Neah Bay Cabezons ???

[Black Plague]

Hi guys, most of my family and I are headed up to Neah Bay during the second week of August for some fish'n...we always target the sea bass and kelp greenlings and after we get or limits then we go for lings and cabezon....my question is, what baits work best for the Cabz  i have caught them on jigs and on 5 inch swimbaits on the bottom, but there has got to be a better way to target them..... would a chunk of herring be a better bet or would I just get other fish with that?.... any help would be greatly appreciated....bear in mind we probably wont go past the mushroom rock....and will probably fish around tatoosh and wada...and maybe duncan rock...and seal rock if we get the urge... thanx in advance for your help .... Brandon.

[pjb3]

Need a partner? I am intersted in going as I went a couple time and had a blast

[kenzmad]

virtually every cabezon I have caught has been using a black or purple plastic worm. The kind you use for largemouth bass. Don't forget that the wdfw changed the laws in neah bay this year.

kenzmad

[300wsm]

Try a small crab or octipus, those are some of the cabs favorite.  I have never targeted them up there but have caught a lot while fishing for lings down around strawberry rock.

[buckhorn2]

In westport we catch them good with sandshrimp.

[Rack]

Got any of that squid left your dad had we used that stuff up he gave me.
Caught a lot black cod will show you guys where in August all so a few cabs. 
300+ ft so work on those arms.

[billythekidrock]

Got any of that squid left your dad had we used that stuff up he gave me.
Caught a lot black cod will show you guys where in August all so a few cabs. 
300+ ft so work on those arms.

Black Cod (Sable Fish) in WA?
Never heard of that, but they are some great eating.

[PolarBear]

He might mean true cod.  We used to catch come nice cabazons around Tatoosh with 4" plastic grubs that I make.  I have a brown/black/orange or brown/black/chartruce pattern that works really well smeared with shrimp smelly jelly.

[rasbo]

the black bass some call black cod,the ones every bottom fishing boat seems to fish last...

[TONTO]

  I've never fished Neah Bay, but I have caught Sable Fish, black cod, in WA , we pick them up occasionly fishing butts off the Columbia 25 miles out 600ft down. Real buttery meat, but not too bad smoked.

[the shootist]

Well junior, you just worry about having evough denaro for the trip, and I'll put you on the fish. As USUAL.... I do like the info on the plastic worms  and will give them a try.  I don't have any more squid but I'll bet that the guys at neah will give me some more if I ask them. 300 feet of water sounds like a lot of crankin without an electric reel   :'(but, hey, it's only for a few days  :drool:Rack has a rod and reel combo that he purchased that looks just like mine, and I think that secretly he's trying to be just like me, but the say that immitation is the highest form of flattery SO... rack I am VERY FLATTERED!!!

[Rack]

I think the rods your talking about were for tuna but might work. Bring yours mine staying home.
Im after sea bass. And they are true cod but the locals there call them black cod dont know why.
Tell black plague its hard to target cabs. Fishing for them means you,ll catch 20 different fish and never
see one so just fish some of are rock piles and hope.

[Black Plague]

yeah, I figured as much...I do like the Idea of putting some shrimp smelly jelly on a grub though...I might have to give that a try...by the way, at Bi-mart they have 50 lb  and 65 lb braided line for 6.99  marked down from 15.00   ...I don.t know if thats too big for the rods we usually run though... i also have been thinking about bringing an ice fishing rod with a tube jig maybe 1/4 ounce to see if I can have fun with the kelp greenling....and oh boy if a sea bass takes it...haha that would be funny and a tuff fight...and have it just incase the herring are in...though I havent seen them there for a long time...remember when we used to catch like 5 to 8 at a time    ...that was fun...   

[the shootist]

Oh no you don't rack.... Bring that big reel, and the tiger rod that you have to show us what you know about these cod. Mabey you and I can hook the same fish in different boats like we did the starfish the last time! buy the way I'm still trying to get you to answer the phone so I can see the secret baits that your going to be using.

