Terra Firma Tackle

70 More

The Feel and Sound of the Fight

446 More

Bat Ray Fishing Southern California Bays

11,360 More

Big Game SoCal Surf Fishing

11,679 More

https://prehistoricsoul.com/themes/myblog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Prehistoric-Soul-lettering-wtan.jpg

  • Forum
  • Fishing Blogs
  • News
  • Pictures
    • Hall Of Fame
    • Fish Porn
  • Reports
    • Weather Reports
    • Landing Reports
    • Bait Reports
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Mission Statement
  • Affiliates
  • Store
  • Travel
  • Contact Us

The Feel and Sound of the Fight. The Feel and Sound of the Fight.

943699_10154020943316912_2321584477981032569_n

Jan2820141_zps505d62e2The Feel and Sound of the Fight

Over the years, I’ve been asked by both young and old, “How do you know what you have at the end of your line when the fish gets away”. Many times, this could be a challenging question if you are fishing unfamiliar waters or different regions of the country, but when you are surf fishing with the old “Bait and Wait” method in a familiar stretch of surf, it’s not as difficult as you can imagine.

 

The main key here is experience. There could be educated guesses, but when you fish this method at least once a week for over 20 years straight, you pretty much dial it in pretty darn fast. Many of the anglers on Prehistoric Soul are quite adept at calling the species and most can even call the fish just from the first bob of the rod when the fish/shark picks up the bait!

 

Quite simply, when you fish with a big chunk of bait in the surf out here, there are only a handful of fish that could take the bait. Even with big baits, you’ll get some miscellaneous fish like bass and eels, but they are even easy to call even before setting the hook. What it takes is observation of the rod tip when the strike happens and since we are mostly night fishing, listening and feeling everything that is going on around you since your vision is limited in the dark even with the headlamp.

 

All of these descriptions are on the long rod, so they might fight differently on short rods or paddled out baits on roller guide rods. I’m basing these descriptions on the type of fishing I do out here and can identify the type of fish by this method.

Coffee Grinder Hook UpI’ll start with the smaller game that regularly takes big chunks of cut bait on the big rod.

 

Calico or Sand Bass/Grass Rockfish: Machine gun style hit. Rod tip quickly bounces and there is little to no fight when reeling them in on a 14 foot rod set up for sharks.

Moray Eels/Lobster: Slow pull of the rod tip. Usually it retreats into his reefy den and you think you are snagged on the reef. With constant tight pressure on the line, you can usually pop him out and it feels like you are reeling in a ball of snot. No fight what-so-ever.

Shovelnose guitarfish: Slow tapping bite that makes big erratic runs if you set your drag a little loose. Otherwise could be initially confused with a leopard shark but will fight hard in the skinny water and you won’t see or hear of any tail slaps giving it away.

Bat Rays/Butterfly Rays: One or two medium bounces of the rod tip before the line loads up and the reel starts to scream. The smaller ones could be confusing as they feel like a number of fish out there, but the bigger bats have a rhythmic run where you can feel the wings pretty much flap. They run in all directions, but you never feel any tail slaps on your line and that pretty much is the dead give-away. Hard to turn, but once you do, you need to reel up fast as they usually maintain the same speed throughout the fight. You can also feel them flip over before they make a turn. Most guys fishing down here know right away when they hook a Bat Ray.

Leopard Shark: These can get confusing with the Soupfin Shark at times. They hit hard and make an initial screaming run. Usually no bounce in the line, but the rod just doubles over and the line starts screaming out. Very good initial run and you can feel the tails slaps. Unlike the Soupfin however, they usually turn in straight for shore and bum rush the beach as fast as they can as you are reeling as fast as you can. Once in the shallows, they give themselves up to be a Leopards shark. They are tougher to fight in the skinny water than out in the open but are great fighters. Just not usually a very long battle since they charge the beach after the initial run.

Soupfin Shark: About 50/50 seeing the rod bounce in the rod holder before the line starts tearing out. These guys will usually fight parallel to the shore and run you back and forth along the beach. They have big bursts of speed and usually you can hear them jumping/grey hounding in the distance. They rarely charge in or straight out, but usually run the direction of the shoreline over and over as you get him closer to the surf line. They are STRONG fighters and you can feel the tail slaps on the line, especially when they make a big burst of speed every time you think they are getting tired and giving up… nope….

