Otter Cove - 7-15 - rockfishing

My camping plans were busted . .so what to do except go fishing!

Launched from Otter Cove launch early on Saturday.  As I was leaving, 2 other kayak fisherman were getting thier gear ready.  I also saw 2 different kayak fisherman, who had launched from Coral St, later on that day.  I think the kayaks outnumbered the powerboats.  Very few people out for a Saturday.  Not sure why . .maybe they knew something I didn't because the fishing was indeed slow. 

My goal was to get a ling on my light set-up . .which is a 6.5ft Fenwick 1 pc bass casting rod and a Diawa inshore coastal reel.  I just love using that combo . . but even a 2.5lb cabbie will pull the rodtip straight into the water . .so a ling will be a pretty big challenge if it's even possible.  I had 2 bigger fish break off in the kelp but I don't even think they were lings.  I have no idea what they were since they pretty much wrapped me up within seconds of being hooked. 

Fished pretty shallow all day . . maybe out to 40-45 ft (darn, got to install my ff).  All in all - caught and released a bunch of rockfish and 2 just legal cabs.  I was out there for about 8 hours and probably caught and released 20-25 fish and that is the slowest I've experienced out there so far.  I pretty much only fish shallow because I c and r . . so maybe the fish were out deeper.  I did think the water "felt wierd" on Saturday.  It was not windy . . but there was a bigger than lately swell with a kind of 'unpredictable' quality about it.  No big deal in terms of safety . . but it may have been enough to turn the fish off a little.

I did manage to get a nice picture of a fatty black rockfish.  The biggest fish of the day.  I actually took the picture because I thought it was the biggest blue rockfish I had ever seen . . but upon closer inspection it is actually a nice sized black.  This shot shows the anal fin and the spots on the dorsal fin really well. 

I just got Milton Love's 'Rockfishes of the NE Pacific' as well as 'Probably More Than You Want To Know about Fishes of the Pacific'.  So far I am really enjoying them.

Regards,

Chris

MBYakker,
I grew up in SoCal fishing rockfish mostly at depths of 100-350 feet deep and was subsequently turned off from it until I started fishing them shallow in Trinidad Bay while going to school in Humboldt St.  A friend turned me on to fishing them with "steelhead gear" (Abu Garcia reel and a one-piece 7 foot rod) and in usually shallow water 15-75 feet deep.  I'm totally hooked on fishing rockfish this way, even turned some friends in Washington State on to this method.  I've caught lings up to 20 lbs. on this set up.  Hope to hook up with you Monday or Tuesday (sent you a pm).

good wave sense, cause you had a south swell with a lot of west in it, from 230 and a north west from 300.

the south was west enough that a little might have wrapped in.  days with 2 swells are always a little confusing.

so are you just dropping right down in the kelp? do you anchor to the kelp?

J

so are you just dropping right down in the kelp? do you anchor to the kelp?

Yeah, pretty much.  I have not mastered the art of casting out lures (and also catching fish on them) so I tend to stick to my much more effective vertical presentation.  I usually move around from spot to spot for a while . .leg wrapping or even sometimes just hold some kelp with 1 hand and jig with the other.  I usually do that for a while with a 4 or 5inch swimbait and 1/2 oz head.  Then I switch to the heavier outfit and drift along the back of the kelp with iron or bait or a big swimbait on a 4oz head, etc.  I've also tried potholing the kelp with an iron but I don't have any iron jig mojo . .I got a couple but seem do better with the swimbait.  I get more hits on the iron when it is 'deadsticked' than I do when I try to actively fish it.  Ha - that's what a newb fisherman I am - the less I touch it the better it works!

I also like to do a lot of shallow water C and R fishing for blues and blacks on light bass rod.  Try casting 3 inch swim baits and 1/4-1/2 oz spoons like kastmasters.   A nice cast out towards a rock or kelp bed, wait a few seconds to let it drop down the water column a bit and a nice steady retrieve.

Brian

Also fished OC on Saturday -- caught MBYakker just as he was launching and said hello.  Took my brother out (he was the camera boat).  Caught a probably barely legal cab (didn't measure it), a ton of kelp bass(?), an olive, a blue, and maybe a gopher.  Quite a nice variety, but no size (all released).  Most came on a smallish scampi, a couple on a larger swimbait.  Stayed in close, got off the water around 1:00 (with a nice cold bath when I hit the beach and a wave rode up and into the cockpit of my yak).  Sure beat the 100 degree heat that I drove home to!

Gordon

P.S. I'll post some pix when my brother emails them to me...

Nice report and pics.

That is a nice looking black you got there.

Taco-tastic!

MolBasser

Picture as promised -- unfortunately, my bro hasn't learned how to take the Fish Sniffer pix!