How come some places have not one fish?

I dive in 20 feet of water.  Often I see no fish; not even one.  Occasionally I bump into one and scares it away.  I have seen videos where rockfish swim in schools and not afraid of people.  What's the difference?  Am I in too shallow of water?

After doing a fair amount of scuba diving years ago, and continuing to ab dive now (altho not often anymore) what you're seeing is pretty normal. 

ALL my experience comes from Sonoma coast and north, south of that may be different.

In general terms there are 2 types of rockfish, bottom dwellers like Chinas, Gophers, and then there are suspended ones like Blues and Blacks.   Most rockfish of both types tend to be in deeper water.  Cabs live everywhere but are really well camouflaged.  Lings will frequent shallow water too but not as often.  Sometimes you'll run across schools of Blue/blacks in shallow water but not often.   Perch are pretty abundant in shallow in spring.

In short most of the fish that hang out in shallow water are bottom dwellers and are really good at hiding out and have great camo, and most often aren't seen unless they move.  But they are usually there.

Ah I see you have been hitting spots that BigJim has been too.  You should really work on getting there before BigJim gets there.

Ah I see you have been hitting spots that BigJim has been too.  You should really work on getting there before BigJim gets there.

LOL!!!!!! 

No, I don't think that's it Kevin. 

I don't know the answer, but I think it just depends on the location and not so much the depth....I have found plenty of really nice fish in 20 feet of water or less....I have shot all my biggest grassys, cabbies, kelpies, blues, monkeys and lings in that depth range....

I have spent time exploring deeper and sometimes found even less fish than in shallow....

For me...if I'm not seeing fish out and about I either start peering in every hole and under every rock I can find or move.

Maybe fuzz and Rick will have a better analysis.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

   I think he was just Squiddin ya  Big Jim 

I think a reef's biomass depends more on bottom structure and diving/fishing pressure than anything else. Rockfish are pretty slow growing fish, so they are susceptible to overfishing in frequently dived areas. Since the majority of divers can't dive too deep, deeper spots tend to attract less divers, thus explaining the general abundance of fish.

 If you have access to a kayak, maybe try paddling further than you usually do to get out of the high pressure zones of popular launches. If you shore dive, maybe take a longer hike, or look closely for trails and other cryptic access points that don't see too many divers.

After reading Big Jim's comments I may have to start going south instead of north.

Earlier this year, did a shallow dive in Mendo with Nate (Spinal Tap) at a popular spot.
We shot pretty much everything in 20feet or less; my ling was in 8ft of water. 
The big grassy and cab were in shallow too, within 50ft of the ling.






The main thing is learning to read structure and what good holes/ledges look like.
If you want to maximize odds, keep moving till you find schoolies (i.e. blues, blacks, perch).
Just like fishing, good structure will concentrate fish.   

After reading Big Jim's comments I may have to start going south instead of north.

LOL! My PB Black this year came from Mendo in about 20 feet of water...   

 

Sincerely,

Jim

The main thing is learning to read structure and what good holes/ledges look like.

Fuzz has super human vision.

I dove with him once and he told me to go down and look in a crack (about 20 feet deep) and see if there was anything...I go and look and come up and say "Nope.".  He dives down and comes up and says, "Yep. Nice cabbie at the back right corner".

I dive down and look right there and wouldn't you know there is a nice 19 inch cabbie...right where I had looked.

While I am stringing the fish up he dives down on the other side of the same boulder...comes up and says "Another cabbie for you here". I dive down and am looking and looking and looking and not seeing nothing...then he pats me on the shoulder, lights up the crack (right where I was looking) and there is a big old cab head that somehow I couldn't see...

http://doty.ncka.org/catches/186

So...yeah...knowing structure and being good at spotting fish helps.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Seems by the preponderance of the evidence I stand corrected. 

Seems by the preponderance of the evidence I stand corrected.

I'll pile it on a little more. 

Caught this big momma from shore, in about 12' of water.

Great now we have Jedi Divers, us surface guys are just plane screwed....lol

Seems by the preponderance of the evidence I stand corrected.

I'll pile it on a little more. 

Caught this big momma from shore, in about 12' of water.

LOL!!!!!

Ok, a few more pics of fish all taken in the 20 foot and under range, just cuz.

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

God damn jim that cabby looks like a ling watd it weigh