[Black Plague]

I think i am gonna try some 6 inch auger tails rigged, with a 3/4 inch head...just for fun....cuz they don't see a lot of water time and are probably jealous of my other lures...but I do have a bunch of kalins grubs in pearly blue salt and pepper that look pretty good... hey shootist, you know what we should do, ....we should build our own lure or so from stuff at the dollar store and see who can catch a fish on the most "unique" lure...i am thinking something along the lines of ninja turtles  or rubber duckies rigged with hooks...but haven't worked out the details yet.... yeah Rack you gotta bring the big fancy rod and reels so I can taste some of that cod...i dont think I have ever had any, but sounds like good eats 

[Rack]

Like the weird lure thing. Caught some on a tea spoon rig and saw some guy using 338 cases filled with lead
but think the arrow shafts cut to 4 inches, gold 2013 eastons filled with lead are better than any store lures
for jigging the kelp. But wait untill you use the new sea bass rig we used the last two years its like cheating.
No more jigs-snags-lost lures-unless your to lazy to retie often. I,ll show you them sometime late in july.

[lokidog]

I think the rods your talking about were for tuna but might work. Bring yours mine staying home.
Im after sea bass. And they are true cod but the locals there call them black cod dont know why.
Tell black plague its hard to target cabs. Fishing for them means you,ll catch 20 different fish and never
see one so just fish some of are rock piles and hope.

Have to agree with most of this, cabezon seem to be a bonus but not easily targeted.  But, what people call black cod, rock cod, black sea bass are all in the genus Sebastes which are rockfish along with blue, canary, yelloweye, china, copper, quillback, yellowtail, etc.  People down in CA call the orange ones snapper also, which they are not either.  We do have true cod but they are longer and skinnier than rockfish and have barbels on their lower lip/chin.

We also have hake (whiting) that live just above the bottom, I have seen some people call them cod as well.  If you catch the hake (sold at Wal-Mart and used to make artificial crab), they need to be fileted and put on ice immediately if you want to eat them because they have an enzyme in them that starts to break the meat down as soon as they die.  If you are trolling for salmon, you can often see a layer of hake just off the bottom on your fishfinder.  They'll hit a jig or a flasher and hoochie trolled through them.

The thing I like about bottom fishing is you might pull up just about anything.  I'd love to see your secret sea bass rig, I'd love to leave a little less lead on the bottom.

[nwhunter]

Have you guys seen the wdfw proposal to lower the bottom fish limit west of Neah Bay this year? Not sure if they approved it yet but I believe the limit was dropping to 10 black or blue bottmom fish. Good idea to lower the sporties limits but just keep on netting and dragging the bottom on the commercial boats huh nwhunter

[lokidog]

Big surprise NW, we don't contribute to the economy at all.....       If decisions are made for biological reasons, I have no problems with it, but this crap in our state of favoring commercial uses of our public resources sucks.

[Black Plague]

Like the weird lure thing. Caught some on a tea spoon rig and saw some guy using 338 cases filled with lead
but think the arrow shafts cut to 4 inches, gold 2013 eastons filled with lead are better than any store lures
for jigging the kelp. But wait untill you use the new sea bass rig we used the last two years its like cheating.
No more jigs-snags-lost lures-unless your to lazy to retie often. I,ll show you them sometime late in july.

sweet! I am getting so excited already... sad part is I keep fortgetting I have another full quarter of school before summer...    but I guess I cant complain too much...because I will also be going fishing in Florida with my father-in-law, so that should be a blast too,,,I think we are going after some snapper and anything else that bites...should be sweet!!!     I also cant wait to see the new stuff you guys were using, sounds like a real good time!!!

[the shootist]

The most unusal lure that I can recall using was a 338 bullet case that I filled with lead, and put a treble hook on. I ended up catching a kelp greenling with a 19 lb ling cod hitchhicker! Also thought about using a church key (can opener for you greenhorns) with a treble. I think that they will bite about anything though.

