Thurman, use fresh or salted herring and salmon for bait, octopus is good too, tough, stays on the hooks. Use up your salmon carcasses, freeze or salt them until you can set the skate. If you find yourself running out of stuff to put on the hooks, don't be afraid to use any bloody bird guts or what have you, as long as it will stay on the hook. One year I noticed a huge difference between stanky herring, and herring that was salted before it went sour, might have been a fluke.
Took the family fishing, we had a good time! Until the rain and dime sized hail showed up. A boat with a top may be in my future.
My wife of course outfished me. She got the first fish, the biggest fish, and the most fish. The boys flogged the water a lot, but didn't hook anything this time.
I did demonstrate the proper grip for maximum perception. She failed to duplicate it. This is the same fish, and a smaller sheefish. I got the sheefish, and a hammer handle pike we threw back.
I'm going to try to round up some big silver spoons as well.
I tried to boneless filet the fish, but have never been okay with the amount of meat that goes with the y bones. We're going to pickle the strips with the y bones.
Made a fine meal!
Be safe out there!