2026 Rockfish Season Bucket List & Plan

Since the Mendocino Management Area rockfish season will start on April 1, it is less than a month away.  It used to started May 1, but last year's regulation changed to April 1, which is great for me.

I have the following bucket list/plan for the 2026 season.

   1. Dedicated days for slow-pitch jig fishing: I want to spend several days just using slow pitch jig to practice my skills.  (May & June)
   2. Dedicated days for tube jig fishing: Other people are catching a lot of rockfish using tube jigs.  I tried several times without much success.  I want to try additional days before I give it up.  (May & June)
   3.  Go rockfishing using my Stealth Fisha kayak at Russian Gulch to familiarize myself with the setup.  (May)
   4.  Launch from Elk (carried over from the last year).  I know it will be very challenging to bring the kayak back uphill after fishing, but I am not getting any younger.  This year will be easier than next year.  (June or July)


Paul

Id love to join you for a day trip up from San Jose.   esp the Elk trip!  Ive not fished that since the days of the OG Elk tournament

That's a good bucket list.

Item #4 is always fun. Last time I went up that hill was the old Elk tournament in 2006 and maybe 2007. I hauled my Prowler 13 up with a crappy set of wheels.

Do I want to do it again 20 years later???
NO WAY

Have fun,
Al

Sounds like a solid plan. I can't wait!

I'm surprised the tubes weren't working for you, they were my confidence bait. Lings liked them, Cabbs loved them, and I did not get too many rockfish on tubes but the ones that bit the tube were always keeper size.

I mostly fish sonoma coast but If i go up there I would love to give you some my favorite tube tricks and we can crush some fish on tubes together!

Paul,
I would love to join you on 3 and 4. I have Mondays off and can drive up Sunday night to make it happen!

Id love to join you for a day trip up from San Jose.   esp the Elk trip!  Ive not fished that since the days of the OG Elk tournament

I will coordinate an Elk trip either in June or July of this year.  Since I am retired, I am available most days. Just let me know when you want to get together.

Sounds like a solid plan. I can't wait!

I'm surprised the tubes weren't working for you, they were my confidence bait. Lings liked them, Cabbs loved them, and I did not get too many rockfish on tubes but the ones that bit the tube were always keeper size.

I mostly fish sonoma coast but If i go up there I would love to give you some my favorite tube tricks and we can crush some fish on tubes together!

We can hook up either Fort Ross or Russian Gulch.

Paul

Paul,
I would love to join you on 3 and 4. I have Mondays off and can drive up Sunday night to make it happen!

Just let me know when you want to do it together. 

Paul

Nice plan Paul. Hope to fish with you more this coming year. The plan is to always fish more.

Nice plan Paul. Hope to fish with you more this coming year. The plan is to always fish more.

You got all the big fish last time burt still I enjoyed fishing with you.  Looking forward to fish wih you more this season.

Paul

lol, Paul… we always do well.

Elk. I think about that place often. There are only 2 places I've encountered completely off the chain rockfish and lingcod, and those are a spot in Big Sur and at Elk. Def worth the haul to get down the hill.

great Plan Paul!

This season, I hope to catch more blacks, olives, and big blues up a bit off the bottom as I’ve been reading about them being lower in mercury.

Lost couple years have been more of a slow bottom-dragging approach with a 4 oz weight on the hi-low swimbaits, often letting it trail behind with a good bit of extra line out to make sure it’s touching bottom. Success with halibut got me doing that most of the time, and it picks up more browns, gophers, some reds.

To get more fish higher in the water, I’ll go back to using 6 ounces but not letting extra line out after hitting bottom. Then trolling around reefs a little faster should lift the line behind me but still present nicely for bites.

Also thinking about what size fish to keep more/less of. The big brown bombers might go back in favor of more medium sized ones.

The only time I’ve caught olives was when moving to another reef with my swim bait high up in the water column. They are small headed and tasty.