Thornback Ray

Known to East Coast anglers simply as the roker, the thornback is Britain's everyday ray: a broad diamond of muscle, sandy-backed with darker marbling and rows of coarse thorns along its back and tail. It hunts crabs, shrimps and small fish across mud, sand and gravel.

Spring sees thornbacks flood into estuaries and shallow bays - the Thames, the Bristol Channel and the Essex creeks all fish famously from March. The bite is unmistakable: a couple of taps, a flattened rod tip, and then the sensation of dragging a doormat off the seabed as the ray kites in the tide.

Fresh peeler crab, sandeel and mackerel strip are the baits. Almost all rays are unhooked and slipped back these days; handle them by the wings, mind the thorns, and keep fingers away from the crushing plates.