3-22-09 crabbing

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Commodore S
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:( Not so great, ended up w/9 in about 10 hours at it, Sat & Sun from sawyers to the mouth, just real hard to find keepers actually caught a bunch, just a hair short of being legal:mad: Tried some fishing while we were out at the mouth on the north jetty side, but could'nt get any takers. 6' waves on the bay comin' in at 4:00. That got a little hairy. Great weekend overall. Water temp 49-52. Sorry no pics, camera was the only thing we forgot:(
 
Thanks for the report. I am yet to hear of a good crabbing report. :(
 
big swells over the weekend = poor fishing. Crab is kinda out of season as well, give it till june... there will be a few here and there, but nothing substancial till then
 
Saturday 3/21 jetty fishing

Saturday 3/21 jetty fishing

The boat fishing may not have been great from what I've been hearing, but I did fairly well from the finger jetties on south jetty. Three black rockfish in two hours using 6in black curly tail on a 1.5oz jig head. The biggest being 14in.

Fished: south jetty fingers
Time: 7-9am
Tide: incoming
Bait/lure: 6in black curlytail on 1.5oz jig head
Caught: 3 black rockfish, biggest 14in
 
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Thanks for the report! I'll have to try jigs more often. I would be interested in hearing more about your technique.. Have you hooked any Ling cod yet?
 
How was the wind?
 
No lings yet, but I will be going more often now that I have a better idea of how to nab a fish here and there. All I did was stand and the intersection of the finger and main jetty and fan cast the jig and slow retrieve after letting it sink. I did lose a lot of rigs, but it comes with the territory.
 
fishfreak13 said:
Three black rockfish in two hours using 6in black curly tail on a 1.5oz jig head.

Ah, thank you so much for actually knowing the difference:clap::lol:...Everybody calls them "sea bass." They most certainly are not! A picture of a sea bass would confirm this. Like this one...Sorry, just pointing out, it is fantastic you are one of the few who know.
 
Fish ID is one of the main duties of my profession :) I love getting paid to play with fish!!!

Here's a pic I finally got around to loading up of the larger Black RF

CIMG5260.jpg
 
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Nice looking black rockfish there!
 
Nice fish fishfreak13!
 
Which finger? Which side?

Which finger? Which side?

Which finger were you at? Looks to me like the first one(The longest) is in shallow water. Is the water deeper I assume the farther out? Have you found one finger to be a better spot then the other? If the tide is coming in on which side of the finger jetty is best to fish?

I have fished most all of them with no luck. I even went out night fishing for about 6 hours and still caught nothing. I was told by a gentleman in Bitler Bros. Sporting Goods before they closed(Da!@ economy) that night fishing was pretty productive. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
BB
 
Well. Here's my theory. Judging rockfish and groundfish behavior, I guessed they were more active at night. I think they leave the security of the rock crevices and move up in the water column to feed in semi-open water. During the day they will hold tight to the rocks/bottom.

So.......try the jetties at night or first light would be my suggestion. That's what I have been doing based on my lil theory and so far it's working. I haven't necessarily found a "honey hole" as far as the fingers go. I work one finger for a few minutes on boths sides with swim baits and/or curly tails and move to the next one if it doesn't produce. Rockfish aren't a very mobile species. If you don't hit em in one spot, change baits. If that doesn't work, they're not feeding or simply just not there. Keep moving, keep fan casting, try different baits.

I also recommend fishing the incoming tide. Strong tide changes are a dinner bell :)


Good Luck and Happy Fishing!

BRW
Fisheries Biologist
NOAA/AOI
Newport, OR
 
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