At last - I finally built my rig and tried 'Pole Poking' at Tillamook North Jetty.... great way to 'meat hunt' however it is a far cry from fishing. I had a lot of fun as I fished during a negative tide and caught a ton of fish.:dance:
My rig consisted of three pieces of ABS pipe sleeved with smaller I.D. ABS pipe with a length of 1/4" rope running through it's core and wrapped around the butt end. The 1/4" rope extends just over 20" out of the tip of my pole when assembled. Attached to the 1/4" rope are two hooks on 40# test line, these I baited with Mussel or Clam Pieces. I might add that I adapted a flashlight holder to my pole to mount my Surefire to. This allowed me to see what I was doing as I navigated the caves below me. I also wore a hat with a flashlight on it until I paid it as a sacrifice to the fishing Gods while I was looking into a hole. I watched it float away into the rocks below and disappear after a while while I kept trying to snag it with the pole. :redface:
Once I located an open chasm between the rock, I pushed my pole through and into the holding water. Every slot held something and there was a minimal if any wait for a take. The fights however were lacking as it was just a matter of lifting the fish out of the hole. As a 'rough' guess, I would say that I pulled out well over 70 keeper size fish along with twice that in shakers. I had one big fish that almost took my whole rod from my hands and refused to be pulled out (yes, a big one that got away). However upon applying some heavy pressure, it gave and I brought up a large piece of meaty flesh that looked a lot like something off of an Octopus with one hook and the tag end of my leader from the other hook.:doh:
I ended my day with one large 31" Ling, two 13" Kelp Greenling, five REALLY nice Black Rock Bass, and a sore back that burned all the way back home and into the next morning from all of the bending and pulling. If you do this, I highly recommend the purchase of a pair of gloves, a pair of good knee and elbow pads (and some pain reliever). Might add that Ling and Rock Bass were caught out of 'inside' holes and the Greenling came from the 'outside' holes in the Jetty.
All in all it was a great day, lot's of fun, but it was not fishing... it was more of a hunting expedition than anything. If you want to fill a freezer or have one heck of a fish feed, you have to go Pole Poking!!!!
:yay::yay::yay::yay::yay: