Pacific City report 13-Jul-2019

Launched around 6:15.  Dumped on the way out (I hate low tide at PC), but all I lost was a water bottle. 

Dropped off my crab trap in 58’ and started trolling east.  Made it all the way to 175’ without a bite.  Trolled back to trap and collected 12 legal crab.  There were also a couple female and a couple shorts.  30 – 40 snails attached to my chicken also.  My wife likes these more than the crab.

Changed color of hoochie to orange/pink and within 5 minutes I hooked a salmon that came off while I was trying to net it. 

Uneventful landing.

Did everyone struggle for salmon?

Seems it was killer the last week or so, but given I am heading down tomorrow it makes sense that it would die off  .   And damn, I don't have my crab trap. A dozen crabs sounds pretty tasty.

I launched at 6:30 and grabbed the last spot on the beach before the road out.  I dropped a crab pot on the way out and then started trolling for salmon south of the rock.  I was marking fish consistently at 15, 25, 35 and 70 ft.  I started with a brads cut plug and then switched over to herring after the first hour. 

After two hours without a bite, and not seeing or hearing of anyone hooking a salmon, I decided to go fish for lings and cabbies.  I was fishing west of the rock on some nice structure at 120ft I haven't fished before.  First drop, I hit bottom and started jigging. Within a minute I got bit, but the fish didn't feel big.....but then, he realized he was hooked and started peeling line in a hurry.  I thought for sure it was a big cabbie.  After several runs I finally see some color and it's a huge blue ling.  After fumbling with the net, I finally get him in the net and into the boat.  He wasn't happy, so I gave him a few love taps with the bat and he settled down.  Fish counter said he was 35 inches and 16 lbs, a personal best for me.

Next drop on the same spot, I get another ling, this one was a respectable 27 incher.  I later went to a few other shallower go to spots and picked up several small cabbies, a greenling and a few black rocks.

On the way in, I picked up 4 nice dungees and had a nice drive by with a whale.

Fish counter said he only counted a few salmon yesterday, most likely due to the warm water he says the fish stop biting when the water warms up.

All in all a good day for me.

Excellent report Cosmo!  What's your go to ling jig?

Cosmo, I may know that spot west of the rock. Was trolling for salmon out there when I got a take down.  Felt like a wimpy salmon, turned out to be a rather respectable Black Rockfish. Marked the spot, maybe time to go check it out.

Excellent report Cosmo!  What's your go to ling jig?

Hey Barb,

I tend to favor smaller swim baits, lighter ledd and light gear.  For Lings, I like the 5 inch big hammer style baits with a 2-2/2 oz round jig head, and I also add a stinger hook tied with braided line because the lighter jig heads just don't have the reach to the end of the bait. 

For rock fish, I'm using Berkley gulp minnows and pogies on a 3/8 oz or lighter jig head, with a 1 oz sliding egg sinker above the swivel to get it down. to depth.  I went away from the big baits and big lead after jigging all day and feeling like my arms were ready to fall off.