Spent yesterday morning doing a little fishing while the kids played on the beach in front of the Bahia, and the wife went to outrigger practice.

Used squid strips for bait and wait fishing since I was playing with the kids and knew I would be stationary and distracted.

Set up one rod with a carolina rig, which got no love, and the other testing out a three-way swivel setup and a few oz of lead. Also a good chance to practice casting on an old Penn 155 I got from my dad and spiffed up with new parts. Got the hang if it after the 3rd cast or so. That set up (penn and 3-way) ended up catching three nice sized spotties in the 12-14" range and I was able to have my kids reel in the fish.

Overall, a good morning.

(PS - was noticing a good amount of those tuna crab washing in with the incoming tide, mostly dead)

Planning on getting in on the action while we have it. Here's my plan

40lb: Tib'd 112H + 20-40 Californian
50lb: Saltist 40H + 30-50lb Terramar
60lb (in case the big boys want to play): 114HL + 80lb roller rod

Definitely missing a solid 60lb live bait rod in my arsenal

Probably bring along a 40lb setup for playing with butterfly jigs, but if the bruisers show up, sticking to live bait so I can use 3/0 heavy circle hooks to avoid getting chewed off.

So looking forward to this summer. Just saw a 172lb bluefin was speared 5mi from Dana Point!!!! Can anyone recall BFT that big this close to shore? Still waiting for the first cow tuna to be landed in local waters in a long time.

I assume you are all using sabiki's if catching macks from the pier, but what do you use if you are trying to catch them off of the rocks or jetty?

Thanks for noticing the sketchy rod holders ... new ones are under construction and I didn't have time to modify these ones. I had the reels in freespool with the clicker on ... but one did take a swim. oops.

decided to head out around sunset. Fiesta was a zoo, so I headed over to the Bahia where some friends were hanging out. Still getting used to casting big baits on some new setups, so dealt with poor casts and lots of birdnests, but still fun. Nothing big, but was plagued by bait stealers. Had one good run that buried into the grass and pulled the hook.

Great watching the moonrise!

(sorry for the cross-post from SCSF and SDFish sites, but I had to share this)

Headed out this evening to Mission Bay for a quick session on the backside of Fiesta island. Caught a super-small spottie about half an hour in while cruising the shoreline. I was fishing with a 5" Kalin lunker grub on a t-rig on a 12-20lb 7' bass rod and Revo S baitcaster. Certainly fine for most of the fishy critters in the area.  30lb braid to 12lb flouro leader.

Then hooked into a very unexpected adventure! As soon as I hooked up after a long cast, line started peeling off the reel. I tightened the drag all the way, to absolutely no effect. Then the damn thing JUMPED OUT OF THE WATER about 60 yards off the beach. I couldn't tell at the time if it was a shark or ray, but it soon became evident it was a large bat ray from the turbulent wakes on the surface as it cruised up and down the beach. I followed it for about 50 yards in one direction, then 100 yards in the other direction towards a floating dock in the Hidden Anchorage part of Fiesta Island, all while about 20 yards from the shoreline. I could almost see it! The video below is of the ray taking line while on a run. My setup was maxed out, but I'm not even sure the ray knew it was hooked! A group of kayakers followed along curious about the fight, but didn't move when I advised them it could take a run in their direction. SMH

Eventually, it lodged itself in the mud and wouldn't move and I couldn't pull with enough drag (even a little thumb on the spool) to make a difference. Eventually about 15 minutes into the fight, the line broke at the hook.

That would have been an epic tale to land a big bat on 12lb bass gear, but would have been pretty unlikely. EPIC! I would not have expected a Bat ray to pounce on a grub

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6hUfk6LqEY

Thanks!

What are everyones favorite knots for typical long rod fishing in bays/surf?

Hook/swivel?
line-to-line?
20lb vs. 40lb vs. 80lb?

Hoping to expand my knot horizons from the San Diego Jam, improved clinch and palomar, especially for heavier line classes