Fishing the jetties

[jackelope]

Anyone well versed in fishing the jetties for rockfish and the like? I’m hoping to give it a whirl this year. Really I’m hoping to give it a whirl with a fly rod but I’ll bring a backup spinning rod because I don’t like to not catch fish. Anyone interested in meeting up?
Westport? Not really sure. I’m going to figure it out though.

[Jake Dogfish]

Anyone well versed in fishing the jetties for rockfish and the like? I’m hoping to give it a whirl this year. Really I’m hoping to give it a whirl with a fly rod but I’ll bring a backup spinning rod because I don’t like to not catch fish. Anyone interested in meeting up?
Westport? Not really sure. I’m going to figure it out though.

The walk gets tougher about half way out.  I would think fly fishing would be really difficult with no room for backcast.  Good luck!

[dilleytech]

I have it pretty well figured out. The key is fishing when the water is moving the least, this is when the fish come out to feed. Before high slack and through high slack and also low tide. But specially high slack. Fly fishing would work well for black bass. The trick is finding them. This is easy from a boat on a nice day. Fishing from the bank can be really tough specially on the weekend cuz there’s a ton of people out there. Key when fishing that shallow is really realistic gear. Light swim baits and such. 1/4 oz - 1/2 oz. They don’t like it to fall too fast. Drifting herring works best for lingcod for me. You don’t have much time so capitalizing on the short slack tide window is key. 

[jackelope]

Thank you.

[Sliverslinger]

I’ve been wanting to try this sometime as well, just have no idea where to begin. Figure it can’t hurt to just drop a worm down with some split shot.

[Longfield1]

I’ve fished the south jetty at Westport around 10 times from a boat and usually catch a few lingcod each time also cabezon. Haven’t caught a rockfish once. I fish the sunken jetty though. The bite changes throughout the season seems to be easier at the opening and they get more picky towards the end in terms of bait. Be careful traversing the rocks to get to the point. A friend of mine got a concussion out there years ago after taking a tumble.

[trophyhunt]

Wanna try from a boat? Might have a seat this spring/summer.

[MeepDog]

I fished the south jetty a couple years ago and caught 2 lings with a keitech paddle tail. I almost walked to the end of the jetty but about halfway they change the rock size and it's hard to walk on. All the fish were up close anyways

[dilleytech]

I’ve fished the south jetty at Westport around 10 times from a boat and usually catch a few lingcod each time also cabezon. Haven’t caught a rockfish once. I fish the sunken jetty though. The bite changes throughout the season seems to be easier at the opening and they get more picky towards the end in terms of bait. Be careful traversing the rocks to get to the point. A friend of mine got a concussion out there years ago after taking a tumble.

There’s a few spots that the rock fish are always holding at along the jetty. Trick is to find the fish first then park on them with the correct lures. If you are only ever catching lings my bet is your gear is to large, the rockfish can be surprisingly picky on jetties. But I do think the sunken jetty is more of a ling thing. The rock fishing along the jetty can be shockingly good.

[jackelope]

Wanna try from a boat? Might have a seat this spring/summer.

Let me know for sure.

[jackelope]

Thanks for all the replies.

I can handle the casting restrictions with the fly rod, no problem.

I’ve read a lot about soft plastics and swim baits and such for gear fishing. My question on this topic. I see guys using these rods that look like they’re 14’ long and rated to fish great whites. Is it possible to use a steelhead/salmon type rod with some 15# test or something like that? I get the rocks are tough on gear and all that. Doesn’t look like they’re casting super far and the fish aren’t that big.
Thanks.

[Longfield1]

I’ve fished the south jetty at Westport around 10 times from a boat and usually catch a few lingcod each time also cabezon. Haven’t caught a rockfish once. I fish the sunken jetty though. The bite changes throughout the season seems to be easier at the opening and they get more picky towards the end in terms of bait. Be careful traversing the rocks to get to the point. A friend of mine got a concussion out there years ago after taking a tumble.

