Headed out last night with Treecatcher after getting skunked the last couple of times out. Decided to fish a spot that I had fished the night before with lots of shredded baits/small runs but nothing connecting. We set up and immediately get hit with a lot more salad than the night before; I was confused about where it came from considering it wasn't too windy during the day (at least I don't remember it being too windy). The abundance of salad coupled with a strong current resulted in a lot of false alarm clicker runs throughout the night, but we were able to find some fish nonetheless. First fish of the night was the laziest bat ray I had ever caught. He made an extremely slow clicker grab and fought like a big sluggish shark; it was the first bat ray I had hooked that didn't just take off screaming when the hook stuck in him. I could have sworn I felt a couple head shakes too. Steve got a butterfly ray at the same time.
Another hour or so and a few short bites later my clicker went off again and the line slackened as soon as I ran up to my rod. I reeled in the slack and connected to something angry and definitely not a ray. I was expecting a nice soupfin but ended up with a tank of a leopard shark! 57" on the tape and my first Leo! I had been wanting to get one for awhile now and I'm glad I knocked it off the list with a bang! I released it and recast. Quickly after my clicker started crawling off again and I hook what felt like a big clump of weeds with the occasional head shake. It ended up being a Banded Guitarfish, the first one I'd seen (aside for one that someone left for dead on the oceanside pier). Crazy looking fish!
Later in the night Steve's clicker starts SCREAMING and he sprints over to set the hook. It ended up being another nice Leopard that went on some hard runs and felt like a much bigger fish. An hour later with no more love and we decide to call it. Although we didn't catch the targeted surf sharks it was a great multi species session and I can't complain about catching an almost 5 foot leopard. Can't wait to head out again next week.
Photos are here:
https://kamranwalsh.smugmug.com/53/ The free trial I kept renewing is about to expire so it's either time to find a different third party website or create a new account with a different email.