Sevengill Shark: The easiest surf fish to identify. The rod tip usually gets a slight bounce, but nothing too obvious unless you are paying attention. Sometimes the line will just go slack and the rod tip never even bounces, but you need to be aware of this as the shark is swimming with the bait right at you. Once you’ve loaded up the line and set the hook (or reeled the circle hook tight), the shark will almost immediately come to the surface and start to thrash it’s tail at the surface making loud slaps on the water and trying to cut your line off. They are basically like reeling in a giant bag of water. Some runs for the charged up males, but usually just a slow and steady fight with a whole lot of weight. They are the toughest to control in the skinny water since they can turn into a figure 9 and bite the base of their tail and seem to wake up. Definitely the easiest fish to identify from the bite to the fight.

Giant Sea Bass (BSB): I’ve only caught/landed 9 from shore and 5 from the surf, even though I’ve lost about a dozen that I knew or was sure of. (The other 100+ have all been from the boat and don’t relate in any way on how hard they pull from shore.) One thing that every single one does is grab the bait and run straight out at a 90 degree angle. No bobs of the rod tip, just one bounce and the rod bends straight over and it starts screaming out to sea. You can feel the big fan tail hitting your line and the occasional HUGE head shake trying to spit the hook. Nothing and I mean nothing feels like a big bass in shallow water. They also don’t do any lateral movement. They run straight out and you fight them straight in. There literally is only a 5 degree movement to the north or south from where you set the hook and I don’t know why this is, but it happens every time. The bass won’t give in, but twists and thumps and bursts with speed when it can shake the hook. Even though I’ve never hooked a submarine before, I can only imagine this is exactly how it would feel.

Great White Shark: I’ve only hooked 4 and never landed one so I don’t have any definitive knowledge on the fight, but from what I’ve experienced, it was much different than the other shark species. Lots of 45 degree angles in the fight as it would switch from left to right and back again. They also tail thrash at the surface with that huge tail and you can hear/see a lot of splashing. Once their belly rubs on some of the sand in the shallower water, they freak out and make a lightyear speed burst straight out to sea. That’s what I’ve experienced with them, but can’t really elaborate, except that I know it is not one of the typical sharks at the end of my line and there is not a whole lot sharks that close in that it could be.

June 03, 2014 003

There are always outliers, but this is a general description of what the initial hit and fight of the most common bigger surf critters in SoCal will do. Hopefully it helps you start to identify with what is happening the next time you head out looking to land that surf monster!

Until next tide!

Surf Submarines - Giant Sea BassSevengill's and Soupfin are Congregating
You Might Also Like
 
I Love It When A Plan Comes Together
 
Young Guns
Latimeria
3 years ago Articlesbat ray fishing, big game fishing the shore, california surf fishing, casting long rods, catching monster fish, fishing with big baits, Giant Sea Bass, Great White Shark, leopard shark, leopard shark fishing, Long Rods, mud marlin fishing, rigging for bat rays, saltwater fishing socal, sevengill shark fishing, shark week, Soaking Baits, Soupfin shark, surf sharks, Tope Shark, west coast fishing446
 photo PSBGBFlogo_zps6b64aedb.jpg
Most Viewed
IMG951865
Big Game SoCal Surf Fishing
11,679 views

Surf fishing in Southern California for many anglers down here usually involve small bass rods and light line.  There are a few who target something a little bigger and badder that swim our surf and can test your tackle as well as your back. For years my friend Don up in LA would try to […]

Sasquatch with a nice Mud Marlin
Bat Ray Fishing Southern California Bays
11,360 views

Phasellus scelerisque est ac enim interdum pharetra.

Topwater Corvina
San Diego “Big & Little” Bay Fishing Guide
8,300 views

Fishing San Diego Bay or Mission Bay from shore can be very productive with a little bit of know-how and a healthy amount of perseverance. When it comes to fishing spots, Google Earth is your best friend. You can fish anywhere you want unless there are No Fishing signs posted. In general, fish relate to […]

Candy Bait
Glossary of Common SoCal Fishing Terms
5,382 views

Many of these terms are used in our Forum board as well as the articles. This is to aid anglers on common words thrown around the SoCal fishing community. The meanings may vary slightly between anglers and geographic locations, but normally reflects the general definition used. (Please PM Latimeria on the Forum Board if you […]

ling meat 2
Blue Fillets
5,252 views

Lingcod is a member of the greenling family and isn’t the only species of fish on the West Coast to have blue-green meat. Relatives to the Lingcod are the rock greenling and the kelp greenling which are sometimes tinted turquoise like the unrelated cabezon, which shares the same habitat. Lingcod are usually white-hued like halibut […]

Shortfin Corvina
Here Cometh the Grunion
4,573 views

Well, the grunion run is about to begin and that means the coast is about to get inundated with a lot of bait and the game fish that follow them. This ranges from sharks and rays to bass and butts. One of the most sought after game during this time is the Shortfin Corvina (Cynoscion […]

Bean
SoCal Fish Identification – A Pictorial Review
2,776 views

Fusce ornare dolor faucibus sem adipiscing bibendum.

