Long time listener, first time caller - looking for kayak fishing buddies

[Mark]

Ian,

You've had quite the CNR treatment on your trip to OC.

Most of the time you can tell a CNR from a striper instantly after hookup because there is no headshake with a CNR like there is with a striper.

Also, most of the time, a CNR is not swimming away with your lure in its mouth. You'll snag them more frequently than they'll actually bite your lure. My last encounter with one was at Cabin Creek a few weeks ago. It took a well worn jig and paddletail that had caught lots of stripers. It had more stripers left in it for sure. But I last saw the jig on the tip of the CNR's left wing as it surfaced after I intentionally broke it off.

Also, usually it's not just one ray. They swim in schools. When the light is right, you can see them swimming just under the surface.

[Slobber Bob]

I'd just use it as learning experience for the next time you go. After a few trips you'll start to figure out how the inlet works so you can hopefully navigate it with less effort next time. Now you at least have a good baseline for what to expect and will know for the future that you don't want to get trapped having to work against a high or very high coefficient because it will be near impossible.

Sorry the fishing wasn't better, but the bright side is you handled the inlet and you didn't have any bad outcomes from it.