There’s a few spots that the rock fish are always holding at along the jetty. Trick is to find the fish first then park on them with the correct lures. If you are only ever catching lings my bet is your gear is to large, the rockfish can be surprisingly picky on jetties. But I do think the sunken jetty is more of a ling thing. The rock fishing along the jetty can be shockingly good.

Your probably right. We use 4 ounce bullet jigs with split tail soft plastics.

[Bullkllr]

My question on this topic. I see guys using these rods that look like they’re 14’ long and rated to fish great whites. Is it possible to use a steelhead/salmon type rod with some 15# test or something like that? I get the rocks are tough on gear and all that. Doesn’t look like they’re casting super far and the fish aren’t that big.
Thanks.

Yes. I'm far from a jetty expert, but have had success several times over the years and you are basically describing what we always used.
 
I see people using those actual 'surf rods' for perch and they're so overmatched it's a bit ridiculous imo. Those seem designed for much bigger game.

A bigger factor is gear that can take a beating, imo, with the VW sized rocks covered with bird crap and slime. And I don't see it mentioned much, but felt soles or better yet felt with studs really help with footing.

[dilleytech]

Thanks for all the replies.

I can handle the casting restrictions with the fly rod, no problem.

I’ve read a lot about soft plastics and swim baits and such for gear fishing. My question on this topic. I see guys using these rods that look like they’re 14’ long and rated to fish great whites. Is it possible to use a steelhead/salmon type rod with some 15# test or something like that? I get the rocks are tough on gear and all that. Doesn’t look like they’re casting super far and the fish aren’t that big.
Thanks.

Most people are using salmon gear. If you hook something you want to yrd it in though or they will likely swim into the rocks. You have the potential to hook a 15-20# lingcod. Which will likely defeat you. But that’s not the norm.

[dilleytech]

I’ve fished the south jetty at Westport around 10 times from a boat and usually catch a few lingcod each time also cabezon. Haven’t caught a rockfish once. I fish the sunken jetty though. The bite changes throughout the season seems to be easier at the opening and they get more picky towards the end in terms of bait. Be careful traversing the rocks to get to the point. A friend of mine got a concussion out there years ago after taking a tumble.

There’s a few spots that the rock fish are always holding at along the jetty. Trick is to find the fish first then park on them with the correct lures. If you are only ever catching lings my bet is your gear is to large, the rockfish can be surprisingly picky on jetties. But I do think the sunken jetty is more of a ling thing. The rock fishing along the jetty can be shockingly good.

Your probably right. We use 4 ounce bullet jigs with split tail soft plastics.

If you add a dropper loop about 3’ above and fish a small 3” swimbait, 2-3” squid or something of that sort you will catch the bass. If they are there. You will catch big 5# blacks on tiny lures.

[Parasite]

I've caught several ling cod from the south jetty using 1-2oz jigheads with pearl or olive 5" swimbaits. Cast, fall, drag along the bottom. The north jetty is dangerous by foot and better with a boat.

I've also caught black rockfish from the south jetty via boat. A boat is much easier so you can cover more ground, cast easier, use your electronics, and is safer.

I wanted to go on the opener this year but the weather was not the best so I stayed home. I would like to try a swimbait with a weedless hook, size 0 spin-n-glo, and a 1oz weight about 2 foot above the bait. Basically, trying to keep the lure slightly off the bottom to avoid all the snags in the area.

A steelhead or salmon rod will be fine. I usually use a 8' 12-20# rated rod. But I spool up with 50# braid main and 40-50# floro leader. Mostly due to the abrasion resistance and if I get snagged, I can usually pull it free. Several of my snags have actually just been hooking starfish and they hold on to the rocks surprisingly well.

[plugger]

definitely want to fish the slack tides. I have been going the last three years and done very well mainly on bass. Limited the days i fished last year. I only use a 3/8 ounce blade baits. The bass are always suspended so if you are catching lings, you are to deep. The fish generally bite within 20 foot of the rocks. Cast the blade out and real it in, no jigging needed although i will jig it back on the bottom occasionally and have caught a few lings doing that when the bass shut off.  The bite last about 30 minuets so be prepared so you are not wasting any time stringing or storing you fish.