Newport Bay fishing!

[Ruger181]

Hello! I’ve been trying to get into costal fishing for some time now and I’ve gave It a couple of go’s the last few times I’ve gone crabbing and I was wondering if anyone has some tips for a more successful trip.

I have a 14ft alumacraft that I do most of my crabbing off of and I usually stick to the bay. This last trip I took went out and crossed the bar and dropped a couple of lines in the water but didn’t stay to long out there. Mostly want to do bottom fishing!
Thank y’all!

 

[slabjig]

South side (bay side) of the North Jetty, hump to near the tip. On a really flat day (talking about swell less than 4 feet and no wind, tip of the south jetty and the outside from the tip along the jetty for the first 25 yds. Small(ish) jigs around 1/2-3//4 oz, with curl tail grub or swim bait, white, minnow silver, motor oil work well. You don't want to fish the bottom (except for ling cod), you want to cast to the jetty and work your lure down the face of the rocks. Black rockfish are semi-pelagic, i.e. don't live on the bottom all the time but are usually up in the water column. If you have trouble locating fish, and have an electric trolling motor, troll a swimbait slowly along the jetty until you get a hit, then work that area because rockfish are schooling fish, where there is one, there are more. For ling cod, that hole at the tip of the south jetty is a winner, use something bigger for them...metal jig or a big curltail or stickbait like a sluggo on a 2 plus oz jighead. For a different look, try a 2 inch camo gulp sandworm on a appropriately small jighead...those are supposedly surf perch baits, but I've found that at times black rockfish go nuts over them, and because they are scented, they actually hold on to them for a bit. Spawning sandworm epitokes are a nighttime thing, and I'm sure rockfish take advantage of this bounty, a stray epitoke in the daytime is a bonus for them