatever this was doing its best to confuse the heck out of me the leader knot came into view and with one final pull a clonking great ray appeared out of the darkness then out of nowhere everything went slack, Ste was shouting “it’s a ray Matty, a massive ray” when he noticed the hook had pulled, in what felt like slow motion I saw him try to grab it but the swell had picked it up and she was soon being sucked back out to sea, I dropped my rod and ran into the water to try and grab her but soon realised she was just out of range. To make matters worse she sat on the surface for a couple of minutes, just out of reach her wings flapping and her eyes shining in our headlights just mocking me, yep it felt like she knew what had happened and was simply just saying “look what you could have won” then she slipped under never to be seen again…The curse of the first cast fish strikes … was I gutted…you bet. That was it for the rays for me, no matter how hard I tried all I kept getting was doggie after doggie but Ste soon had another ray on the beach, his cocktail of squid and bluey was doing the business tonight, that oily slick from the bluey must have been pulling them straight to his bait and that was now 3 for him, top lad he was on fire tonight, he knows his ray fishing and it was showing. Come 3 am the tide was right down at low and that was it for me 1 Bass first cast and then countless dogs and Whiting later I was flagging and bed was calling so I packed up and wandered over to Ste and Marc to say my goodbyes. Looking up the beach I could see the lights of Aldeburgh in the distance and the thought of the walk back was now at the front of my mind, back down to the low tide marker I went and was soon stomping along, head down thinking about the 1 that got away. How big was she, was she a double? She felt big but I will never know, all I can be certain of is that curse of the first cast fish exists in my fishing world and one day I might break it but tonight the curse won.