Clearnose skate

So close tonight! Switched up baits and sent out a whole bunker around 7. This time, the bait was marinating in blood for the day, so it was nice and oily. It took about an hour for me to get my first bite. Something ran with my bait, and when I set the hook, I think I pulled it out of its mouth. I waited for a few minutes, and the second picture was what was left. I suspect it was either a bluefish or a shark, but whatever it was, it was a good fish that I missed. I paddled out my second bunker at 8:30, and since it was 30 minutes away from pretty much pitch black night, that was the last bait I sent out. It only took about 20 minutes for me to get some action again. It didn't run, but something was definitely trying to pick up the bait. I again missed the hook set and thought my bait was probably gone. However, I didn't reel it in because I was not going back out on my kayak. So I kept it out there. Around 9:30, I was getting a few small bites. It almost felt like a fluke that I caught in the morning. This happened a few more times until 10:30, when I decided to pack it up. I didn't even know that this skate was on until I saw him in the surf. I think something larger took most of the bunker like the first time, and there was probably a small piece left. Then this skate was probably so small that whenever I tried to set the hook, it just felt like I was dragging my sinker and bait across the bottom. I didn't get fully skunked, which is good, but its probably the next worst thing to it. Unfortunately, tomorrow night has thunderstorms forecasted, and friday has some monster waves. I might be able to try fishing in the inlet Friday night, but other than that, I might be forced to make a trip sometime in the next 2 weeks to LBI. Unfortunate day of fishing, but hopefully, I'll be able to catch that shark before I head back up to VT. #CatchKing

Got a clearnose skate last night. First time catching one of them in a long time. #CatchKing

Got 8 skates total between us, great first even to fish.