Newport Beach Bay Fishing Update 3/29/10
69Newport Beach Bay Fishing Update 3/29/10
I can't believe it's March with all this sunshine! Hey again, this is the second update for fishing the Newport Beach bay this year. With this heat coming on strong and clear skies you can bet the fishing is starting to pick up a bit early this season.
Friday evening after work I set out to catch a couple spotted bay bass. I went home got my gear ready to go and got to my spot at about 6:00 P.M. I was originally going to try to fish by a dock that I know houses fish, but people were on it unfortunately. So I would down to my other go-to spot. I set my things down on the concrete that I am now sitting on. I get my bait out, which was a big piece of Humboldt Squid that I had caught a few months earlier when the squid were in town. For more info on that you can check out my other blog at http://hubpages.com/hub/Humbolt-Squid-Fishing-Newport-Beach-Ca . So, I rig my rod up with 12 lb test. and a 1 ounce weight. The reason you want a one ounce weight is so the current won't move your bait to far from where you originally cast. I tied a barrel swivel on under neither the weight. I use about 2-3 feet of leader material then tie a barb-less bass hook to the end. It really helps with getting the hook out. All I need to do now is put a piece of the cut squid on my hook and I am ready to rock and roll.
I cast out about 20-30 feet and let it sink to the bottom. The current wasn't too strong Friday so the weight I had used was fine. The squid was only about 1.5 inches long, so it wasn't a very big piece. It wasn't more than 5 minutes until I caught my first Spotted Bay Bass. Awesome! This was going to be a great fishing day I thought to myself. I re-bait and throw it back out. It took about another 30 minutes to grab another bass only this one was a Sand Bass. They are slightly different in appearance. Again, i re-bait and toss it out. This time was different because 20 minutes later I got another hit, only this one was a Bat Ray. It pealed line of of my reel and I tightened my drag as much as I could without breaking the line. It took about 100 yards off of my reel in about 2 minutes. They have gigantic runs when you hook into one. The ray ended up breaking my line unfortunately, but at least I got my line back, he almost spooled me! I ended up catching about 6 other bass in another 1.5 hrs. The fishing bay all indications was very good.
I went home after catching the bass, which is fortunately right up the street 5 minutes and ate dinner, then got my bigger pole out. I was going to try to bring in a Bat Ray. I went back to my favorite dock and rigged up the same way I did for bass only with a circle hook. I cast my rig out and let it hit the bottom. I waited there for a good hour with nothing happening. All of a sudden I look up and see my rod being bent. I grab my pole and start trying to reel in. Keep in mind on this pole I have a top shot of 50lb test for about 100 yards tied to 30 lb test. mono-filament. The ray pulled line off my reel like you wouldn't believe and all of a sudden I was in a war ;) I ended up getting the monster in and pulled it up on the dock. The giant ray was a 75 lb'er and was enormous. I was exhausted at this point due to me putting all of my energy into this ray.
I took a pic of it and released it to fight another day. This was a great fight and the biggest Bat Ray I have ever caught in the Newport Beach Bay. If anyone has comments or questions go ahead and leave them and I will respond. Thanks for reading! Go fishing if you can, needless to say, it's heating up out there. Good luck fishing! Also, check out my other update for Newport Beach fishing. http://hubpages.com/hub/Newport-Beach-Bay-Fishing-Update.
For you fly fishing people out there here is a good hub to read, http://hubpages.com/hub/Flyfishing-Newport-Beach.
By the way, feel free to click on an ad or two, it really helps out with me making updates as often as I can. Thanks people!
CommentsLoading...
but next time leave the bat ray alone... i did some clicking too in order to help out! jpk3
Haha thank you for your clicks man! I catch and release everything so the rays are good to go for the next person to catch :)
Man alive! What a catch! I probably would take off running if one of them critters came up at the end of my pole...LOL! Cool hub!
hey birdman,
I have really enjoyed reading your updates. Good info and stories. I am planning on hitting up the bay with a buddy, but we don't have a boat. Do you know of any good spots on the bay that can be fished from shore.
