Me and my buddy have never fished the ocean. We really don't care what we catch just want to get something over 100lbs. We are planning a trip for this year and I was just wondering what would be the best time for use to go out Cali to go fishing. We were planning on fishing from the beach or piers. A shark or stingray or grouper would be cool.
Well anything from shore at a 100lbs or close will be rare. Not many sharks of size that close, most fishes are ruled out but there are some big rays caught. Most of the ones of that size get away because most people fishing on shore use lighter tackle. They get spooled and it's a "no-see-um" type of release. Now if I were you I'd look to fish at night for the rays of that size. Not sure where you plan to be in Cali but most piers stay open later into the night and the beaches can close at around 10pm if in a populated area. Piers or jetties would be your best bet but jetties at night can be dangerous to move around on. If you head down to my neck of the woods, So Cal, I could give you a little better info on where to look, gear and bait. During the day your best bet is to hook up with a 110lb Californian, blond, bikini wearing beach bunny. Most are not keepers but they are a whole lot of fun to catch. Good luck.
where in calfornia are you going to be?
We are not sure. Never been to California. San Diego is only a 7 hour drive. But don't really care we will travel amywhere
You need to use that stingray for bait. Sharks love them. If you were in Florida during the migration in May, a 100lb shark is only limited by your gear. ;)
There are a few 4-pack boats that go for thrasher sharks if you are looking for something on the larger size. I caught a tiny 6 ft thrasher shark 1" from the tip of the tail. Took us 30 minutes to bring it in, chasing it 3 times on a runabout on 30# test. It wasn't big but was very exciting.
Daron knows what he's talking about rays make the best shark bait! I've looked at several studies and most species of large sharks pic ray over every other type of bait presented to them on the same gear.
A Dinner plate sized one is the Ticket! ;)
Or a nice solid chunk the size of a dinner plate, even better ;)