[oceanjake]

ok, i'll be the first to admit i'm a rookie at the rockfishing. since there's not a lot of other stuff going on i'm more than eager to try out the short banks for some rockfish.

in the past i've just fished strips of squid on multi-hook rigs, and i mostly pulled up a MILLION sand dabs with an occasional rockfish. is there a better bait to use? does anyone fish whole/live dines or macks? any tips are appreciated.

 

[SCUBAPRO5]

Hey Jake the reason you are bringing up sand dabs is due to you are drifting over sandy areas and not the reef.

Learn to use your fishfinder better so you can find the hard reef areas and you will have better results.

For bait, strips of squid are always good and also live anchovies,sardines and cut mackrel works well.

Good luck when you go out again.

Dive Deep and Fish Hard!

Roger
[email protected]

http://momentoffame.com

 

[Perspective]

I've never bothered with squidstrips, just use it whole, live or dead or half a rockfish on a 14/o hook. When bait runs low I use half a squid cut crossways. I have a secret spot right off the breakwater in x00 ft.(not secret anymore).

 

[JSea]

For Lingcod a lively 8-10 inch Mackerel is a sure fire way IMO.
Also a big lively Sardine is hard for them to resist.

John.
Parker 2320 'FloMar'.

 

[BIG TENTACLES]

When I was catching giant reds in Colenet the live deans were way better than the squid. BIG TENTACLES OUT !!!!

 

[rinkeswa]

RCs eat anything they can get their lips around - especially sanddabs. The big trick is finding rocky bottom - yer sonar will easily indicate hard bottom with fishies suspended right above it. I'm not a great fan of winding up an down an up an down an up an down - so heavy jigs or swim baits work great. 65# spectra mainline an a two speed reel (or a 6.2 like a TO30) an yer fishin..... gotta absolutely hit the bottom or you're wasting time, so 6-8oz lead minimum and 1-3# isn't uncommon.

 

[catch_eat_release]

Rock cod are not usually picky. Any bait that stays on the hook well is preferable. I mostly use strips of squid. As others have posted, it's mostly a matter of being in the right place. I like to drive around looking for new rockpiles. Getting close to the party boats is one way to find spots, but they are usually already picked over and they anchor on the spot & even if you are just barely out of cussing distance, you won't be on the best part of the reef. Where there's one rock pile, there's more. A good color dual frequency fishfinder is mandatory IMO. Also, I like to use spectra line with a mono leader. Needs less weight to get to the bottom & very sensitive. Good luck rock codding.

 

[gernsey]

I use nothing but a jax jig on a 6 to 1 reel with spaectra and a 4' mono leader.The key is knowing how to position your boat on top of the structure.

Wilson rock

SBI

Santa Rosa

Anouther SBI day.Don't forget the ice.

All thes fish were caught on jax jigs over favorable srtucture at different times of the year.Learn how to use your meter in conjunction with you gps and you can score fish like this.Good luck Gernsey

 

[golsen]

The secret to rock cod is finding an undisturbed habitat...like what is inferred from gernsey's post...go west...After that they will chew just about anything, although I would agree, there is no substitute for live finbait or squid. I frankly am a little bored of rockfish in that once you have a few days like what you see in gernsey's photos, its not much challenge or sport...I'm not crazy about eating them either, I'll usually just take one or two for that night...maybe I'm spoiled....Lingcod are a different story...they are pretty fun to fish for, and they are so DAMN ugly, they are cool to see, not to mention put up a pretty good struggle...

Andale

 

[JoshD]

GULP!

Josh