I need tips for Rock fish!

All these fish were caught on Big Hammer 6.5 inch Halloween swimbaits with a shot of pro-cure herring gel on the swimbait. attached to a 4 oz leadhead. Not trying to suss the bait fellas but these work pretty darn good.


 Then theres the barn door by catch. Also caught on a Big Hammer swimbait. But thats not what your after. Sorry I just had to.

Allen, that is a great article. Really, really tuned in with the feelings. Thats how myself and my friend Mike Sheridan( died from GD cancer 10 years ago) started in 1975 with our brand new Malotte SOT's. I now love my FF. I can do without it mind you but its a pretty fascinating piece of equipmnent to have on board.. We used landmarks back then for points and land mass for hints. Good luck in your search for rockfish. Its my favorite type of fishing. Its a smorgasboard down there enjoy it all man.

Thanks for all the helpful tips guys! Here's an update-

I ordered  a fish finder and it arrived yesterday. I rigged it up and paddled out this early morning with the stars disappearing one by one. I'm a little helio-phobic so this was to be a quick operation before the sun rises over Pacific's hills. I've never used a fish finder before so I wasn't really expecting to catch much fish in this short time. Instead, I meant to take the time to get to know my new device. On the way to my usual fishing spot, the fish finder suddenly picked up a large number of fish below. I drop the line and mere seconds later I'm reeling in rock fish after rock fish until I drifted too far away. I paddled back to where I thought they were but couldn't find them. I moved on and found another school of fish a few minutes later. Perhaps the same one swam in the direction I was paddling but one thing was certain. This little device is amazing!

Besides the schools of fish, most of the area I covered only showed fish here and there. With so much barren ocean floor, I can understand why I wasn't catching much before.

Good job getting some fish.  Glad you did better.