These California sharks grow a lot in a week.....

After the successful trip last Thursday I couldn't wait to get back out on the water.

One of my high school teachers from last year had expressed interest in going fishing sometime. He is an avid freshwater guy but has only dabbled in salt water. After a few short email it was decided we would hit Tomalas Bay and chase sharks.

Get on the water a little after 6am. Water is perfectly flat and you can see anchovies jumping as far as you can see in every direction. Anchor up around 6:20am and throw our lines out baited with Mackerel and squid. Within 5min he is hooked up to a ray which quickly breaks off his 20lb. Re rig and cast back out another short wait and he hooks another ray which again breaks off. At this point we decide his line might be bad and lucky enough I brought along a spare reel with 300yds of 30lb mono. Re rig and toss out again. Now it is my turn, I hook into a good 4-4.5' Leopard shark and get it boat side after a quick battle. While getting a rope on its tail, so we could take a photo, my other rod goes off and I land another Leopard shark a little smaller. Release the second and get a few quick photos of the first shark before the release.

Another short wait and he is hooked up again. After a good battle he lands a 40" ray that we took a few photos of being his first "big" salt water fish and his biggest fish ever (at that point of the day).

A while later I'm hooked on another Leopard shark.

At this point Ben decides he wants a shark. Well he got his wish.

He then lands a small 16-20" Brown Smooth Hound Shark that we release without a photo. Later we regret not sending it back down with a hook in its nose. I land a small ray and another Leopard Shark that came in green and put on an awesome areal display boat side before shaking the barbless hook on the surface (I'm counting him because I leaders it twice and had it in gaff range multiple times).

Alright, enough of these small sharks, time to do what we came here for and catch a Sevengill. Unfortunately the spot we were fishing rarely produces any sevengills on outgoing tide and the tide had just started to turn. Text my buddy if he knows any place to catch Sevens on the outgoing tide. Before the message even sends I see my rod tip bouncing in the familiar Sevengill "mouthing" bite. Set the hook and after a short fight, get it boat side and we tow it to shore for some photos, dehooking and measurements.

It was 70" long, 54" fork length and 26" (I believe I forgot exact measurement on the last) girth with a formula weight of 52lbs.

After a quick release we zip back to our anchor and tie up again. Drop all the baits and about 10min later Ben's rods starts taking off. After the hook up we see head shakes but can't tell if its a Sevengill or Leopard. It jumps (or course the one moment I turn around). Takes off on a nice run and about 50yds to the left a 6' White Sturgeon come completely airborne about 30-40yds off the boat, it was an awesome sight, but obviously not the fish we had on the line. After what seems like a million circles around the boat just out of leader length we get it boat side and finally see how big it actually is. After a long slow tow (head first mind you, I'm not about drowning sharks for a photo) we get it to the beach.

Fight time was about 25min. Final measurement was 86" (7'2" for the mathematically challenged) total length, 66" fork length, and 36.75" girth for a formula weight of 109lbs but it felt more like 110lbs to me

Walked him (male shark) forward for about 10min to get some good oxygen flowing to make sure he continues to scare kayakers. Swam away strong. No more fish after that but a bunch of crabs. Final tally was 5 leopard sharks all over 3' and 4 over 4', 1 brown smooth hound shark, 3-4 bat rays and 2 sevengills over 5'. All the Leopards, except for one, we caught on mackerel and all the sevengills were caught on 1 whole squid (amazing such a big shark will eat such a small bait). All fish and crabs released.

With shark week starting next week and a hot shark bite, I am making one last trip next week before my move south for college (expect off shore shark reports to come) so we will hit the bay hard and fish BIG baits looking for that 8' plus shark.