Newport 7/15
 

BWE member Sven wrote me a note the other day asking if I wanted to go out of Newport for some rockfish this Friday. Of course I did so we arranged to meet at the coast guard station about 6am. We bought some bait at the barge, the anchovies were tiny little two inchers but the sardines were nice about 5 or 6 inches. They were still $10 for a kayak scoop so we loaded up and headed out side. We were going to hit the kelp but the swells were a little rough so we headed out a couple of miles to about 150' of water, give or take a little. Sven started right off catching small sharks, smooth hound sharks he said. I hit a sand dab hole and started catching them. I had my feet hanging over the side and had just landed a sand dab when something grabbed my foot. I almost died, from a heart attack. It scared the beejeebers out of me, all I saw was a brown swirl. Then it came back, it was a bat ray, about 50 or more pounds and it started slurping the side of my boat. After few minutes if moved to the back of my boat and kept chewing on it for about 20 minutes or so. It didn't stop until I started paddling in, I was experiencing my first bout of sea sickness from the swells. Once we got in the bay the sickness went away and we started fishing for halibut, we did pretty good as far as numbers go but only got one legal fish, about 23" that Sven caught, with a borrowed sardine. His bait tank quit and all his bait died but I had a lot so we just kept fishing. I had one pretty nice halibut up to the boat but he came off right at the boat. Anyway, we had a good time, kept getting bites until the tide changed then we headed home. It took me three hours to get home, normally an hour and fifteen minute drive. After thinking about why the bat ray kept trying to eat my boat I think the bait guy had dumped a bunch of the tiny anchovies in with the sardines, they were so small they were going out my overflow and the bat ray was feasting on them. I can't tell you why he bit on my foot but I think I'll keep my feet in the boat from now on. I forgot to add the picture of Sven and his fish, when you see this watch Americas Most Wanted and see if he looks familiar

Haha thanks for the report. Take care of those feet!

I may have to change my BWE name to Bat Ray Bait

Interesting
 

I keep my feet in two....I have had a lot of big stingrays suck on my bait tubes....plus hammerhead shark incounters

G thanks now I have to look forward to shark encounters too lol? I hate those things and ever since GWhites are invading I've stopped bodyboarding at Newport and HB. I just hope my heart does not stop beating when I have my first sighting.

OP thanks for the post as I did not know its only $10 for kayak scoop. I wonder if that's the price at Dana Point.

I have been reading that all the bait barges were getting $20 for a kayak scoop so I was pleasantly surprised. I don't mind tipping $5 for a ten dollar scoop. By the way, I asked about squid and the guy said all the commercial guys are taking it directly to the market buyers because the price is so high right now. He said the only time they get squid now is if the boat has a short load that isn't worth taking to the market buyer. The sardines were really lively and held up well in my bait tank, I probably released over 25 when we landed for the day. There were a bunch of kids playing on the beach so I gave them all a sardine for their buckets. Little kids love that kind of stuff.

Very nice, good job

Just curious what bait tank you are using and where you're putting it? Bait tank is still something I have yet to work out.

Dave, it's a Squidco tank with a 6 volt battery, three rod holders on each side and I put auxiliary drain pipes just below the overflow holes, I didn't like it draining into the boat so now it drains overboard. I put it in the back seat position and bungee it down, I also put a drain pipe in the bottom of the tank that I can open and drain the tank so I don't have to remove it to dump it.

We still have to get out there and fish together some day.

Your adjustments seem pretty well thought out. I agree that you wouldn't want to overflow into the back seat!

I originally had the tank in my Ascend kayak and letting the water drain into the back of the kayak was not a good them. the scuppers wouldn't drain fast enough to keep up and the water would start building up in the back of the yak making it real heavy. This way most of the water goes overboard and I don't have that extra weight to paddle around. It works good on the P2T also. I was amazed at how well the sardines stayed alive the other day. I think I must have started out with at least 50 in there and only a few were dead at the end of the day. I bought this tank from a BWE member who had it advertised on the sale portion of the page.

I was getting a kayak scoop in Dana point for $10 a year ago, but just saw another post that said it was $20 now. Good thing I now know the guys working the barge.

Bat Ray Toe
 

Good to know it can happen!