The History of the Saturday Night Bat FightThe story all began back in 2007 when some friendly ribbing was being thrown around on a local fishing forum. The two fishermen were Donfish and Latimeria who were deciding which county had bigger bat rays and even if the surf or the bay held the biggest bats!
We both had been bat ray fishing for a long time and were confident in our techniques to catch these beasts. We were planning (or at least I thought it was going to be mano y mano) to find out which angler had what it takes... This quickly escalated into what County had the biggest rays as other fishermen joined the fray and a tournament was born. Who would have ever guessed it is still going all of these years later.
This humble showdown is anything but humble.... It's all been about bragging rights and deservedly so since the bats are big, strong and will test your tackle (& will) at times.
Most of the pictures and stories are shared on the SNBF Facebook page. Please follow the link and send an invite to the page where I will check and accept if applicable.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/144022729051913Here is a quick synopsis on how the years panned out...
Saturday Night Bat Fight ISaturday, February 9th, 2008What started as a one on one competition that turned into a county vs. county group tournament. Since no one was really expecting this thing to take off, there were no special logo or shirts even made, just a bunch of guys showing up with the big gear to tackle some big fish!
The logo was actually a spray painted chair seat ready for the bonfire to keep us warm!
Not many fish were caught, but we did tag a big beast ay 52" to take home the trophy!
Latimeria's 08' Monster Winner52"
Saturday Night Bat Fight IISaturday, April 11th, 2009Apparently the following year it was brought up to do this friendly competition once again. The date was set, but still no logo was made as it was still in the early stages of making this a legit competition.
Team San Diego made a crazy location change half-way through the competition since fishing was very slow (zero fish) at spot number one. Spot number 2 landed us a few bats, but mostly bycatch such as sharks and other rays. In the meantime, LA had a great night and put the hurting on the other two counties. OC was about to be skunked two seasons in a row.
And the winner is... LA by a long shot with Don's beastly ray.
To rub salt in the wound, Don also pulled in a monster male Seven-gill shark at 101"!!! Wow!
Donfish's Huge '09 Winner49"
The Bonus 7-Gill
Saturday Night Bat Fight IIISaturday, March 13th, 2010
It wasn't until the third year that it was pretty obvious that this competition was going to continue for years to come, so I drew and put together a quick logo to commemorate it. We even had our buddy JKim come down and take some killer photos of the event for us. John is a great fisherman and super talented photographer, so he has a great eye when it comes to pictures such as this.
I have to be honest in I have not seen so many big rods in such a small area before and it was going to take some serious foot and rod work to prevent tangles.
Our chum mixture was put out all day, but it did not bring in the masses. We got wind that LA got into some fish, so the pressure was on.
Thankfully the fish gods smiled down upon us and I got this hefty 48.5" bat to give us a comfortable feeling.
We were pretty sure we had it in the bag as team LA was messing with us and they didn't have a competitor to ours. The competition is over at 12:00 midnight and the picture needs to be posted.
At 11:59pm, we finally hear from the OC and that little son of a gun Billy throws up a thread with them catching a 49" bat! Ughhh, beat out by 1/2"!!!!
The OC bastages (& Dagodfaja) squeaked us out by 1/2" with a really nice one!!! :lol:
49"
Saturday Night Bat Fight IVSaturday, March 5th, 2011
This is the first year we made the shirts. Pocketed T's were in demand, so everyone had the opportunity to get one and I must say it was cool seeing everyone all decked out in them.
We kept our signs pretty low budget though! this was the year JKim also honored the Squatch with a killer time lapsed photo of him casting on his long rod.
It was a very slow night once again, but it only takes one to win it. We got a few, but I was fortunate to piper a big girl in to take season 4!
My Beast 51.5" to take the trophy back home!
Saturday Night Bat Fight VMarch 10th, 2012
This was a special design for the logo as it was a few months after a big 100 pound plus bat ray stuck its stinger into Sasquatch's Foot! He lost a lot of blood and had the ambulance have to come and get him. In honor of his "sacrifice", I designed a fitting logo for year number 5.
