Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3808 Mar 29- Apr 12 2019 | Page 9

Mar 29 - Apr 12, 2019 VOL.38 • ISS. 8 7 Spotlight On Kayak Fishing... Sponsered by Kayak City in Citrus Heights, CA Kayak City.Com 916.565.1400 April Is Rockfish Time For Kayakers! Are You Ready? By Kevin Hofer April is just an amazing time of year for fishing, bass are starting to get active, the trout opener in the Eastern Sierra kicks off toward the end of the month and the ocean rockfish season opens. I’m really looking forward to rockfish season this year. Naoaki was fishing off the Sonoma Coast from his Hobie kayak when he successfully battled this impressive Lingcod and their rockfish buddies have had four vermilion rockfish.’ months to spawn, rest and have a few peaceful hook-free Photo by KEVIN HOFER, Kayak City. meals, but soon that’s going to change. My reels have new 60-pound braid, a spool of 40 tricks to put more fish in the kayak. pound Maxima monofilament is on standby for tying leaders and my kayak is The first one I discovered when I was out of flies but noticed my bass box itching to get salty! sitting out while I was tying leaders. I thought, “Hmmm those 4” tube jigs With the regulations changing this season to allow only one lingcod per might work?” angler, catching more rockfish will be vital to those of us out fishing for food. Squirt a little squid Pro-Cure into the hollow body and they light the rockfish So, begins the focus of this article. How can I catch more rockfish? up! After the tubes, I tried all sorts of different things like Senkos, skirts from Well let’s start at the bottom and work our way up. When I am specifically spinner-baits and just targeting rockfish, I put the swimbaits away and reach for one of two things, about anything else either a Branson Baits Mini Slug with a 3-4 oz. leadhead, or a 3-4 oz. P-Line I had laying around. Laser Minnow. Using a duo-lock Surprisingly almost everything caught snap I clip on the fish. lure of choice The two things to the bottom of that surprised me my leader and the most and have then 15-20 inches become standards above the lure in my box are 3” I tie a dropper smelt pattern Gulp loop to attach a Minnows, and a teaser. Warning red hook with some the dropper loop holographic tape on weakens your the shank. The hook leader and will and holo tape was a be the weak point real shocker! in your rig. Use What the fish want a 3-way swivel Canary rockfish can now be included in your rockfish limit. can change on a and separate Kevin Hofer caught this fat fish during an outing last year. day to day basis, so dropper leader if Photo by KEVIN HOFER, Kayak City. when I go out I like hunting big fish to to bring a variety of eliminate some of different color Slugs that weakness. and jigs as well as What teaser to choose? There are so many different options that I don’t an assortment of have room to list them all, but will tell you about my favorites. I don’t really different teasers. like dealing with bait, but squid or a small baitfish on the tip of any of the Unlike their Here we see author Kevin Hofer with a huge haul of north following will help increase catch rates. coast bottomfish including lingcod, rockfish and cabezon. sporadic feeding For a long time, I used the industry standard red and yellow shrimp fly, but habits, the rockfish’s That’s a lot of great eating! I’ve been experimenting the last few years and have found some cool new Photo by KEVIN HOFER, Kayak City. choice of shelter seems to be a bit more consistent. If you have a fish finder look for drop-offs and pinnacles, or better yet a big school of fish. Many of the species run in large schools. If you don’t have a fish finder start working the edges of the kelp, it grows on rocks. Often times one of my favorites, the Gopher Rockfish will be hiding deep in the bull kelp and you need to fish within a foot or less of the kelp to get hit. Having a hands free instant reverse pedal drive makes this type of fishing possible because it allows me to control the kayak against current and wind. Most important is being able to back away from kelp when hooked up with a scrapper before the fish can wrap my gear. The season will be here before we know it, so start looking through that tackle you no longer use and give it a try. You may be surprised. I can’t wait to get back out there in search of some rockfish and try out some new approaches this season. Craig Davis doubled up on vermilions while working jigs off the Norcal coast. Photo by KEVIN HOFER, Kayak City.