Midshipman live bait (not for leopards)

Has anyone tried fishing for RF, Ling, or Butts with midshipman?  Did you happen to hook into something else when targeting leopards?

Pretty easy source of live bait, would be nice to bring in some halibut with them. 

They are excellent 7 gill bait. Wanna catch a 300#+ 7 gill? Use the largest shipmen you can find and drop it in a deep hole!

Not sure I'm quite ready to hook into a 300 lb animal from a kayak, nor do I have the hardware for that job.

I don't generally use bait for RF or Lings.  I'm sure a ling would eat one those guys, but why bother?

I don't generally use bait for RF or Lings.  I'm sure a ling would eat one those guys, but why bother?

I agree, plastic swim bait is already enough.

I dragged one around Tomales Bay for half a day once and got nothing, I took it off the hook and it swam away, tough little buggers.  I got mine by turning over rocks on a minus tide, not what I expected to find but there were lots of them.

what did you mean by easy source, how/where would you get them?

Getting nothing while looking for halibut at Tomales Bay doesn't mean anything tho. 

I dragged one around Tomales Bay for half a day once and got nothing, I took it off the hook and it swam away, tough little buggers.  I got mine by turning over rocks on a minus tide, not what I expected to find but there were lots of them.

what did you mean by easy source, how/where would you get them?

Getting nothing while looking for halibut at Tomales Bay doesn't mean anything tho. 

I meant that they are easy to find, given a low tide.  The same way you were able to find them.  I have gotten midshipman from Marshall in the past, but that was when I was targeting leopards from the shore.  By turning over rocks at low tide I would be able to get about five of them in under 10 minutes, put them all in a bucket with water and fish them one at a time.  I did usually end up releasing most of the ones I had gathered because once you put one of those things on a hook it doesn't come off, not even after getting hit by a 48" leopard. 

I don't generally use bait for RF or Lings.  I'm sure a ling would eat one those guys, but why bother?

I agree, plastic swim bait is already enough.

Point taken.

I dragged one around Tomales Bay for half a day once and got nothing, I took it off the hook and it swam away, tough little buggers.  I got mine by turning over rocks on a minus tide, not what I expected to find but there were lots of them.

what did you mean by easy source, how/where would you get them?

Getting nothing while looking for halibut at Tomales Bay doesn't mean anything tho. 

I meant that they are easy to find, given a low tide.  The same way you were able to find them.  I have gotten midshipman from Marshall in the past, but that was when I was targeting leopards from the shore.  By turning over rocks at low tide I would be able to get about five of them in under 10 minutes, put them all in a bucket with water and fish them one at a time.  I did usually end up releasing most of the ones I had gathered because once you put one of those things on a hook it doesn't come off, not even after getting hit by a 48" leopard.

Interesting, sounds like we found them in exactly the same place (Marshall), doing the same thing, I didn't expect to find "fish" under the rocks but there they were along with crabs, and blennys.