???Deep water rock cod question

[Duckhunter]

I mostly fish fresh water, ocean fishing for bass and tuna, this is my first rock cod trip. I am going to swollow my pride and ask for some basic tips from some experts here. It is an overnight to St. Nicholas out of Long Beach. I have some tuna rods with a30lb mono I will take. I heard some guys are using non mono line, should I spend the money and put some of that on? I was thinking it wasnt a good idea because it is a pain when you hang up in the rocks in 350ft of water with 40 lb fireline. I also heard most guys are fishing jigs. I dont want to go out and spend a lot of money on gear I wont be using.

I am looking for some advise on a few essentials that will get me by for one trip.

Thanks
Ron.

[ghetto dad]

I mostly fish fresh water, ocean fishing for bass and tuna, this is my first rock cod trip. I am going to swollow my pride and ask for some basic tips from some experts here. It is an overnight to St. Nicholas out of Long Beach. I have some tuna rods with a30lb mono I will take. I heard some guys are using non mono line, should I spend the money and put some of that on? I was thinking it wasnt a good idea because it is a pain when you hang up in the rocks in 350ft of water with 40 lb fireline. I also heard most guys are fishing jigs. I dont want to go out and spend a lot of money on gear I wont be using.

I am looking for some advise on a few essentials that will get me by for one trip.

Thanks
Ron.



Actually, you are "shallow water" rockfishing, we can no longer fish "deep water" cod.....I would highly recommend the spectra, it is not that big of deal "breaking" it off if youre hung up, as long as you use a swivel, it will usually break off there. Jigmaster 500 or 501 is great, if you dont wana fill it up, then get some MONO backing and TOP SHOT about 200 yards of spectra.

Get some 6 oz and 8 oz JAX JIGS, in blue/white, red/white, orange with copper back.

6-12 oz torpedo sinkers

2-2/0 hooks

again, I would highly recommend the spectra, 50-65 lb and i hope the reel that you are using is NOT high gear....you will work yourself to death with it...

GD

[Ricky-Ray]

Like GD said the day's of fishing over 400ft deep are gone. The max depth you can fish in CA is 360ft. I'd second on spooling with spectra. You'll feel the bite that much better. Tie on a barrel swivel and about 8-10ft. of 30# mono and you are good to go. Hook size from 1/0-4/0 should be good and make sure you have an assortment of torpedo sinkers form 8-16oz. Jax jigs work great too but if you don't want to spend the money for them then don't bother especially if you don't plan on doing more rockfish trips. Get a couple of shrimp flies and do a double dropper loop rig with it and pin on a strip of squid and you should be good to go. If you have a low gear reel around 4-5.0 gear ratio you should be good to go or even better if you have a 2 speed reel. As for rod's a 30# rod will do just fine. 6 or 7 foot is fine. your not casting so no need for an 8 ft rod or longer.

[Duckhunter]

Thanks guys!!!! That info is what I was looking for. I do have a 500 and 501. Question I forgot to ask was can I buy a larger handle and just swap it out, so I am not cranking my butt off all day? I do not have a 2 speed reel. Next one up I have is a shimanno TLD. I will get a jig or two but like fishing squid. What about one of those over sized grubs I see they fish in Alaska.

Should I tip the jig with squid strips? What about fish traps. Are they too small for the depth?

Thanks again for the info.

Ron.

[ghetto dad]

Thanks guys!!!! That info is what I was looking for. I do have a 500 and 501. Question I forgot to ask was can I buy a larger handle and just swap it out, so I am not cranking my butt off all day? I do not have a 2 speed reel. Next one up I have is a shimanno TLD. I will get a jig or two but like fishing squid. What about one of those over sized grubs I see they fish in Alaska.

Should I tip the jig with squid strips? What about fish traps. Are they too small for the depth?

Thanks again for the info.

Ron.

yes, you can get the bigger power handles for those reels...most TACKLE shops will have them...where do you live??? you dont need to tip your jig with squid....you can, but i NEVER do...no fish traps...

GD

[ghetto dad]

btw, one of the advantages of fishing the jig is you WILL get bigger fish on it...dont get me wrong, you will get the smaler ones too..but your chances are better fishing the jig

GD

[Ricky-Ray]

Thanks guys!!!! That info is what I was looking for. I do have a 500 and 501. Question I forgot to ask was can I buy a larger handle and just swap it out, so I am not cranking my butt off all day? I do not have a 2 speed reel. Next one up I have is a shimanno TLD. I will get a jig or two but like fishing squid. What about one of those over sized grubs I see they fish in Alaska.

Should I tip the jig with squid strips? What about fish traps. Are they too small for the depth?

Thanks again for the info.

Ron.

I've never used fish trap's on rockfish. I know them big white grubs with the curly tails will usually catch a nice big ling cod. Berkley Gulp in either shrimp, jerk shad or swimming mullett is usually a killer on the rockfish too. I would definitely pick up at least a bag or two of those.

Most tackle shops should have the larger handle for the penn 500 reels. Ideally I'm thinking if you have a reel with a gear ration of around 4.0 you should be good to go. You'll have enough torque to yank them off the rocks and it will be a slow enough wind where you won't spin the fish off the hook. I have 2 reels that are dedicated to rockfishing and that's all they do. It's a Penn 209 and a Penn 320GTI. Both have a levelwind so I don't have to worry about thumbing the spectra back and forth and they are loaded to the top with 65# spectra and has a barrell swivel at the end of the line. All I have to do is connect a 8-10ft mono topshot and I'm ready to go.

[ghetto dad]

Oh yea..if you get spectra...BUY THE FINGER WRAP!!!!

GD

[Duckhunter]

OK guys I think I am set. I do have finger wrap. Love berkley worms when I surf fish, so I will definately pick up a few bags of the bigger stuff. I am in Riverside so I will order what I can from the net tonight and whatever I cant find I will head out to Bass Pro. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.

Ron.

[Ricky-Ray]

4 inch gulp swimming mullet in chartruse or pink
3 or 4 inch gulp shrimp in new penny, or nuclear chicken
5 inch gulp jerk shad in new penny, nuclear chicken or root beer

I've had some success with the berkley powerbait 4 inch shrimp. It doesn't have the gulp scent and it's way cheaper.

All of those have worked really well for me on the rockfish. Good luck!