gef,
I'm not sure of any locations around Santa Barbara to hook up with sharks and rays, but I can give some advice on targeting them. The setup I use is a penn jigmaster spooled with 30lb on a 9ft shimano big game rod. I also use surf rods with spinning reels, so basically any rod that you can cast a fair distance with 25-30lb line would be good. The rig I use is a 3-4oz weight, steel leader and 2/0-3/0 octopus hook. For bait I think mackarel works best, frozen is fine, but it's even better when its freshly caught. Squid works well too, and will stay on the hook a little better. It also seems like the batrays favor squid over mackarel for some reason. For obvious reasons, fishing for them at night is almost always better. Although I have done really good on overcast days as well. I think maybe they just become more active in low light conditions, even if it's in the middle of the day. If you need any more info i'll be happy to help. Also if anyone wants specific locations I could probably come up with some street names and directions. -Phil
heres a pic of one I caught awhile back on the north side of Morro rock

http://www.calfishing.com/dcforum/mainboard/191.html