Most commented
kF7x33ql
A Good Start to 2019 for this Happy Angler
IMG_20180404_174652487_2
Sevengill Solo Success
20180402141846-a7672055-la
Saturday Night Bat Fight-XI Winning Bat Ray
Wq4R9so
Sevengills and Leopards
i-cBG5D58-M
Sharking the OC
Josh21018
Double Trouble
IMG_20180130_195013
The Sevengill Sharks are Returning
Batson Enterprises

Tags
california surf fishingfishing with big baitsbig game fishing the shoreSurf Fishing sharkscatching monster fishwest coast fishingcasting long rodssevengill shark fishingsurf sharksSoupfin sharkSoaking Baitsshark weeksaltwater fishing socalleopard sharkleopard shark fishingTope SharkLong Rodsbat ray fishingGreat White SharkSoupfinsaturday night bat fightoffshore fishing socalmud marlin fishingrigging for bat rayshow to catch bat raysbluefin tuna fishingsocal bass fishingcalifornia bay fishingmission bay fishingel nino 2015yellowfin tuna fishinghalibut fishing socalBass Fishingbycatchshovelnose guitarfishsan diego bass fishinglight line surf fishingSevengilltrout fishingfishing Bajashortfin corvina fishingfishing termsdoradosocal bay fishingLake Barrett
About

Prehistoric Soul took root 550 million years ago when the first organisms in the sea started to predate on others. Over time, the fish populated our waters, both fresh and salt, and there were hunters of these fish that developed a sense and knack for catching them.

CATEGORIES
  • Articles (15)
  • Fishing Blogs (14)
  • News (88)
  • Pictures (4)
  • Post Of The Week (161)
  • Product Reviews (1)
  • Reports (72)
  • The Best Posts (10)
  • Travel (4)
  • Uncategorized (24)
Archives
  • December 2022 (1)
  • November 2022 (2)
  • September 2022 (2)
  • August 2022 (2)
  • June 2022 (2)
  • May 2022 (2)
  • April 2022 (2)
  • March 2022 (1)
  • February 2022 (1)
  • December 2021 (3)
  • November 2021 (1)
  • October 2021 (2)
  • September 2021 (3)
  • June 2021 (2)
  • May 2021 (1)
  • April 2021 (2)
  • March 2021 (1)
  • February 2021 (1)
  • January 2021 (1)
  • December 2020 (1)
  • November 2020 (2)
  • October 2020 (2)
  • September 2020 (3)
  • August 2020 (1)
  • July 2020 (2)
  • June 2020 (2)
  • May 2020 (1)
  • February 2020 (1)
  • January 2020 (1)
  • December 2019 (1)
  • November 2019 (3)
  • September 2019 (1)
  • July 2019 (3)
  • June 2019 (1)
  • May 2019 (2)
  • April 2019 (3)
  • March 2019 (2)
  • February 2019 (3)
  • January 2019 (3)
  • December 2018 (1)
  • November 2018 (3)
  • October 2018 (4)
  • September 2018 (1)
  • July 2018 (1)
  • June 2018 (2)
  • May 2018 (2)
  • April 2018 (3)
  • March 2018 (2)
  • February 2018 (2)
  • December 2017 (2)
  • November 2017 (2)
  • October 2017 (1)
  • September 2017 (1)
  • August 2017 (2)
  • July 2017 (1)
  • June 2017 (3)
  • May 2017 (9)
  • April 2017 (3)
  • March 2017 (4)
  • February 2017 (6)
  • January 2017 (2)
  • December 2016 (2)
  • November 2016 (1)
  • October 2016 (4)
  • September 2016 (4)
  • August 2016 (2)
  • July 2016 (4)
  • June 2016 (2)
  • May 2016 (2)
  • April 2016 (1)
  • March 2016 (2)
  • February 2016 (4)
  • January 2016 (2)
  • December 2015 (2)
  • November 2015 (4)
  • October 2015 (3)
  • September 2015 (3)
  • August 2015 (3)
  • July 2015 (4)
  • June 2015 (6)
  • May 2015 (4)
  • April 2015 (5)
  • March 2015 (7)
  • February 2015 (4)
  • January 2015 (8)
  • December 2014 (5)
  • November 2014 (6)
  • October 2014 (6)
  • September 2014 (5)
  • August 2014 (6)
  • July 2014 (9)
  • June 2014 (12)
  • May 2014 (6)
  • April 2014 (2)
Email subscription

Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest news and event postings.

2014 © My Blog
© copyright 2014 . Prehistoric Soul . All right reserved