Seal Beach 3/27
 

Picked up my brother and fishing mentor from the airport yesterday from a miserable 3 years in Colorado. Naturally, the next day, a fishing trip was in order and he is without a license. So the next best thing before we get him a kayak is to bust a trip to our stomping ground, the seal beach pier.
We got there at 530pm and dropped in the lines right away. Rigged up with some mackerel that I stocked up on last week. Started it out with a gigantic smelt, the biggest I've ever seen at 14 inches. Followed up by a bunch of thornies. The bite died around 8pm and just as we were about to call it a night...BAAAAM!! His rod doubled over and the fight was on.
A 45 minute fight followed. The beast pulled 3 major runs, nearly spooling his Abu Garcia bait cast spooled with 10lb. Mono. He fought it in, somehow keeping it from running under the pier. Just as it got within reachable distance, I swung the pier gaff out and hooked the monster bat ray in the wing in the first shot.
It took four of us to pull it up, thank God there were a couple other guys around to help. It maxed out my tape measure so I had to measure in 2 parts. Final wingspan of 56 inches.
By far the biggest fish either of us has ever seen there in our 30+ years of combined fishing there. Keep in mind when you look at the picture of him with the ray that he's no little dude himself. 6'7" of pasty Sasquatch.
Welcome back you salty mofo! Bask in your bloody glory justin.
Now we just need to get this guy a license and a yak and I've got my fishing buddy back!!
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Are you eating the Ray?

i suggested it but he wanted to release it, so back to the big blue it went (or big brown as seal beach goes)

Why in the HELL would you pier gaff a fish with a huge rusty weighted treble hook, hoist it onto a pier then release it? YOU NEVER GAFF A FISH YOU DON'T PLAN TO KEEP. That fish is more then likely going to die a slow death from infection. If you are going to the pier to fish for any fish that you may want to safely release PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take a hoop net. I've safely caught thresher shark off the pier, landed them with a hoop net and released them. A big part of this lifestyle is a respect for our fishery.

i understand the concern with gaffing and releasing and was not an ideal situation. i have a tremendous amount of respect for fishing and fish as well. it was such a big and beautiful fish that it deserved to live. i've caught much smaller various rays with gaff scars who survived. it was a small puncture in a the wing of a massive fish with a NEW gaff hook. i respect your opinion and in the future i will be sure to bring a net for a more responsible catch and release. the last thing either of us want to do is be disrespectful to any creature as beautiful as this.

Ouch!!! I think it would be a safe assumption that a gaffed animal will die. I'd also recommend a hoop net or safely releasing the fish from your yak.

catch and release fail

:(

Why mess with SB pier.If U look south to the jetty theres Hali's in the incoming tide.By the way use ur gaff wisely!

yeah, I live right near SB, and the fishing there is sketchy at best (for me). When you described hooking into something big, I knew it was a bat. I'd have cut line from the pier. If you like the fight, you can get huge bat rays at Alamitos bay at around that same time of twilight. They will drag you up and down the beach, and once you haul them in, they are indeed quite beautiful. And, are very easy to release. Their mouths are kind of a soft bony mouth. Just watch out for the stinger at the back. Just walk backwards into the water dragging them by the bony "handles" behind their eyes. :reel:

58" tip-to-tip, released.
http://yew.smugmug.com/Sports/Fishin.../L/bat2b-L.jpg

On a related note::
If you had kept that gaffed batray, I've heard you can cut batray wing meat in small circles, and prepare them like "fake" scallops. Anyone ever try that?