Steve and I met up at sunset at the High Tide spot. We almost passed due to our laziness and of the lack of sharks (at least lack of catching) but the grunion were running and we hoped that we could find a shark or two in the mix. I also went back to my OG rig as my new circle set up hasn't been doing squat and I just need to catch something one of these weeks!
Current was strong. Plenty of salad in the water, but we had at least a 15 minute soak time before we had to check lines and de-grass all of the terminal tackle.
Squatch's first cast and he's on! Bat Ray on the beach an a 30# model. First cast curse, but he didn't take a picture of it.
My first cast and the rod started jumping, but it was off by the time I ran to the rod. I had the bait all wrapped in bait thread, so I knew it was something that sucked the mackerel off of it.
Next cast and I wrapped the bait like a mummy! This time I stayed closer to the rod and it didn't disappoint! Fish on! I took my time, but I might have called out all three sharks on that one. I didn't see the saddles at first, so I thought I a small soupie, but after Steve turned on that million lumen head lamp, it was obvious it was just a nice Leopard! I don't remember the last big leopard I've actually caught!
Man, it felt good to fight something bigger than a bass on the long rod again.
Not long after and I had another bounce! I set the hook and the line started screaming off the reel! It had a lot of weight to it, so I took my time trying to get it in. It was almost too heavy, so i thought it may have been wrapped in a bunch of loose kelp. Steve just thought I was fighting a big kelp ball at the end of the line.
I could feel it fighting and ripping out line occasionally and was hoping to see a submarine coming up through the skinny water! I saw a bat wing, and my excitement went away leaving me just tired and sweaty. Damn bat ray was hooked an inch from the tail spine... It was a dangerous game contemplating on how to get the hook out without getting tagged, but the Arc De-Hooker made an appearance and it was an easy removal.
That was it. The surge started coming in strong and the red-tide got pushed into the zone which shut off the bite, so we called it quits at 10:00.
Not quite a "plink", but I think this might be my first surf grinner of the year! I hooked a few earlier, but never could seal the deal, so I'll just have to take a nice 5' leopard as a consolation prize!
Thanks for reading.
