Pigeon point poke poling 11-3-14

What kind of pole setup do you use?

What kind of pole setup do you use?

I like using these shakespear poles.  http://www.shakespeare-fishing.com/Shakespeare®-Wonderpole-Rod/1285734,default,pd.html#start=10

Outdoor pro shop in Rohnert Park has them for very cheap.

That is an awesome looking pole!  I've got two 12' pieces of bamboo, but Andy out fished me with a coat hanger 

Is that the 10' lite model or 12' or ???

   I see them for like $13 on Amazon & I get free shipping.  Might just have to get one. 

Love me some poke poling!

I've found that each spot is best suited for a certain type of pole. Sometimes the LONG ones are best, but I've had my best luck wading around with a short 4-5 foot pole. These shorter ones are easier to maneuver and thread way back horizontally into the tight holes and shelfs of a shale reef

4 feet of 1" PVC, wire coat hanger, duct tape, 2-6" of HEAVY mono, and an octopus hook with a squid strip. Caught my personal best cabezon that way.

I'm a fan of the 10' pole. Any longer and it gets really difficult to manage.

I ordered the 10' earlier today.

I do a lot of poke poling between HMB and Monterey.  My advice is to just not over think it.  Someone mentioned getting outfished by someone with a coat hanger.  That about sums it up.  You don't need a long pole, you don't need any fancy store bought stuff.  My go-to pokepole is an old surf rod that had a broken tip.  As a pokepole, it's now about 7 feet long.  Just learn the place you're fishing and think like a fish.  Get down in the water (I wear a wetsuit) and don't be afraid to poke into anything that even slightly resembles a hole.  You'll be amazed at what can come out of a tiny hole - keeper lingcod & cabs, 5lb eels, big perch and rockfish.  It's like opening a Christmas present!

I do have to insert a word of caution, though.  WAVES - don't mess around.  Pay attention.  I've been surfing most of my life, and windsurfing & kitesurfing for the last 20 years.  I was a professional ocean lifeguard for 7 years at one point in my career.  I have way more nearshore ocean experience than most people could dream of.  I've still gotten smashed and rolled in the rocks while pokepoling. 

I use a 10 ish foot bamboo poll i got at the garden supply store with a 2' wire attached, the wire has a lop on the end,  attach a hook and your good to go.  I like the circle hooks, they tend to get hung up less on sea weed and rocks.  I use frozen squid or if I'm out i just use a snail or mussel I find on the rocks, crack the shell and......fish on!
I am always amazes when the entire 10 feet of pole is down in some tiny crack and a fish hits at it.  Some times the fish are WAY in there!!

Here are a couple more shots, my first legal Cabezon 19"  and my son with a MFPB.

On a side note, I did not realize that MFPB were vegetarian.  here is a quote from the article:

"The diet of monkeyface prickleback shifts from carnivorous
to herbivorous with an increase in size. As early
juveniles, up to 3.1 inches, prey items are predominantly
zooplankton and include copepods, amphipods, isopods,
mysids, and polychaetes. At approximately three inches,
they then become almost exclusively herbivorous. Over
sixty species of algae have been recorded as food items.
Despite this wide array, they appear to feed selectively
on eight to 10 species of red and green algae, mostly in
the genera Ulva, Porphyra, Mazzaella, Microcladia, and
Mastocarpus. Adults appear to prefer annual red and green
algae to perennial red algae. This preference is determined
to some degree by ocean season and availability.
Predators of monkeyface prickleback include piscivorous
birds, such as great egrets and red-breasted mergansers,
and shes such as cabezon and grass rockfish. Predation
is primarily on the earlier life stages of this species;
large juveniles and adult fish most likely evade or outgrow
these predators."

And here is a link to the article:
https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=34299

I use a telescopic painter's pole. It adjsutable and gives me a range of 5' to 9'. I then inserted a rigid wire through the tip, and bent an eyelet at the end with a torch. Tie off with a 3" 60 pound leader, and a Squid hook, baited with, Squid!

That's a great idea.  Lot stiffer rod.

I ordered the 10' Shakespeare rod off Amazon.  Saves me a drive somewhere.  Like the fact it collapses for easier storage.  More likely to just leave it in the truck all the time & hit up some rocky spots on a back road home.

On a side note, I did not realize that MFPB were vegetarian.  here is a quote from the article:

"The diet of monkeyface prickleback shifts from carnivorous
to herbivorous with an increase in size. As early
juveniles, up to 3.1 inches, prey items are predominantly
zooplankton and include copepods, amphipods, isopods,
mysids, and polychaetes. At approximately three inches,
they then become almost exclusively herbivorous. Over
sixty species of algae have been recorded as food items.
Despite this wide array, they appear to feed selectively
on eight to 10 species of red and green algae, mostly in
the genera Ulva, Porphyra, Mazzaella, Microcladia, and
Mastocarpus. Adults appear to prefer annual red and green
algae to perennial red algae. This preference is determined
to some degree by ocean season and availability.
Predators of monkeyface prickleback include piscivorous
birds, such as great egrets and red-breasted mergansers,
and shes such as cabezon and grass rockfish. Predation
is primarily on the earlier life stages of this species;
large juveniles and adult fish most likely evade or outgrow
these predators."

And here is a link to the article:
https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=34299

Yep!

I've shot a bunch and almost 100% of them had nothing but rotting kelp in their bellies.

Obviously opportunistic feeders though that won't pass up a nice strip of squid poked in their face. 

Love me some monkey. I haven't shot enough of them this year...need to fix that. 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

That's a great idea.  Lot stiffer rod.

I ordered the 10' Shakespeare rod off Amazon.  Saves me a drive somewhere.  Like the fact it collapses for easier storage.  More likely to just leave it in the truck all the time & hit up some rocky spots on a back road home.

  The key is the Insulation hanger wire. It's about 10" long, and is actually quite maneuverable. I should mention that it has an eyelet at each end. At the base, I actually used a metal tapping screw to go through the eyelet, so as to keep it from sliding up and down, at the rod itself.

You can also harvest a limit of mussels while you are out there as well.