Rockfish Fishing: Am I Doing Something Wrong?

I concur with Papa Al - contact Bushy either here on NCKA or though the website Al posted. He can offer a wealth of knowledge and experience in that area and beyond. Expect to learn about rigging, baits, locations and a few new swear words. 

There are no fish in Santa Cruz is a common joke with seeds of truth. The area is highly overfished. The disappearance of so much kelp hasn't helped.
Methods that might help.
1) 1/2 inch by 2 to 3 inch piece of squid added to a teaser fly and a longer piece on a swim bait.
2) More movement other than the drift, like a very slow troll.
3) Potholling kelp with a weedless hairraiser bass jig ( and squid strip). Giant Kelp like that found in Santa Cruz and southward spreads out on the surface from the main stalk. Knowing were the main stalk is will help minimize snags. However many fish do live right in or wait on the stalk. A shorter rod works best for this type of  fishing.  Just wiggle your rod tip through the canopy and drop the lure. Either tie up in kelp and drop through all the holes within reach - or -if the wind is right a slow drift through where you plunk into an open spot for however any seconds the drift allows before reeling up and dropping into another spot.

How recently did you fish Santa Cruz? I was out there today without so much as a nibble. I didn't see anyone else catching anything either. We fished all of steamers lane and a decent area around the mile buoy with no luck. Just a few days prior we caught 6 RF in Monterey in just a couple hours, almost entirely on shrimp flies.

How recently did you fish Santa Cruz? I was out there today without so much as a nibble. I didn't see anyone else catching anything either. We fished all of steamers lane and a decent area around the mile buoy with no luck. Just a few days prior we caught 6 RF in Monterey in just a couple hours, almost entirely on shrimp flies.

Hah! I just commented on your thread. I was out there this morning, too! We must have missed each other by a few hours- I was out there 6-10. Not a single nibble which was what really made me suspicious! Glad to hear I wasn't the only one having struggles.

When I went out with my friend a couple weeks ago we fished in the same places and caught plenty. You win some, you lose some. Hope you guys had a good time out on the water- it was really beautiful out this morning.

.... gotta figure out how to not flip a boat while trying to bait a hook before I try to mess with FFs.

FFs are waterproof 

Not really!

Bone up on how to set up a slip rig on a frozen herring anchovy, or sardine.  (In that order of preference, the quality of the fish will be the difference between baits)  There's a hook in the tail, another through the nose, with a loop around the body, then cinch down so the bait is an arched curve.  Put that behind a 4 to 6 oz banana weight and let out maybe 40 pulls on the reel, then paddle around until you either get a hit or bump the bottom.  Reel in a few cranks or speed up if you bump bottom or you'll snag.  When you get a hit, loop back over the same spot and drop the frozen bait to chum.  You will catch a lot more fish on bait than lures.  It's not even close.  BTW, I always go barbless and rarely loose a fish.  Just keep tension on when you get a strike and set that hook solid. 
I know frozen bait can cost more, so only start with one package.  Switch to lures when you run out of frozen.  Keep it frozen until the morning you are going out and keep an ice pack with it.  Pull out a frozen bait as you set off from the shore and each time you bait, break off another frozen bait to start thawing.  Bait should be slushy frozen when you hook it up to keep it from tearing as it will get mushy as it thaws out more. 
I learned all I know by paying a guide to take me out after I struggled finding fish.  I've done 3 or 4 group guides, keeps the cost down, and really learned a lot about fishing and the specific area being targeted as well as species. 

Fishing has been slow in SC lately due to the swell.   For starters, you can fish some of the known reefs in the area.   Here's a map I found online for starters: https://www.google.com/maps/@36.9392909,-122.0356254,14.29z/data=!4m2!6m1!1s1SYUmINZWFe62d-3UARc8v0NQEGg.

You can also try the Navionics boat app trial for 2 weeks to see how you like it.  I think it's only $15/year.

Most of the fishing I do at Santa Cruz is nowhere near visible kelp.  The reef structure away from the kelp is intermittent pockets of shale reefs.  The trick is in finding those shale reefs.  Even with a fishfinder, they are often hard to find as they are just little bumps on the bottom.  Shrimp flies are good, tip them with squid chunks.  If you're searching for some reefs, either go with the drift and cover ground, or slow troll them while making contact with the bottom.  If you are catching kingfish, you're not on good grounds for rockfish.  Troll/drift off them.

Some of those reefs others are pointing to are a bit far for a newbie IMO.  And the reef at the mile buoy gets worked hard.  See all the boats out there?  I might suggest starting at the SC3 sailing buoy.  Work your way offshore towards the mile buoy.  Don't feel like you need to reach the mile buoy, just use it for a general sense of direction.  There's plenty of ground to cover in that general area.  Don't rush it.  You'll need many trips to cover it all effectively and find your own zones in that region.  In fact stay within a quarter mile of the SC3 buoy at first.  You'll often drift to the west east with the wind.  So take a drift, paddle back to the east west, and work that area.  This also lets you stay close to the harbor and get the heck out if you see the wind coming up.  Keep an eye out towards the lighthouse.  If you see white caps out there, start packing up as you'll have about 1/2 hour before the wind hits you. 

