topwater lures and jig fishing from shore

[ckyevanjay]

anybody ever throw topwater lures or even troll them? Im going to try out some topwater fishing in the shallower tidewater to keep from losing my metal in the rocks. sometimes my 1oz lures dive into the rocks before i get a chance to flip the bail over when im chuckin them 30 yards.

Ive got some poppers and some shallow diving lures im going to try as well. Will also give some white bucktail jigs a try in the sandy areas to see if i can get a flounder if they are around while im down next week. If anybody has any tips on catching them that would be great. Also going to fish some berkley gulp shads on a jighead and see what i can pull off. Will be fishin las conchas area as long as the weather abides. Need to catch some new species instead of the standard rock bass, leatherjack, and bullseye puffers we are always reeling in.

 

[Stuart]

If you opt to fish plastics like the Gulp stuff, bring a lot of them. The triggers absolutely delight in shredding them to pieces. The typical jig head/plastic setup doesn't work well for hooking triggers. You'll get some sand bass and corvina, if they are around. I've thrown some topwater stuff over near Cholla -- Zara Saltwater Spook -- and the fish will sometimes hit it. You'll get a lot more followers than strikes, though. Especially once the water warms a bit more and the needlefish are around. Easy casting distance from shore.

 

[Mexico Joe]

If you opt to fish plastics like the Gulp stuff, bring a lot of them. The triggers absolutely delight in shredding them to pieces. The typical jig head/plastic setup doesn't work well for hooking triggers. You'll get some sand bass and corvina, if they are around. I've thrown some topwater stuff over near Cholla -- Zara Saltwater Spook -- and the fish will sometimes hit it. You'll get a lot more followers than strikes, though. Especially once the water warms a bit more and the needlefish are around. Easy casting distance from shore.

Stuart, what is the deal with these Needlefish? Does anything eat them or... why do they always follow my spoon in? Cast after cast...

 

[Stuart]

Hahaha! The only needlefish I've ever caught from shore was a giant one I foul-hooked on the back of the head near Cabo. I was throwing a large Krocodile lure over the surf line and must of beaned the poor sucker! I have caught them trolling, though. They will hit a fast trolled Kastmaster or spoon. They are super attracted to anything shiny in the water.

They will follow every cast, like you said. I've seen them do it time-after-time. They just seem to be very, very wary fish. I don't know what eats them, if anything. If you saw the size of the giant ones over on the Baja side, you'd think they're alligator gar. Enormous fish! Mexican captains have asked to keep them when I've caught them. They swear they make great ceviche. However, their meat is green. Sorry, anything that the meat is already green in while it's still alive, I ain't eatin'!!

 

[audsley]

Well, I guess it's time I asked about sand bass. If I throw anything but Krocodiles and silver Kastmasters when fishing an estuary for Corvina I'm guaranteed to lose fishing time messing with a 10-inch sand bass.

Are the bigger sand bass any good to eat? And how big would they need to be to fuss with cleaning and cooking?

It's my understanding that the only fish that can be caught from shore around Rocky Point and is worth taking home for dinner is Corvina. I've heard of the occasional flounder or trigger being caught in the rockier areas around Cholla Bay, but I believe these fall into the category of a long shot, especially the flounder. I understand that the "pompano" is actually the unpalatable leatherjack, and I don't get involved with puffer fish. Am I missing any good fish dinners by pursuing Corvina exclusively?

 

[hammer scuba]

wanna catch fish from the shore ? use a number 2 sabiki rig with a kastmaster as a weight rip it back to shore as soon as it hits the water and be ready. everything hits this setup. peace and chicken grease

 

[Mexico Joe]

Lawl @ hammer

 

[Mexico Joe]

Lol peace and chicken grease haha

 

[AZ ROB]

wanna catch fish from the shore ? use a number 2 sabiki rig with a kastmaster as a weight rip it back to shore as soon as it hits the water and be ready. everything hits this setup. peace and chicken grease

a #4 Sabiki rig works good for catching smaller bait fish off the kayak out by Cholla fishing in the rocks.. Then paddle out hook up 2 bait fish (out of the 50 you will catch in a matter of minutes) drop it down with a 3 oz weight and just drag the bottom...Just remember Joe big fish move fast when tied to a kayak...

 

[ckyevanjay]

ive grilled a leatherjack before with some butter and lemons. wasnt bad at all but just like wikipedia says its a little oily similar to the spanish mackeral. I caught a 3-4lb rockbass 2 years ago when the tide was going out and it wouldve been a solid dinner but still havnt tried to eat that fish. Havnt reeled in a trigger fish in las conchas in a long time and the kids do a lot of bait fishing with drop shot rigs so the bait is about 16 inches off the bottom. When i lure fish im getting rockbass and leatherjacks. fishing with squid always yields rockbass of all sizes during all times of the day and bullseye puffers.

awhile back some kids had caught baitfish in a net at the estuary and were rigging them up and they caught a few flounder and corvina right next to me while fishing with squid. I have not been able to pull that off yet so was thinking of throwing the berkley jerk shads to mimic a bait fish.....

