Well definitely no lack of action, even if no bat rays were landed. 6am to sunset is a long day, your boys are tough cookies.

 Well, Max was so AMPED after helping Tom land his monster Bat last weekend that he wanted to redeem himself and actually catch one, since he only got a Butterfly Ray at The Bat Fight. Yesterday (Friday the 13th) he and his buddy, Van hit De Anza Cove and set up shop at 6am I had PT for my knee so I couldn't be there till close to noon and I invited Jerry to join us too   We were all soaking Yellow Tail and Jerry's rod goes off, solid hookup and a nice fight. The Bat flew out of the water and did a huge Belly Flop infront of a Pontoon Boat that was anchored up....The kids swimming around the boat got out of the water really quick After a few good runs, the hook pulled out and we were all bummed



I never got bit but it was cool to sit and watch Max and Van catch a few fish on the lighter rods



 
They both got a  small Halibut too




Max was chumming the water with my Chum Tube and catching Smelt, then using them for bait, Van hooks into a small Shovel




Jerry left and I lit a fire cause someone left some wood and all of a sudden a group of Middle Eastern people show up and start lining up 30 candles on the sand right behind Max's rod Then they fill up a bunch of helium balloons and create some sort of Memorial right next to his rod... WTF!!! The whole beach was open all the way to the Bathrooms and they set up Shop 5 feet from us   Then they made some Hot Air Balloons and sent them up while catching fire and finally falling back down, again, WTF !!! Apparently the fire I made was now theirs to use for cooking their potatoes so I called it quits and packed up and left for home !





Max didn't get Redemption this time but he will eventually 

LOL

Quote from: jrodda on March 12, 2026, 04:48:15 PMCongrats on the win, that is a huge one. Sounds like some good consistent fishing, too.

Me and Dave struggled immensely in Newport. In the first hour, a couple decided to take their WEDDING PHOTOS UNDER OUR LINES.



Never got so much as a crab to claw at our baits.

The Groom already wanted to strangle himself

Congrats on the win, that is a huge one. Sounds like some good consistent fishing, too.

Me and Dave struggled immensely in Newport. In the first hour, a couple decided to take their WEDDING PHOTOS UNDER OUR LINES.



Never got so much as a crab to claw at our baits.

It was so cool of Jerry to let Myles reel in his bat, he was really stoked !  

The 2 YOOTS were so hyped about your big 53" Bat, they are going back Friday to try their luck again

It's nice to know The Bats are in there and you and Roger proved there are some big ones to be caught 

Myles was robbed of the title but he took it like a man !    

Glad to see someone else Break Dancing on the sand beside me   Hope Jerry's shoulder recovers after the Tuck and Roll 

Sorry I've been so slow on getting a report up but the new job is taking over my entire day.  I actually like the job, but have a boss who is the biggest micro-manager I have ever worked for.   I'm talking even jobs that I had as a teenager weren't this bad.

Well, I'll just skim through the day and post pics.

We met at the bay spot we had success last year.  The weather was nice so you would have thought it was a Saturday in the summer there was so many people.

Fishing was SLOW!

Max had a big bat run early, but like Squatch, decided he wouldn't retie his hook that was sitting on the rod for a year and the line snapped 5 seconds into the run. 

Tim's Max got a Butterfly, so at least we were on the board.

Then Jerry had a screamer and we knew it was on!  Until he lost it....

Then Steve had a ripper, but his ambling nature got to the rod just in time to drop it as he grabbed the rod.   

I was taking stock in all of the losses at this point and then proceeded to lose one myself as I was tangled in about 50 yards of loose braided line that was just randomly out there.  lol

I saw a shirtless man on the other side of the bay so I sent the drone over to investigate my hunch.  Yep, it was Roger trying another spot and taking some gummies.
About an hour or two later, we thought someone was swimming in front of Roger and then we thought it was a sealion from all of the splashing.  He came by the meeting spot to tell us he lost the biggest bat ray he's hooked in decades!  Easily over 50"...  Well Roger just went on my list also.  I was starting to think we wouldn't see a bat caught this bat fight.

There was about 20 people fishing SD... 6 up in the OC....  20 in LA... and 20+ in VC.  Finally, VC started getting some 3' model bats and the pressure was on.

Then we had someone cop a squat behind Steve and I.  We didn't look back for a few minutes but I finally looked and it was REID!!!!  Old school EDC guy!  Man, it was great seeing him.

Then Max grabs a rod... Jerry's rod since he was too far away.  Max was stoked and he landed his new PB bat at 45.25" !!!!  Legit bat and leaderboard fish!

A little while later I get a screamer run and it was the right type!  I fought it for a while and my shoulder was a wreck.  I finally beached it and it was a 47.5" bat!  All everyone could say instead of nice job was... Nice, taking away the kids chance of winning the bat fight....  Fuggers.

Then Tim was on and it was definitely a bat!  After a nice fight, Tim reels in a healthy 41.5" batray!  On a streak now!

Well, everyone started packing up but the twins and Reid.  I told Reid I was reeling in at 10:00 and it was 9:56...  Then the reel started screaming!!!!  Oh boy, this was a real one. 
It took a long time to subdue, but thankfully the two "YOOTS" stayed behind to help since the two old dudes (Reid and I) would have most likely had a bunch of issues subduing it. 

Max and Miles grabbed it and both let out a WHOA!  Biggest bat they have ever seen in real life and PREGNANT!  She was 11" thick according to Myles and it was 53" wide!  It's been a LONG time since I've seen or caught one like that.  Reid was texting Steve and he was throwing shade since he thought we were just messing with him, but NOPE!

What a way to end it and a big thanks to Max and Myles for sand handing for me!  Big props to those two guys!

Well, that is it in a nutshell.  I'm sure I forgot something, but at least the post is made.  The following pics below are some of the sights of the day, and not in any particular order.

This work stuff is killing me!  It took me 18 minutes in the morning to get to work and 2 hours and 11 minutes to get home for the SAME EXACT DISTANCE!  UGH

I'm uploading photos and trying to figure out the videos, so I haven't spent much time on the post.  I will upload the pics to Imgur so I can post something and have the pics already to go.

Thanks Tim, it was a really quiet day and I wasn't sure there would be a bat caught... to Bats galore!  LOL

I need to puta post up here this week.  I just finished my taxes, so I should have a little more time to get something up.

Jeremy, thanks for getting out to rep the OC.  I'm amazed that there are fish in the OC but you remind me maybe not.  LOL
I have an order coming your way soon, BTW. 

Glad somebody caught, and the boys had fun. Totally whiffed with my co-worker but at least we tried.

Speaking of sand blasted gear, one of my nicer spinning reels on standby ate it twice into dry sand from the wind. Seems okay now but holy heck, you're right to point it out...