RockFish and CAbezon

ok, first question.  What kind of bait to you fish for the suckers? 

Second, do you have to cook them any differently?

Third, any good place to go in Area 10 or 13? 

thanks Pete

ok, first question.  What kind of bait to you fish for the suckers? 

Second, do you have to cook them any differently?

Third, any good place to go in Area 10 or 13? 

thanks Pete

Bait? I rarely use bait for rockfish, but some like to tip there lures with squid or shrimp.

As for cooking... they're a nice firm white fleshed fish and they're great fried, steamed, or baked.  One word of caution.. cabezon eggs are toxic, but the flesh is perfectly safe.

Regarding area 10 or 13, I haven't a clue... I live in Oregon.

Bait or lures, that's what I was trying to figure out. 

Althought I just read the HOW to on the Trex Jetty Worm.  I've caught a bunch of LMB on jiggs before.  anyone else has some experience up here in the PNW with those? 

3 or 4 ounce jig heads for rock fish - up to 6 ounce for lings, with 4 to 6 inch plastic - either single tail swimmers or split tail shrimp.  And any color works, as long as its root beer or white.  That's my arsenal. 

Then again, HBH took about a minute to blow that strategy away when he nailed a ling cod on his chartreuse bomber before it even hit the bottom.

I think ling, rock, cabies - they are aggressive and will hit just about anything that looks edible when they are in the mood.  And when they shut down, nothing works.  Tide seems to be the key factor.  You want some tide so the bait is moving, but not too much so you can keep the plastic bouncing on the bottom

Sorry - no secret spots in areas 10 or 13.  I'm an area 7 kind of guy.

common rockfish/cabezon lures include

shrimp flies
diamond jigs
curly tail jigs
scampi jigs
swim baits

The following article is a pretty good introduction, just replace Depoe Bay with your local area that you'll be fishing..

http://www.nwmitchell.com/personal/bottomfish/bottomfishingnewport.htm

Zee has been using them for casting at breakwaters- then bouncing down the side. They are fairly light, so you won't be able to fish very deep if there is significant current. You can buy cheaper plain or painted jigheads up to 24 oz. (big guys for halibut) and add curly tail grubs and scampi (twin tails). Sometimes you can find skirts that go on the jig before the plastics.

Tides are pretty extreme this weekend, but next weekend will be good. I use http://www.dairiki.org/tides/ for finding tide heights and current speeds.

Area 13 is pretty slim for  pickings for bottomfish. People do pick up some lings under the Narrows Bridge, but you better know your tides if you're going to try that.

Area 10, on the west side of the Sound, I'd avoid the Bremerton area breakwaters unless you just want to do catch and release. There are a lot of Superfund sites in the neighborhood. Kingston might be OK. I have picked up rockfish north of Pt. No Point, towards Norwegian Pt.. Even better is Foulweather Pt., further north. ( A long paddle.) But again, this area experiences big tide changes and considerable current ( and is exposed, weather-wise ), so a person had better know their stuff to mess with it.

Best areas in WA are the San Juans, the western Straits of Juan de Fuca, and the outer coast.

Good luck.

speaking of this...Zee have you ever tried the man made reef just south of alki point....jack lawless told me he pulled a 44 inch ling out of there last year and has pulled at least one out just about every year...he says its no secret you see 50 powerboats sittin on top of it during ling and rockfish season

I wouldn't bother rockfishing in the sound for anything other than lings and cabezon. The rockfish have been so hammered that there's little to none left. You'll get incedentals while going after lings and cabezon and you'll notice just how tiny they are. I think making the trip to Neah Bay or one of the great OR spots is the place you want to go for any kind of rockfish retention.

speaking of this...Zee have you ever tried the man made reef just south of alki point....jack lawless told me he pulled a 44 inch ling out of there last year and has pulled at least one out just about every year...

Nope

he says its no secret you see 50 powerboats sittin on top of it during ling and rockfish season

That's why.

Z