Bottom Fishing Gear

I've done a few searches and talked to a few of you... but... 

I am in need of some gear recommendations for bottom fishing, specifically in the Tillamook Bay area as that's the first "planned" event we've got scheduled.

I've got all sorts of trout, steelhead, and fly gear, but bottom fishing seems to be either a broomstick and a reel or a finesse set up or somewhere in between depending on species.  As stated previously, I'm a noob and welcome all advice.  I also don't mind saving up for the right gear if that's where I'll end up eventually.  I'm prettymuch sold on this sport at this point.

When I'm looking to buy new rods and reels, I try to make sure I'm getting something that would work well enough for multiple fisheries.
I have an 8ft Okuma SST heavy action rod paired with an Okuma Cold Water Low Profile reel. This setup works well trolling for salmon but also makes a good bottom fishing rig too. I'm confident this setup could handle most sturgeon.
 
You can find that setup at Bimart. Keep the receipt, if something happens, bimart is really good about swapping gear out.

Hope that helps.

For bottom fish in Tillamook Bay I usually use either my "Barbie Pole" or my medium weight Ugly Stik with either 20# or 30# braid with a mono top shot.  The fish aren't huge there (typically).  That said, I do have a meat crane for out in the ocean (when I make it there) and for sturgeon.  I only used it once in Tillamook and it was way Overkill and my shoulder got tired jigging that thing.

In the bay along the rocks I use a stiff-ish 6'6" (long enough to clear the front of the kayak while fighting a fish) bass rod and reel, 30# braid and 15 or 20# mono bumper/leader 6-10' long and three loops starting at the bottom and then 18" apart going up. Uni-Uni to join the braid to mono, there's not a piece of hardware in the setup until you get to the hooks, other than a bead above the top loop so you can't reel the business works past the rod tip. A salmon jig at the bottom and #2 hooks on 12" leaders on the other loops. 2.5" gulp minnows (white) on all three hooks. Use a lark's head loop to attach the leaders to the loops, and when you're done you can remove the hooks and put the jig in the hook keeper on your rod for transit/storage. Rerigging is fast - all you need is a small spool of mono in your pocket, plus the hooks on pre-tied short leaders (buy these pre-made until you learn to tie your own snells).

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This is the exact setup I use for surf perch, by the way, except I use a 1-3 oz disc or pyramid sinker at the bottom instead of a jig, and the hooks go right on the loops. And I do this on a 10'6" heavy salmon spinning rod and a steelhead spinning reel. Gulp sandworms or grubs, camo color. Again nothing to carry but a little mono, half a dozen #2 hooks, and 3 or 4 sinkers. Travelin' lite so you can move along the beach.
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You can substitute a crappie rig at the bottom, of course. Throw away the #4 hooks that come with it and go with #2's.

I may size up the jigs and hooks and bait on a setup to try for a ling in the same place. Haven't tried that yet.

Thanks, guys!  I think I've got those bases covered.  At what point do you switch from the lighter gear to something beefier?  I saw some sweet Shimano Trevala and Penn jigging rods at the store that were pretty light but rated for like 60-200lb braid.  Do we ever need that stuff around here?  Seems like I could get away with my frog setup for bass and or my steelhead reel on a trout rod and be fine.

Thanks, guys!  I think I've got those bases covered.  At what point do you switch from the lighter gear to something beefier?  I saw some sweet Shimano Trevala and Penn jigging rods at the store that were pretty light but rated for like 60-200lb braid.  Do we ever need that stuff around here?  Seems like I could get away with my frog setup for bass and or my steelhead reel on a trout rod and be fine.

For the ocean, with heavy current, you may want to swing 4-6 oz for bottom fish, which in that case a medium or medium light 20-50 Trevala is a great rod and really is about has heavy as you need. If you happen to be fishing deep (150+ feet) for Halibut you may need something heavier but a ML 20-50 is great for 99% of the fishable water on the Oregon coast.   

Thanks, guys!  I think I've got those bases covered.  At what point do you switch from the lighter gear to something beefier?  I saw some sweet Shimano Trevala and Penn jigging rods at the store that were pretty light but rated for like 60-200lb braid.  Do we ever need that stuff around here?  Seems like I could get away with my frog setup for bass and or my steelhead reel on a trout rod and be fine.

A lot of us up here have moved to the Shimano Trevala rods and love them.  Lightweight, decent length to handle on kayak and versatile.  I've got a Okuma low profile cold water linecounter on mine and like it a lot.  The Daiwa Lexa is a great one as well.

A lot of us up here have moved to the Shimano Trevala rods and love them.  Lightweight, decent length to handle on kayak and versatile.  I've got a Okuma low profile cold water linecounter on mine and like it a lot.  The Daiwa Lexa is a great one as well.

