Row, row, row your boat...

Last weekend I went fishing with my wife in our "new" rowboat. It's actually pretty old - I picked it up on Craig's List - but it's new to me. We went fishing Saturday and Sunday in Newport Harbor.

Saturday was the first time using the rowboat so it was a real learning experience. The first issue was getting into the boat. We launched from a little public beach in the harbor, so I got my feet soaked, while pushing the boat out. The next problem was that the rubber oar bushings that I had just purchased at West Marine slipped constantly, making rowing difficult. (I'm going to try the metal ones instead.)

Once we got out, we anchored towards the middle of the channel. The rowboat is less than 6' long and is not very stable so every boat that passed by gave us a thrill with its wake. Less than two hours of fishing produced 4 calico bass and a very sore posterior for me. Two of the bass were keepers and two were shorts.

Sunday, we went back out about 2 hours before sunset and fished the far side of the channel near some kelp beds. The first cast of the day produced a small calico that was released. Not too long after that, we caught a 12 inch halibut that was immediately released. However, upon further research it may have been a sanddab instead; next time, I'll know what to look for. (For those of you who don't fish, halibut have to be 22 inches to keep; sanddabs are like mini-halibut without the size limitation.) The next fish up was a 10 inch ray, followed by a 14 inch sand bass. I thought the sand bass was a calico but the people on the dock assured me it was a sandy.

So yeah... the sun had set, the fog had rolled in, my hinder parts ached exceedingly and we were almost out of bait, when my wife's rod bent over almost to the water's surface. She just about threw her rod at me as the drag was singing away... I didn't know what it was but it was definitely bigger than anything we had hooked into thus far.. It turned the boat around several times before I finally dragged up a 2.5' ray. It was dark and I had no clue where the barb was on one (this being the first one caught ever), so I didn't want to bring it into the boat. Since I had heard that bat rays tastes like scallops, I wanted to see this was true.

Not knowing really what to do, I ended up rowing back across the channel with my wife dragging the ray behind the boat. It was complicated but we made it.

As it turned out, I'm pretty sure it was a round sting ray and not a bat ray!! While it may not be immediately apparent, there is actually quite a bit of difference, but I'll leave that for a later date..

Lessons of the day:

Urinate before sitting in a 5' dingy for two hours in moving water.

Floatable seat cushions can save not only your life but also your bum.

Fish identification is a difficult art to master.

Rubber oarlocks DO slip no matter what they say on the package.

It's quite difficult to fit two adults and a stingray in one rowboat. (I don't know how they ever fit the butcher, the baker, and the candlestickmaker in a tub.)