Channel Islands Harbor 1/30

[Wahoo!]

Location: Channel Islands Harbor
Date: Jan 30, 2004
Bait: Squid, mackeral
Rig: Sliding sinker and 5/0 circle hooks
Total Catch: 3 Bat Rays

I took my girlfriend and 2 of her friends Matt and Kristen fishing in the C.I harbor. We got there around 8 and it was cold and windy. Luckily the wind was at our back and it didn't really affect the fishing. Things started off slow with no hook ups, but about 10:30 the bat rays started rolling in! I was the first to hook up and about 20 minutes later, landed a 60 - 70 pound bat ray. About 5 minutes later my friend Drew hooks up with something HUGE! The fish starts to run parallel to the shore so we all ran to reel in our lines. As I got my pole out of the holder the baitrunner starts clicking and we think his fish has gotten tangled in my line. A couple seconds later, my line starts going down the shore the opposite way. We had a double hook up on bat rays! I hand this one off to Matt. This was the first time he'd ever even seen a bat ray and he had a lot of fun fighting it. This one was around 35 or 40 pounds. After we get that one released, we head over to help Drew and he's still fighting it. After about a 50 or 60 minute fight (and handing the pole off to Mike) we land the thing on a small stretch of beach at the base of the jetty. It was huge. It had to weigh well over 150 pounds. After that fish we were all worn out so we packed up and went home. It was a great night. Here's some pics.