Cement ship snipe hunt

Hoser and I launched from the wharf and went looking for bait, and chased after some top water commotion before we found any. Jim trolled a plug around hoping we were in the presence of some wsb, and hooked up almost immediately...strange fight, definitely a fish, but no big runs or head shakes. Turns out it was a bat ray, and we were guessing it was snagged, bit the plug ended up right around the mouth, so maybe he got ambitious and chased that thing down. I was just about to tell Jim that those things don't have barbs on their tail, but I figured I'd hold my tongue because I wasn't certain...and then there he was at the boat, waving his tail around and definitely unhappy. Released as a humbler fish, with a reminder that he's a bottom feeder.

We did eventually find some good sardines for bait, but proceeded to drag them around for hours without any love. I had one good takedown- wouldn't you know, when I was taking a pee, and he was off in an instant. It hurts when that's the only action of the day, doesn't it? Felt like a halibut, but then I always say that about the fish I miss   


Time to head to Big Sur, I think!

Best,

TallPaul

Still a beautiful day on the water, and no fish were harmed.

Thanks for reporting, I thought about you guys going fishing as I was driving off to work yesterday. Sorry about no fish, I was really hoping you would pull in some quality fish and cause to  start thinking about fishing closer to home. Oh well.....

Time to head to Big Sur, I think!

I agree and in fact have been trying to get a camp site at limekiln... all full for the weekends in sept.

be careful, bat rays have a large barbed spear on the base of their tail.  it is enclosed in a sheath  so it does not look that dangerous, however if you find a dead dried up specimen you can see it.