Even a blind squirrel will go over some reefs doing this with shrimp flies and squid.  As you get comfortable with that, then you can start experimenting with other rigs.  Using whole baits, like squid and anchovy, for instance, will catch rockfish still, but also give you more of a chance at halibut.  However, if you haven't figured out the kingfish areas, you'll just get nibbled to death as they suck the whole baits off your hooks.  Use an app on your cell phone to mark where you catch rockfish.  Sooner or later you'll see a pattern and start setting up drifts or a troll pattern that go over as many of these marks on a drift.  The edges of these same marks is where you'll find halibut too.  You'll continue to find other marks as you add to your growing database.

This is but the tip of the iceberg in figuring out the SC area.  You'll learn a whole lot more in a much shorter amount of time if you book Bushy to guide you.  He's got this place dialed.

-Allen

...  You'll often drift to the west with the wind.  So take a drift, paddle back to the east, and work that area. 

Lots of good advice, but this caught my attention. It seems to me that the prevailing wind (once it gets going) is usually out of the west, so you'll generally tend to drift to the east.

Of course, there are exceptions, like the time I was on the west side and a wind out of the east came up from nowhere, blowing at gale force. Then, after struggling to get back to the east side of the harbor, the wind shifted 180 degrees without diminishing in intensity...

...  You'll often drift to the west with the wind.  So take a drift, paddle back to the east, and work that area. 

Lots of good advice, but this caught my attention. It seems to me that the prevailing wind (once it gets going) is usually out of the west, so you'll generally tend to drift to the east.

Of course, there are exceptions, like the time I was on the west side and a wind out of the east came up from nowhere, blowing at gale force. Then, after struggling to get back to the east side of the harbor, the wind shifted 180 degrees without diminishing in intensity...

Uh, duh.  I messed that up.  Completely opposite!  Thanks for catching that.  Fixed in the original post.

-Allen

I respect your goal of not using a FF in the beginning. The thing about the FF is that it speeds up your learning of any given spot, because you know exactly whats going on beneath you. So understand that without it, you will learn your spots more slowly, but I think it's more rewarding when you catch something. To make up for this, you should download the NOAA chart for your area, and study it meticulously, mark any reefs that you think might be good for RF, and then chart a route for your next trip that tries several high potential spots. Theres an app called Nautical Charts & Maps (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nautical-charts-maps/id1420774597) that is free and gives you the NOAA chart and overlays your location on top, it's very simple and i dont have to pay a $30 yearly subscription for it. It's a good place to start. Good luck, enjoy the process!

Nando wrote:

<snipped> Theres an app called Nautical Charts & Maps (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nautical-charts-maps/id1420774597) that is free

It looks pretty good, but the link goes to a page that isn’t free, costs $8.99, which is cheap for good data

Nando wrote:

<snipped> Theres an app called Nautical Charts & Maps (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nautical-charts-maps/id1420774597) that is free

It looks pretty good, but the link goes to a page that isn’t free, costs $8.99, which is cheap for good data

Ah my bad, I guess I deleted the memory of paying for it. But yeah I'd say still worth it for 9 bucks, i use it regularly, and you can download the data and use it offline, which helps in the salt when you have no reception.

I'm sure the Navionics app is better, but as far as I can tell, it is now called iNavX and you not only have to buy the app, but also buy a $30 subscription for navionics data. I dont like subscriptions, so I'll stick with this simpler one for now.

+1 for the Navionics rec. It's $15 for a one-year subscription and you get to keep the maps you download even after your sub expires. A ton of useful information for cheap. It's not something I can use out on the water, my eyes just won't make out details on the little phone screen in bright daylight, but it's really great for planning a route and understanding what the bottom is like. Especially when you turn on the "relief shading" overlay.

Also +1 for the technique of bouncing a hi-lo rig while drifting. This is how I catch most of my Lings, with two swimbaits about 18" apart, and a weight about 18" below the bottom bait.

I use rocks for weights, grab a few round ones off the beach, about 3-4 oz and epoxy a wire loop onto them. Use a short leader weaker than the mainline to connect the weight, so when it gets wedged into a rock you can break it off, replace it and keep fishing.

If you can find bait like Jack smelt or Kingfish, send one down on a trap hook rig.  I have caught some big lings this way, and its honestly hella fun. Its basically like bottom bouncing for halibut (except stay off the bottom, dont want to snag) and usually 10-15 mins in something will have gone for it.  This was on a 12" jacksmelt with a 8/0 Circle hook in it.  I do this especially when the current gives me a nice drift and the swimbait bite is slow.