I just assembled two brand new rigs this winter just for my kayak fishing in salt. For strictly bottom fish I'll be running a Penn Squall 25N with 50# braid on an 8' Daiwa. If I'll be moving between salmon trolling and bottom fishing that day I set up an Okuma 303 Coldwater line counter with 50# braid on 8'6" or 9' Daiwa, depending on whether I will get serious on the bottom fish that day. Both reels "claim" they hold 420 yds of 0.40 mm line. I'm a bit skeptical after spooling both from 547 yd spools so I'll measure the leftovers later this spring for an accurate assessment. Both have 22# of drag. Not as many ball bearings as the top of the line brand names but I'll live with that.  Proof is on the stringer as they say.

 I'm (very) old school for some of my fishing and my new Daiwa saltwater rods are fiberglass construction but so lightweight you have to read the label to tell its not graphite or a composite. All my glass Daiwas are 15-30# rods. Between the rod and the reel the rod is the most vulnerable for destruction on a kayak so breakage of a rod on a bad landing (fish or beach) is easier on the wallet. In 65 years of fishing I've never broke a rod on a fish no matter whether I'm fishing 2# ultra-light or deep sea fishing with 20 oz of lead so the composition of my rod plays no part in my enjoyment of the sport.  The cheaper rods will allow me to survive the learning curve of landing fish with your butt in the water - a perspective I've no extensive experience with....yet.

Bottom fishing is bottom fishing and doesn't take any real special gear.  So keep it simple and cheap if you like.

I have really simple inexpensive rod/reel combos for bottom fishing. 

#1 is any one of my Shakespeare Barbie/kiddie rods spooled with 20# PowerPro as my main jigger and have caught everything short of a halibut that I could catch from Oregon or Washington coast via kayak.  As well as a Washington ocean fall Chinook and Columbia river keeper sturgeon. Super fun!

Next is my 6'6" UglyStik LITE two piece spinning rod with a cheap Shimano Sienna 2500 spooled with 10# PowerPro, with 15-20 feet of 10# Berkeley Big Game mono top shot. 
Again, I've caught all the normal bottom fish on on this rig.  Even fought and landed a 43" 36.5# Bull redfish in Grand Isle Louisiana with this rig.  Hard freight train of a fight, but with the right amount of drag, and Hobie pedaling I was able to wear it out. 

Last is my 6'6" UglyStik GX2 M/H two piece bait casting rod paired with a salt water proofed Abu Garcia 6500 spooled with 20# Berkeley Big Game mono.  This will handle everything short of halibut, maybe even halibut?

I do have a 6'6" Lamiglass Cascade Pro meat crane with an Abu Garcia 7000 spooled with 30# braid that I use for halibut and sturgeon.

Keep things cheap, properly greased for saltwater use and use your drag properly and you can land some mighty big bottom fish and not break the bank.

+1 on INSAYN's advice

I'd even suggest that if we're able to pull up everything short of sturgeon and halibut with a fly rod, which is similar to the action of a medium-light spinning rod, with 14# leaders and fly lines that are typically 26# test, you can get started bottom fishing without special gear.

Always best to just do it and then decide what you may want to use the next time out.

For those on the Kenai Peninsula, I bought my latest 3 Daiwa Wilderness 8', 8'6" and 9' downrigger/troll rods from Trustworthy Hardware just a few days ago. They have a BARREL of them at the end of the isle for....get this.....$16.97 each. NO ONE on the planet beats Trustworthy for fishing rod prices. Tourists from Europe who are guides haul 50 rods at a time back home because the VAT taxes for quality rods are so high. They take them as luggage. Trustworthy sells 50,000 rods per year. If you ever come to the Kenai Peninsula don't miss stopping by the store in Soldotna on the main drag. 

Today's modern technology for making fiberglass rods is superior to that of the 1950's and 60's. Not only in strength but lightweight too. Put the savings in extra tackle or the gas tank for another trip to the fishing grounds. Most of the time you will never notice the difference.

Thanks for all the replies.  I'm really excited to get out and try this and want to be prepared.  Need to get out and try with what I have first.  Point taken. 

if you have a fish finder another good investment is a reel with a  line counter like the Okuma cold water. The Diawa Saltist is a nice one I have used for both halibut and rockfish. 

http://www.daiwa.com/us/contents/reels/saltist_lwlc/index.html

If no line counter then pull 12 inches of line off the reel while watching your bailing guide and count how many pulls (feet) for one full side swing of the guide (how long it takes the guide to go from one side to the other)then you know approximately how many feet of line is out........... does that make sense?

Line counter for bottom fishing?   What for? 

Just drop your gear to the bottom and smash the jig into the rocks.  Reel up a tad and jig away. 
Every few seconds make contact with the bottom (rocks) again. 

If you snag, learn to unsnag quickly so you can retrieve your gear back. 

If you are not fishing the bottom, you are cutting yourself short on good fish.