Matt- Here's a good spot. There is a dock on the island that no one ever fishes and hug rays are there. Not sure if you are going to try to catch one, but they sure are fun. I am going to assume you know how to get to Balboa Island. Go over the bridge past the first stop sign to the second one. Take a right. Continue on that road until you reach Emerald, make a right. Go all the way down to the end of the street and park. Get out and find the public dock, set up on the dock with some raw shrip. You can get the shrimp at a super market in the fish section. You will get a bass almost guaranteed. If you use squid, you will catch a ray or a small shark. Happy fishing, let me know hwo it goes. Thats where I fished a lot last summer.
thanks a lot bro!
I am excited for a new spot. I have been in a slump to say the least. I Have fished the wedge jetty and a couple places on that end of the harbor and the only thing interested in my cut squid was a few rats out on the rocks. By buddy hooked a big ray and it broke of his 15lb test easily. I will be sure to hit up the grocery store to give the shrimp a try. Do you usually rig it with a slip sinker? I usually rig up with squid so is there anything special I need for riggin shrimp?
Good report man, I'm going tomorrow night and I can't wait. I'm wondering if you've ever used any of the Berkley Gulp products, and if you have, have you had any success.
Keep those lines tight.....
Matt - Make sure the shrimp you buy are raw and they can be the smaller ones as well. I just rig them up with a small circle hook carolina rigged. 1/2 ounce slip sinker with 8-10 lb test on my rod for bass. For the rays I use a 7 ft med-heavy pole with 30 lb test for the base of my reel, then a 50lb test connected to the 30lb for about 100 yards. I have suck heavy test on because I want to be able to stop the rays gigantic runs because they tend to get wrapped around bouys and such.
Tight - Lines -Yes, I perfer the Berkley products. When I drift the bay in my float tube I use Berkley Swim Baits with a 1/2 ounce lead head. I have actually had more success letting the swim baits drop about 3 seconds, then start reeling in, not jiging it or anything, but thats just my experience with them. You will also be able to pull in some Halibut with the same set up. Just make sure you are jiging it on the bottom.
Thanks a lot. Ill be sure to let you know how it goes.
How'd it go guys?
Hey Birdman,
I went out to the island with my buddy with the shrimp and some squid. We found a public dock, but later realized that it was not the one you were talking about. We didn't make it all the way down to emerald st, but did actually end up finding that one on our way off the island.
The dock that we stopped at was a bust! My buddy got a bite on the squid but didn't hook up. How does the red tide affect the fishing? It was going on strong the night that we went.
I might head back there tonight and try out the dock that you first talked about. Hopefully it will be better.
Hey Matt,
Awww bummer. I went out on Friday and only caught one bass. It's been pretty slow. So you found the dock when you were leaving huh? oh well, just manke sure when you throw the shrimp out theremake sure you place it near some type of structure on eother side fo the dock ( Another dock, boat, whatever is there). Let me know how it goes.
Hey Birdman,
Im going to give balboa another try tomorrow. have you been recently? How is the bite? Any more recent tips for bank fishing?
Hey Matt,
I haven't been recently, but I heard the bite is getting better now. Swim baits and cut squid have been producing fish as of late. If you are going to use a swim bait cast along the docks. Use a sardine colored swimbait. I usually use a 5" bait with a green top and clear body with sparkles in it. You can get these at any fishing store. What also helps is if you cut a thin strip of squid and put that on the swin baits hook it will increase your odds of catching a fish. If you are going to use just bait, cut up peices of squid about 1/2"x 1/2" blocks. What spot on the island are you going to try out?
Fishing is a great way to relax and have fun.I really loved reading your blog.I also found your posts very interesting. In fact after reading, I had to go show it to my friend and he enjoyed it as well!
Regards,
Newport Beach Slips
deepshark 2 years ago
nice!