Kelp Greenling/Cabezon

[fish_4_all]

I have tried a lot of different artificial baits for Kelp Green ling and unless I added scent or it had scent in it I couldn't even get a nibble.

Is there a lure, jig or anything that they will hit that doesn't have a scent to it?

I also want to catch some Cabezon but have never had much luck doing so. Anyone have a favorite bait for them? Is there a specific location like rocks, docks, or other structure that they prefer that I just haven't tried yet? I have gotten small ones but I want one of those monsters I see that they catch in the Puget sound and in the straight all the time.

 

[osmosis]

lead, and steel jigs dont need to be scented and I've caught them on both.
also all kinds of rubber curly tail jigs work great.

I catch most of my cabezon right in the rocks at about 100'.

my favorite easy rig from bottom up toward rod: bank style sinker on a loop, at the bottom. above the sinker about 8-10" tie a 2-3" dropper loop. attach a 4/0 hook to the first dropper loop, that hook is where you put some squid, or chunk of fish. a 1"x1" piece of squid is all you need.
12" above that tie another dropper loop and attach a shrimp fly, or curly tail rubber jig, and do a second jig or shrimp fly another 18" or so up - so a total of 3 hooks on dropper loops, with your lead at the bottom.

When you find the fish, I'm not kidding you can get triples on one rod.

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

Huh, what about septuplit hookups. A triple on the bottom hook, and doubles up above. Haha that would be outta control. A 100 pound haul! But yeah squid is a really effective rock fish bait, and the ugly curly tails have that tendency to kill Cabbies.

 

[fish_4_all]

Well my uncle has the record that I have seen. 4 keepers on one hook. Kelp green ling first, sea bass next, green ling next then a ling cod. All 4 of them went home for dinner.

I guess there just may not be any bigger ones here then. Cabezon rnage here from 4-10 inches and I have not seen many much larger than that and nothing over 1/2 pound or so. I guess the water is too shallow or just the wrong area. Ling cod on the other hand get huge but Cabezon not so much.

I will have to try squid though and see what happens on the larger jetty. Tried it on the small jetties and didn't get anything to hit it. Kelp green ling on steel and lead jigs huh, never seen that here. There again, shallow water might be the reason.

 

[1aB]

HI has a cabezon ringer called the po'opa'a(po-oh-pah-ah)(pictured) which common size is 10" or under with the record being a pound & three quarters. They wil bite friggin' anything in their ambush zone and are a nuisance when jigging rocky areas for more desireable species. Think your larger deep water species might be separate from the nearshore variety.

 

[ol tymer]

cabezone bait

cabezone bait

I have had real good success rock fishing for greenling and cabezone using blood worms, mussels, and shrimp. Cabezone up to 3 pounds. A great eating fish. Ol Tymer

 

[fish_4_all]

Awesome eating fish for sure. That's why I want to catch bigger ones! Cleaning 4-5 smaller ones is a pain in the knuckles and fingers.

 

[1aB]

Try clipping the sharp fin spines & gill plate spikes with wire cutters.

 

[fish_4_all]

Never tried that, it would be too easy.

WIll have ot give that a try because I have used it for dogfish before to remove their little saber.

 

[osmosis]

theres a process a lot quicker than clipping every spine.
one word: gloves.

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

Yes, the only gloves to wear for that, is Medieval chain-mail glove/gauntlets! And you have to fillet you catch with a mace!

 

[Hawk]

If u can find them use PileWorms for bait. They live in sandy saltwater sloughs..........................................................hohohoho

 

[Dichrofisher]

Netarts bay isn't any good right now for crabs but it was a fun drive. Newport jetty produced for me a couple nice kelp greenling and a cabezon that fillet maybe 1.5 lbs. The bite was on right after low tide turned but when I ran out of sandshrimp I had to go. An old timer next to me was catching surf perch and quite a few. I think I am done with those damn sand shrimp, the fish love em, but after 3 dozen the cost of fish starts to rival market prices! Does anyone know where to get pile worms? I guess I will learn to harvest them or mussels. Maybe I'll try injecting rubber baits with shrimp oil....:think:

 

[mruglystick]

Try a gummy worm white and red, atleast it did ok last summer out of charelston_south but I dont know now

 

[joeyota]

Netarts bay isn't any good right now for crabs but it was a fun drive. Newport jetty produced for me a couple nice kelp greenling and a cabezon that fillet maybe 1.5 lbs. The bite was on right after low tide turned but when I ran out of sandshrimp I had to go. An old timer next to me was catching surf perch and quite a few. I think I am done with those damn sand shrimp, the fish love em, but after 3 dozen the cost of fish starts to rival market prices! Does anyone know where to get pile worms? I guess I will learn to harvest them or mussels. Maybe I'll try injecting rubber baits with shrimp oil....:think:

I am not sure if they are plentiful in new port. When I used to fish Winchester and Florence I would harvest my own sand shrimp at low tide. Real easy and fun to do also. I made one of those 4 inch pipe shrimp getter's. Just push it down 2-3ft into the sand and pull the sand out with the tube and start grabbing them out of the hole as it fills with water! I would get 2or 3 per hole.

 

[fish_4_all]

I haven't bought sandf shrimp in 15 or so years for ocean fishing. I go through a good 10-15 dozen every time I fish out there so cost would be rediculous.

 

[Dichrofisher]

Thanks for the sand shrimp info guys. I love this site!:dance::yay::yay:.............:yay:

 

[1aB]

In HI, those little scuttlers are called sand turtles, & we catch em by staking some stinky flesh like a whole small squid at the upper edge of a GENTLE wave wash. Those critters have a keen sense of smell and will rather quickly be drawn to the bait. We used small mesh nets to dip em. They seem to like burying under the bait too. Over here they are mostly nocturnal feeders, & we used to catch em at dusk for the next day. Hope this isn't irrelevant in OR.

By the way, over here anything that bites sand turtles will also bite squid strips which are way easier.

 

[Dichrofisher]

In HI, those little scuttlers are called sand turtles, & we catch em by staking some stinky flesh like a whole small squid at the upper edge of a GENTLE wave wash. Those critters have a keen sense of smell and will rather quickly be drawn to the bait. We used small mesh nets to dip em. They seem to like burying under the bait too. Over here they are mostly nocturnal feeders, & we used to catch em at dusk for the next day. Hope this isn't irrelevant in OR.

By the way, over here anything that bites sand turtles will also bite squid strips which are way easier.

I need try the squid strips, thanks! Now where can I catch some squid? I did see some frozen ones at the marina.

 

[1aB]

Frozen 1, 3, or 5 lb. boxes offer huge bang for the buck. The 1 lb. box will have about 8 small squid - the heads good for lunker baits and the bodies cut into narrow tapered to a point strip baits. I like to skin the bodies, pre-cut and freeze in baggies or small containers(like yogurt) for convenience. Guts are good for chum. Squid strips have a strong scent attraction & the strips have a very enticing action in the water. They have good holding power on the hook. I use circle hooks with the strips triple poked & a long "tail" dangling. In another inland state this is our "secret Hawaiian bait" which works particularly well for catfish. My grandsons also caught their best trout & walleye on em. I personally don't use em cause it makes fishing too dang EZ, plus a swallowed bait makes C&R difficult.