Best setup for rockfish

[NOAHNATOR]

Never been Rock Fish Fishing (does that sound right). Going out of Seaforth on Friday for 1/2 day with the wife. yayayyaya.

What is the proper rigging? Line Weight, Weight Size, What Weights (torpedo probably.) and type of hook.

Any help would be appreciated, since the wife has been waiting for this day to come forever.

Thanks Guys,

Noahnator!

[jplee3]

Never been Rock Fish Fishing (does that sound right). Going out of Seaforth on Friday for 1/2 day with the wife. yayayyaya.

What is the proper rigging? Line Weight, Weight Size, What Weights (torpedo probably.) and type of hook.

Any help would be appreciated, since the wife has been waiting for this day to come forever.

Thanks Guys,

Noahnator!

Double dropper loop (if you head into Mexican waters, I believe you can make more loops - not sure of the limit though) or reverse dropper loop (rdl is common for lings though, which aren't in season yet; unless of course you're in Mexican water)
Line test anywhere from 20lb (if you're adventurous :D) to 40lb. 8-12oz Torpedo sinkers. And anywhere from sz 4/0-6/0 hooks (circle hooks can work wonders btw if you're deep and using mono). Some people like to use braid but mono works fine in my experience; esp if you're using circle hooks. With braid you can feel *everything* which is nice I suppose. Oh, and make sure you have a big enough reel if fishing deep with mono. If deeper, you'll want a fairly stout rod as well.

You can also use heavier salas/tady jigs tied straight on, or attach grubs to your hooks to entice a bite. Another common method is to use jigheads in place of regular hooks on the dropper loops.

The boat will more than likely have frozen or fresh dead squid (live if you're lucky), which is the main staple. If there are dines/chovies, you might pickup bocaccio/salmon grouper (usually worm infested).

Have a good time out there!!!

p.s. I realized you're going on a 1/2 day, which may not be going out too far. And in general, it may not get as deep, in which you can size down quite a bit. It's not a bad idea to bring multiple setups to switch between if you have the resources.

[TShaffer]

Definately a dropper loop. On the charter boats around here I go with a 6-12 ounce torpedo sinker with 1/0 to 2/0 live bait hooks or cirlce hooks. I also fish anywhere from 15-35lb line.

[bsp]

Bring some heavy jigs too! Work those on a reel with spectra backing (65lb) and a short top shot (40lb or 30lb) for lingcod and big rock fish. Jax jigs are nice if you can find them. I use reds and oranges, but the action is what mainly gets them. Tip them with a squid strip or tie a dropper loop ahead of the jig if you want to experiment. Also, if you see a rockcod spit up an octopus, grab it (gross, I know) and use it for bait. Big rock cod love an octopus!

[Ricky-Ray]

Since it's his second time out rockfishing I would keep it simple and not worry about getting any jigs just yet. Keep it simple and you'll do just fine. 2 hook dropper loop setup with squid strips or live bait, 1/0-3/0 size hooks and 6-12oz sinkers and you'll do just fine.