Sunset, 5/19 & 20

was on the water at Cape Arago Lighthouse last weekend for some blacks that were feeding topwater. caught a limit in short order w/ some double hookups on a shrimp fly. also got two small but legal lings. 2 days of great fishing.

You had an awesome day! I sure miss coming over there.

You got to love those topwater blacks! We had blackened black rockfish for dinner last night. A great way to cook them!

Nice haul.  The rockfish were on the surface at PC too, there must have been something in the water they they were feeding on.

Nice haul.  The rockfish were on the surface at PC too, there must have been something in the water they they were feeding on.

I think it was the crab spawn.  I caught several female crabs on the surface while surfing Saturday and had the same topwater rockfish bite out of Depoe on Sunday.

-Spot-

Nice haul.  The rockfish were on the surface at PC too, there must have been something in the water they they were feeding on.

I think it was the crab spawn.  I caught several female crabs on the surface while surfing Saturday and had the same topwater rockfish bite out of Depoe on Sunday.

-Spot-

Yep, happens every year about this time. I'm always curious what triggers the spawn, my hunch is it must have something to do with day length or moon phase.  Sure is fun fishing when it happens. I hooked several on the surface in PC on Sunday on a bare 1.5 oz unpainted jig head, you're just wasting your money buying swimbaits

That is really interesting, last week was the first time that I had a large pulse of crab megalopae (spawn) in the light trap I use for my research.  I will be really interested to see if the larvae show up again in two weeks and the rockfish behave the same way.  I call that forced fishing the weekend of the 2nd 

For those interested a little in the biology of those crabs they were seeing they are the last larval stage that are on their way back to the shore.  The female crabs release their larvae in January/February and the larvae work their way off the shelf (100-150km) until about this time each year when the last stage return to shore for the larvae to settle to the bottom.

Very cool.

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That is really interesting, last week was the first time that I had a large pulse of crab megalopae (spawn) in the light trap I use for my research.  I will be really interested to see if the larvae show up again in two weeks and the rockfish behave the same way.  I call that forced fishing the weekend of the 2nd 

For those interested a little in the biology of those crabs they were seeing they are the last larval stage that are on their way back to the shore.  The female crabs release their larvae in January/February and the larvae work their way off the shelf (100-150km) until about this time each year when the last stage return to shore for the larvae to settle to the bottom.

Keep it coming Zoea!  Great stuff!  The more I learn about the ocean, its inhabitants and their life cycles the more I realize how much I dig spending time out there. 

Are there other "spawns" besides crab (I assume we're talking Dungies) that occur that would also trigger similar behavior from rockfish?  You know anything about squid off our coast?

That is really interesting, last week was the first time that I had a large pulse of crab megalopae (spawn) in the light trap I use for my research.  I will be really interested to see if the larvae show up again in two weeks and the rockfish behave the same way.  I call that forced fishing the weekend of the 2nd 

For those interested a little in the biology of those crabs they were seeing they are the last larval stage that are on their way back to the shore.  The female crabs release their larvae in January/February and the larvae work their way off the shelf (100-150km) until about this time each year when the last stage return to shore for the larvae to settle to the bottom.

Keep it coming Zoea!  Great stuff!  The more I learn about the ocean, its inhabitants and their life cycles the more I realize how much I dig spending time out there. 

Are there other "spawns" besides crab (I assume we're talking Dungies) that occur that would also trigger similar behavior from rockfish?  You know anything about squid off our coast?

+1

I hooked several on the surface in PC on Sunday on a bare 1.5 oz unpainted jig head, you're just wasting your money buying swimbaits

you probly coulda just stuck yer finger in the water & caught fish