Wow, we have been slamming the rock fish, getting some quality fish.
The trick to doing this is to know where the fish are to begin with. I have a decent color sounder and have been playing with it now for over 2 years and over a period of time, I have learned what different colors are.
My bottom shows red, and of course the thickness of the "red line" indicating the bottom also indicates the bottom hardness. In the bay for instance, the line will be thicker as the "sound" penetrates the silty bottom way more that a hard rocky bottom, which makes the red line thinner, as less sound penetrates the bottom surface. At least that's how it was explained to me.
So, I also have a decent Chart Plotter/GPS, needs no explanation
In the "chart" mode you zoom in or out until you can read the depths on the contour lines. They are SO charted for you, what could be easier? My favorite contour line is the 656 ft line that runs outside the 9 miles bank all the way south to I don't know how far, I would suspect pretty far
Now, I don't want to fish is 656 feet of water, but this line gives me a constant depth and the line is clearly running north & south
So I head to just about any point east of this line until I get to a depth that I want to fish in. Let's just say 300 feet. When I get to some 300 foot water, probably a couple miles from the 656 foot line, then I turn north or south and then criss cross the 300 foot depth are by moving east and then back west over it as I go north or south. I predetermine how deep or shallow I will work east and west of my 300 foot depth. If it remains constant (depth) in an area, I will turn sooner than if it looks bumpy.
Now you got to look for structure, with fish on it. This is very simple, at least after 7 years of trial and error it seems awful easy to me. On my fish finder, when there is a change in depth, there are many things to consider. How fast are you going?? The faster you go, the clearer the picture, but if you are going too fast, you can't stop on the "rock" holding fish. If you are stopped, your fish finder will tell you the bottom is flat, cause your not moving
I look for large boulders, a sudden 10 foot change in depth, faces of cliffs, etc etc etc. The ocean bottom is just like the horizon. Look around some time and you will see mountians and valleys, rocks and cliffs, you know, structure
As I have already said, my fish finder shows "yellow" for a concentration of rockfish, and the yellow actually touches the red (the bottom, remember) You can actually "see" exactly where the largest concentration of fish is located on the structure. You just need to figure out you own fish finder and go from there.
Now, I have to tell you, if you put a bunch of weight on a line (mono), and a piece of live bait, and drop it down 300 feet, you are going to have a tough time "feeling" the bottom and bites as well. And what do you do if you feel a bite? If you don't get hooked up, are you going to leave your shit on the bottom when you probably don't have any bait on anymore
We use high speed retrieve reels, 6 to 1 mostly. this of course cuts the number of times you have to crank the reel in half from a 3 to 1 reel etc.
We put 400 to 500 feet of spectre/woven line on some mono backing so as to keep the reel as full as possible without the added expense of the much thinner sprectre, as I mentioned, I am NOT dropping down 600 feet for ANY fish
We, maybe I would just once........................................
I put a very simple 2 foot piece of 30 lb mono on the end of my spectre in case I get hung up, the mono will break first, again saving your way more expensive spectre. Some of my buddies begrudgingly switch over to 30 lb after endless needling from me when they lose WAY more jigs than I do
They were using 20 lb.
Now, just drop a jig on the fish???!!!?!@#%$ It is a fact, that if you drop a jig on that mark, and you get it near the fish, they will slam it. No nibble, no little tap tap tap
If you are fishing in 300 feet of water and you have 10mph winds, you are in for a long day
It can be done, but after 2 or 3 drops with no fish, most will say fuck it and move on. But, if you stick with it, you can mark the spot, then approach it from down wind/current. As you get right on the spot, tell the guys fishing to drop now!!! Then you keep the boat in gear and idle up wind/current for 20 or 30 feet (adjust for the wind speed/drift) and then just put the boat in neutral. The boat will drift back to the spot they dropped on, and hopefully that will happen just as there jigs hit the bottom. If not, and the boat starts to drift past the spot before the guys are on bottom, just I just drop the motor in reverse in an attempt to hold it or at least slow it down. Sometimes reverse will actually take you over the spot again. There are a million variables (learning curve) but once you figure it out, this fishing is a blast. Yesterday we were fishing straight up and down in 300 feet of water, absolutely calm. Very easy fishing with no wind and little drift
IT IS IMPERATIVE TO "JIG" STRAIGHT UP AND DOWN, or at least as close to straight up and down as possible
Don't let your jig get way out past the boat due to the drift. If you don't get hooked up immediately, or after 4 or 5 jigs, you can drift a little, you may go over the fish, but after a few minutes, you may as well pull back up on the marks and try again. When the jig stops dropping, set the hook. If it was not a fish, that's ok, sometimes it is. Me and Ed figure "jigs don't float", so if ours stop, we assume it's a fish ):
There is another whole thread on how to use jigs for rockcod, or any other fish for that matter
http://www.bloodydecks.com/forums/sa...tml#post556588
Check the thread above
All the fish pictured below were taken within 25 miles of San Diego Bay in the last couple of months doing just what I described above. Great eating
God created the fishing pole to keep the truely gifted from ruling the world.
See you next tuesday
SNEEKEE qote baxter black Its guts and love and glory 1 mortals chance at fame his legacy is rodeo and cowboy is his name
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