For decades I've wanted to take an iron out into the surf and see if I could find something bigger than a YFC... Never did it. I tried off the rocks a few times here and there with limited success, but I usually folded my game plan and switched to a smaller bait in order to do more catching than casting.
Not this day... I took an original Candy Bar that I wrapped in a Jig Skinz. Jig Skinz are a great quick repair on your favorite old lures, but they don't hold up too well with toothy critters.
I went to TP first thing to see that all of the free parking was taken up! WTF?!?! Did these guys camp here all night???
So I made my way in the other direction just hoping that the salad situation was good.
The wind was blowing from the SE pretty good and made casting kind of tough with the big bow in the line at each cast. I worked my way south and had 3 solid hits with one sticking pretty good to put a big bend in the rod, until it fell off. lol
I then almost sh!t my shorts. I was wading out waist deep to get the most of my casts when out of the corner of my eye I saw a big dark shape rolling up to me. I thought it was a big kelp stringer until I looked at it and it rushed me and bounced off my thigh!!! 4' Bat Ray just rammed me! I squealed and bopped it with the butt of my rod. The rest of my casting day was only done in ankle deep water. LOL
Big shovels in the surf and even saw a leopard all in the skinny water. I was about to start heading back when I get slammed and have this one stuck on the hook for sure! Nice Calico! It was even more weird is there was no reef around for miles, but some random bass that might have found a single rock to hang on.
As I was working my way back, I get another hit and he sticks! I don't stop reeling as I'm affraid it will come off and see an 18-20" flattey with one of the trebles hanging out of its mouth. I swing it up to me so I could get a picture and it does the halibut flop and falls back into the surf and swims off.
I couldn't be more happy that I had 5 bites and caught 2 fish on the iron in the surf! To me, that was a big success and makes me more confident to do it again in the near future.
Until next tide!
(I had to wait to get into work to put up this post since my computer is fried with the Black Screen of Death!)