 

[AZ ROB]

Rock bass makes some good tacos or cook whole. Trigger fish is tasty as well.

 

[Kenny]

a #4 Sabiki rig works good for catching smaller bait fish off the kayak out by Cholla fishing in the rocks.. Then paddle out hook up 2 bait fish (out of the 50 you will catch in a matter of minutes) drop it down with a 3 oz weight and just drag the bottom...Just remember Joe big fish move fast when tied to a kayak...

A rig like this or similar will keep you busy, very. http://cgi.ebay.com/General-Cod-Mackerel-Red-Feather-Bucktails-Rig-3x-4-0-/170637007442?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27bac21a52

 

[rplarry]

anybody ever throw topwater lures or even troll them? Im going to try out some topwater fishing in the shallower tidewater to keep from losing my metal in the rocks. sometimes my 1oz lures dive into the rocks before i get a chance to flip the bail over when im chuckin them 30 yards.

Ive got some poppers and some shallow diving lures im going to try as well. Will also give some white bucktail jigs a try in the sandy areas to see if i can get a flounder if they are around while im down next week. If anybody has any tips on catching them that would be great. Also going to fish some berkley gulp shads on a jighead and see what i can pull off. Will be fishin las conchas area as long as the weather abides. Need to catch some new species instead of the standard rock bass, leatherjack, and bullseye puffers we are always reeling in.

From my experience, the flounder seem to move out of the estuaries and into deeper water when the water temps rise. Again, just my experience. I caught 3 very nice flounder fishing from shore, back in late March and using Kastmasters. I have also played around in the past using rapala type bass crank-baits from the kayak and always caught a ton of trigger and rock bass (BTW, rock bass do make great fish tacos as someone mentioned earlier).

If you are fishing from the beach in Las Conchas, we have had fun in the past putting out a 'bait net' at low tide filled with cut-up fish or squid. We would anchor it down and then when the tide came up, we would cast into the vicinity of the net, using squid as bait, and always catch a ton of perch, trigger, bass, etc. Nothing to talk about size-wise, but nice and relaxing to sit in your chair, catch a lot of fish and knock down a few Pacificos..... Good luck!

 

[moore_rb]

Are the bigger sand bass any good to eat? And how big would they need to be to fuss with cleaning and cooking?

Spotted Bay Bass are delicious, whether fried in batter, or in fish tacos as others have mentioned, or blackened... very tasty.

Any rock bass over 10 inches will yield a taco-size fillet.

Also, I've caught small sculpin in the rocks near shore, and I've noticed that a lot of the RP fishing crowd ignores these fish and throws them back (or worse- they toss them aside and let them rot in the sun) - a HUGE mistake. Sculpin, and other varieties of rockfish that live farther offshore (like vermillion and starry rockfish) are absolutley the BEST eating fish on Earth.

I know that's a pretty big claim, but these fish have a mild, nutty flavor and flesh that cooks up as white as Grandma's best linen. The only trick is catching examples that are big enough to get any meat off of- a task that would be a lot easier if more people released the little ones alive instead of tossing them aside as "trash fish".

Just because they have poisonous spines doesn't mean they aren't worth eating.

The entire winter fishing season in California is centered around spiny lobster (another species that used to exist in RP waters, but is now long gone), and filling the freezer with poisonous rockfish. Rockfish are so important to California's fishing community that the size and bag limit laws on these fish amount to about 60 pages in the California Game and Fish policy book.

 

[HAPPY]

Spotted Bay Bass are delicious, whether fried in batter, or in fish tacos as others have mentioned, or blackened... very tasty.

Any rock bass over 10 inches will yield a taco-size fillet.

Also, I've caught small sculpin in the rocks near shore, and I've noticed that a lot of the RP fishing crowd ignores these fish and throws them back (or worse- they toss them aside and let them rot in the sun) - a HUGE mistake. Sculpin, and other varieties of rockfish that live farther offshore (like vermillion and starry rockfish) are absolutley the BEST eating fish on Earth.



Just because they have poisonous spines doesn't mean they aren't worth eating.

~ ~ ~ Rite on -Robert ! ! ! on all of the above ! ! !

```Sculpin are indeed the BEST ! ! ! ~ ~ ~ There's a spot, actually more than one spot, over @ the island, we've caught many, many, there, nice size ones too, big enough to fill 3 tortillas out of one, ~ ~ ~ I NEVER throw them back ! ! ! the spines can give you a bit of a sting though, just be carefull, ```what I did was pin them to the board with a big BBQ fork, just behind the gills, ~ ~ ~ & w/a 10" fillet knife, sharp for sure, slice off that fillet, flip over & do again, ~ ~ ~ batter & in the oil, ! ! !

 

[ckyevanjay]

i need to catch me one of these sculpin now. I see the very small ones in the tide pools after looking at pics online. I always just thought they were small rock bass. Ive never seen any bigger than my small toe lol. Will eat one the first change i get!!!