Church of Salty Feet (6/9)

[Latimeria]

So many Stripers being caught in the surf lately that I opted to fish from the beach instead of taking the boat out.  I had high hopes after seeing the striper, WSB, and halibut pics.

Got down early to typical TP conditions.  Lots of grass in some areas and none in others.



There were A LOT of guys out there fishing, so I bolted north to find some good water.  I wound up passing a ton of round sting rays... they were everywhere.

Kelp buried in the sand probably fooled some people fishing at high tide.



I kept the small stuff in the car, but only brought a few bigger things including the LC hoping for a game fish.  Lots and lots of casts with no bumps except for grass. 

I took a break and investigated some fresh cliff falls for fossils.



I kept going and need to find what this was.  It looks like it may have been a pier in S. Delmar.



I keep fishing the LC and all of a sudden, it stops.    Totally a snag...then it started screaming out!  Fish on!

It wasn't long before I realized what I snagged... a 30~ish pound bat ray... ugh..  This thing wasn't letting me get in in close so I tightened the drag just a tiny bit...  felt a "pop" and another "pop" which I assume were the hooks pulling out of the back and then a third "pop", which was my lure breaking free from my line.... Ugh.... That was an expensive one!

I retied with some other bigger lures, but after another 100 casts, decided I needed to get the skunk off the board, especially with how packed the beach was getting.  The rod I was using was a bit overwhelming for the baits, but I needed to use up the opened gulp grubs anyway.

Well, plenty of palm sized perch, that's for sure.  Landed 6, missed another 6 and had one which felt like a big YFC or BSB, but the hook never stayed in the lip.



hahaha, biggest of the bunch...



I decided to walk back and just scan the beach, cliffs and water's edge.  One thing I found that was perplexing was a 50-yard area filled with sponges (or bryozoans), crab and lobster shells and all sorts of weird stuff.  This one thing I think is a Sea Hare, but it was awfully firm and not jelly like (and had a shell!).











Nothing looked too good and I talked with a few guys who all know about the stripers there right now.  Along the way looking for fossils, I pulled a Sasquatch and found some free tackle!   

I'm guessing this is what they are using for halibut and bass, but in any case, it is brand new and I'm sure I'll be using this in the bay at some point.



I also found a bird skull and threw it in my pocket to clean up when I got home.



I met a guy just starting to get to the beach as I was leaving.  I think he said his name was Rayne and I might remember him from SCSF.  I didn't bring it up since I wanted to get home, but he also knew about the stripers and saw one caught last week.  Damn it... I'll have to try again!

Thanks for reading!

[Tim524]

Nice relaxing walkabout, it would be cool to land a Striper !

[jrodda]

Fishy....nice eventful trip despite no gamefish. Good to see you hit the sand.

[vdisney]

The bat must have woke you up, bummer about the LC.  God knows I donated my share