We had another big crowd this year as well as LA. Even the OC numbers were growing now that they had a win under their belt.
I struck early with a 49" contender.
The Bat Fight shirts looked good!
We got word that LA also scored a 49" bat and was thinking this was going to come down as a tie, when our SD surf contingent called in their 49.5" bat from the surf!
Chris (Pierfisher) got the big bat for SNBFV at a beautiful 49.5" and squeaked a few bats out by 1/2"!
Saturday Night Bat Fight VIMarch 9th, 2013
This was the year of the giants. Every single county got monsters over 50 inches. The guys up in Newport felt good with a 51" plus sized bat that would have taken it any other year, but the guys from LA also had a trick up their sleeve by putting a ringer in the bay. He crushed it with a 55" and 55.5" bat! Now those are some true monsters. Up until that point, Team SD was having a killer day with 5 bats over 50 inches. Where's My Beer thought he had it in the bag with a 55" early in the day to realize he wasn't going to win it.
We get the call that Jaws197 pulled out a beast at 56.5" long at out satellite spot and decisively kept the trophy in SD hands.
Joe's (Jaws197) 56.5" biggest bat for a bat fight yet!
Going for the FOUR-PEAT! It will take some serious work to knock SD off the mountain!
Saturday Night Bat Fight VIIMarch 15th, 2014 
This year was pretty good for Team SD as they had many of the top fish, although not many bats were caught. It was Team SD vs. Team SD as JWells squeaked out the win by 1/2" from Latimeria. The new location was a pleasure to fish, but not many fish were in the area. Team LA was hoping to have the bay explode again, but was quiet also. Team OC got some bats, but did not hit the magic 50" mark.
JWells took SD to number 7 and the Four-Peat!!
Saturday Night Bat Fight VIIIMarch 7th, 2015Team SD with Jimmy Wells 55.5" Brute of a Bat!
JWells and his big ass bat!
Saturday Night Bat Fight IXMarch 12th, 2016Sasquatch with a 1/4" win over Latimeria (in a semi-poaching maneuver) with a 50.25" Bat Ray in SD. Six-Peat
Steve's tie with my fish. He somehow was granted a 1/4" by the crowd! LOL
Saturday Night Bat Fight XMarch 11th, 2017A 50.5" Bat Ray by Jim Murtagh up in LA
Team SD
A 50.5" Bat Ray by Jim Murtagh
Saturday Night Bat Fight XIMarch 31st, 2018A 49" Bat by Pinoyfisher in San Diego
Mike was hoping for sharks during the Bat Fight and got exactly what he deserved! LOL
Saturday Night Bat Fight XIIMarch 09th, 201920.5" bat by Matt Pierce takes the win for OC!
First time ever a fish less than 46 inches won this event....
Saturday Night Bat Fight XIIIMarch 07th, 202030" Bat by Jerry Luce is enough for the win in SD! Trophy comes home!
Another REALLY tough year as hardly any bats were caught, but SD squeaked out a few as well as the OC. LA continues to wear the stripe the last few years.
Saturday Night Bat Fight XIVApril 10, 2021
49" Bat by Sasquatch seals the win for San Diego again as other counties failed to post anything of that caliber.
Saturday Night Bat Fight XVMarch 12, 2022
First off, I want to congratulate the OC team of Ben, Pat, and Tam on the late win for Team OC! It was another tough year leading into the 15th annual installment of the Saturday Night Bat Fight, and Team SD was in the lead for almost all day with a smedium sized (30") Bat Ray, when Team OC posted a better one with 15 minutes to go in the tournament.
Ben caught the 34" Bat that took the top honors for SNBF-XV (Hopefully they get me a picture with all three of them, but they took stills off the video that I saw and not sure what other pictures they have)
Saturday Night Bat Fight XVIApril 15, 2023
35" Bat by Ethansauce seals the first SNBF win for Ventura County!
Saturday Night Bat Fight XVIIApril 27, 2024
