Well, what a day. I'm tired, sore and smell like chum even after a shower.
So here it is in a nutshell. We had 5 or more groups spread out at different spots in the bay in the morning. Fiesta Island was shut down due to an event, but we all split up to divide and conquer. I was apparently running a little late as Steve catches a bat ray, but has no tape to measure it. He texted me while I was on the road to let me know! No Tape!?!?
Then it became a bass fest. Bass bites on every cast and Sticks caught his first spotty! Surprisingly actually since he's fished the bay so many times.
Fishing wasn't too good and we got the text from Josh and Phong that the island was open, so we packed up and made the move.
Soon as we got to the island, we already started taking over the entire beach. Ray was there as a newly member of Team SD, so I figured he was our secret weapon for a win.
I was barely done setting up when Joe's rod goes off. As he jumped from his chair to fight it, he pulled his hammy and was wrecked for the rest of the night. I hope you're healing well Joe!
I whooped up a great pot of tuna/yellowtail/mackerel/squid/sardine stew. Only the soup went in and it glassed the windy water off well!
I just felt like I was going to have a good night and started it off with a big pregnant butterfly!
Ray was Photo-bomber extraordinaire!
Thankfully the island protected us from the brutal wind. It was a chilly morning, but warmed up quite nice!
Dave and Roger... the two guys who got me into bat ray fishing all those decades ago.
There were a fair amount of fish caught tonight and lots of bendo shots. All total, there were 4 Leopards, a dozen bats, a couple of butterflies, sh!t sharks and bass... with a lone shovel.
Jaws and Dakota
Pirate Tim came down to party with the family!
Dave caught a really nice White Sea Bag
Tim's boys on the bass
We were all waiting for Roger to take a mud bath during the low tide and he greeted our enthusiasm with a flying salute! lol
I finally get a legit fish on the line and slid up a 50.25" Bat.
A few minutes after landing my bat, Steve gets in on the action too!
And edges me by a tiny 1/4". He was fishing in Rasta's exact spot too!
Evening festivities and keeping warm.
We even got pizza delivered! LOL
I'll put more story up later, but here is a good start for pictures.