Headed to the 14 Mile Bank yesterday with Dennis on the 17’ Boston Whaler “Allison Christine”. Left Dana Point Harbor at 6:30 am and first tried to make some mackerel for ling cod bait but just couldn’t find them, so left after an hour with only one in the tank.
I’m new to the trendy “soft pitching” rock fish technique, but I can tell you IT WORKS. We started in 300 feet of water and it was dead. Moved to 450 feet and found a slow pick. Then to 650 feet and started getting a few nice ones. Last stop was 725 feet! Wide open 2 to 5 lb rockfish. Chili Peppers, Bank Perch, Mexican Rockfish.
This isn’t the 1970’s with broom stick rods, giant Penn reels filled with 200 Lb Dacron line, 3 lb sinkers, shrimp fly ganions, and nightmarish 15 minute wind ups. The gear is a pencil thin 6.5 foot graphite rod with eyes that rotate around the rod from the up position closest to the reel to the down position at the tip. The reel I used was an Accurate Valiant 500 which has a very narrow spool holding 500 yards of 30 lb braid. The reel has a long handle and is very high speed. A barrel swivel to a 30 lb mono leader and another barrel swivel to a 300 gram jig.
Every aspect of the outfit is designed to allow fishing super deep without all the misery you would expect. Thin line to reduce resistance, light rod eliminates fatigue, high speed retrieve via deep, narrow spool, rod eye placement, aerodynamic jig falls super fast, and the multiple swivels eliminate dreaded line twist. With this gear, you feel the bite, set the hook as hard as you want, and fight the fish all the way up. Still tiring after a full day, but really fun too.
I’m new to the trendy “soft pitching” rock fish technique, but I can tell you IT WORKS. We started in 300 feet of water and it was dead. Moved to 450 feet and found a slow pick. Then to 650 feet and started getting a few nice ones. Last stop was 725 feet! Wide open 2 to 5 lb rockfish. Chili Peppers, Bank Perch, Mexican Rockfish.
This isn’t the 1970’s with broom stick rods, giant Penn reels filled with 200 Lb Dacron line, 3 lb sinkers, shrimp fly ganions, and nightmarish 15 minute wind ups. The gear is a pencil thin 6.5 foot graphite rod with eyes that rotate around the rod from the up position closest to the reel to the down position at the tip. The reel I used was an Accurate Valiant 500 which has a very narrow spool holding 500 yards of 30 lb braid. The reel has a long handle and is very high speed. A barrel swivel to a 30 lb mono leader and another barrel swivel to a 300 gram jig.
Every aspect of the outfit is designed to allow fishing super deep without all the misery you would expect. Thin line to reduce resistance, light rod eliminates fatigue, high speed retrieve via deep, narrow spool, rod eye placement, aerodynamic jig falls super fast, and the multiple swivels eliminate dreaded line twist. With this gear, you feel the bite, set the hook as hard as you want, and fight the fish all the way up. Still tiring after a full day, but really fun too.