[Rack]

I here ya lokidog alot of names for the fish over there most of the guys over there dont know what kind of fish
they cought untill there told. You forgot one of my favorets tiger rocks. The ones im going to show shootest
are true cod long skinny slimmy with the wiskers not that much fun to catch but good eatin we have cought
lots of them on electric reels then it not so bad. Big  ones only around 15lbs not sure how big they get.
If you guys fish neah bay go straight out from the dump to the shelf. It starts about 300 ft  drop your bait
drift with outgoing tide hold your depth, need about 20 oz lead, i like squid best.

[lokidog]

  Drives me nuts when people don't really know what the heck they are pulling in.     True cod would be cool.  We have caught a few small ones 6-8 inches in our shrimp pots here in the islands.  It is nice to know there are at least some juveniles around as they were pretty much wiped out 10-20 years ago from what I hear. 

I used to fish 600 feet deep off San Diego out of my 12 1/2 foot zodiac.  Mostly just got little flounder out there though.  Lots of cranking....  Do you go after halibut out there at all?

If you ever want another person to share gas costs, give me a call.  It is a little far for me to drag my boat over there.  I may bring my Trophy down to the Rochester area this summer and leave it for Westport fishing though.

[PolarBear]

Rack, right off of the dump use to be a good halbiut hole as well.

[the shootist]

I've herd of guys catching skates off the garbage dump area but never halibut. That would definatly be a bonus, but the season will probobly be closed in Aug. I know that the guides like to find a flat area that has a hump on it for halibut but I did once see a guy being towed out into the ocean by a big fish he had hooked on the garbege dump area. I never saw him making any headway with the fish either. After about 30 minutes of glancing over my shoulder while he faded off into the horizon I figured he wasn't smart enough to get the point, and wished him farewell    

[Rack]

PolarBear;   There is a rocky hole just west of the dump  270ft drops to about 355 then comes back up
used to be top secret the guys who new it   (charter guys) only fished it at night so nobody would find it
we all thought they were going out. turns out it was right there at the dump area and they were catching
huge lings i saw about 20 in a two week period between 40 to 56 lbs. It was about a  50/50 with halibit
only 50 to 60 lbs never saw any real big ones. He showed me some pics of a ling  he said was over 60.
we have caught a few fish in there but it got fished out . ya still see a few boats sitting out on it but they dont
catch them there like that anymore. allthough we still fish it. just because someday maybe.
for us the best halibit have been out on the fingers. Still good out there.

[PolarBear]

I haven't fished Neah bay in at least 10 years.  That has to be the same spot that I am talking about.  I pulled an 85 lb halibut out of it and several lings in the mid-upper 20s.  Most of the butts were in the 30s which are (IMO) the best eating.  The last time we fished there I was in my 18' flat bottom work boat West of Tatoosh and had to turn back when the tide turned, wind picked up and we were surfing on 16 foot swells.  It was a fun trip back in to Neah Bay.  Caught some nice fish though.

[let.it.fly]

i have never fished out there.  if anyne wants help with gas i would be happy to put in.

[rougheye]

PolarBear;   There is a rocky hole just west of the dump  270ft drops to about 355 then comes back up
used to be top secret the guys who new it   (charter guys) only fished it at night so nobody would find it
we all thought they were going out. turns out it was right there at the dump area and they were catching
huge lings i saw about 20 in a two week period between 40 to 56 lbs. It was about a  50/50 with halibit
only 50 to 60 lbs never saw any real big ones. He showed me some pics of a ling  he said was over 60.
we have caught a few fish in there but it got fished out . ya still see a few boats sitting out on it but they dont
catch them there like that anymore. allthough we still fish it. just because someday maybe.
for us the best halibit have been out on the fingers. Still good out there.

keep trying it . Halibut migrate in every year so you cant really fish it out for good . They will come back 

[the shootist]

when does the halibut season end out there anyway? are they still using the quota system?

[lokidog]

It probably ends the day before it started, knowing our state.   

Regs from last year (2009) state "May 15 - quota, open Tues., Thur, and Sat. ONLY, season may close earlier [than when??] if quota is attained.  If sufficient quota remains, then will reopen on June 19 and 21... " 

[the shootist]

yeah i figured that I'd miss out on the butts, however mabey the silvers will be in, and we will be able to boat a few along with the sea bass, and other bottomfish.