Phil and I were asked the other day in an e-mail about fishing tackle that we use to catch rockfish. I know that there are a million different answers to this question, but I tried to break it down into categories. The reason I am posting this is to get everyones feedback, as well as potentially helping others that are looking to purchase equipment. Please give me your opinions, I think that this could be a good discussion that we all could learn from.

Here was my reply:

Equipment is a very personal thing, and some serious thought needs to be done before purchase, or you are going to end up buying several different types and waste a good bit of money. Here are my thoughts that may help with your decision:

1. Rockfishing is not as demanding as offshore, even with big fish, they do not make long runs and tire easily, therefore your equipment does not need to be the highest quality in order to be effective, but high enough quality to last season after season. In other words you are not going to get out of this cheap....

2. Bigger reels with lower gearing are nice for cranking in MOJO's, Umbrella Rigs, and Stretches, but do not give the best fight with the fish. If you are just meat fishing, you don't need to worry with this, but if you would like to "feel" the fight more, you will need to go with lighter tackle that can still stand up to the types of lures that you are fishing with.

3. Rods need to have a soft tip, and a strong backbone. Nothing spoils a fight worse than a big broomstick that has no action in it. Also, I believe that a rod that has no action gives the fish more of a chance to "shake" a lure as there is no "give" to the rod.

4. Line needs to be "low" to "no" stretch. I personally think that 60 - 80 lbd power pro is the ideal type of line to use rockfishing. It has a smaller diameter, therefore it gets down deeper, and is very strong. It is not the easiest to tie or cut, but the benefits are well worth this extra effort. Due to using this type of line, it makes it that much more important to use a rod with a soft tip, so the fish cannot "bounce" or "shake" itself off.

Taking all these aspects into consideration, the best case scenario for me personally would be to have a set of 6 rods that I use strictly for rockfishing. I would choose 6 Penn senator 4/0 reels, loaded with 80 pound power pro matched to 6- 6 to 7' quality 30-50lbd. fiberglass rods with ring guides and medium action. This gives you the versatility to have a reel with enough backbone to reel in the heavy gear, while allowing you to feel the fight.

Phil and I always have 2-4 lighter 20lbd class spinning gear on board in case the rockfish come up on top and we can then throw bucktails to them, this is a blast, and you can also fish eels with these rigs as well.

I would keep my offshore rods and reels separate from my rockfishing gear.

Best thing to do is to go to Long Bay Point, Oceans East, or Princess Ann Distributing, and pick up several rods and put different reels on them and see what you like.

Just make sure that you are completely satisfied with your choice before you purchase. Nothing worse than buying something that will "just get you by for the season". Phil and I have done that for years and we now have a ton of half a$$ed stuff in different states of repair, and if we had got quality the first time, we would have spent less money and still be fishing with it.

-Mike

Good stuff MIke....Can I take you shopping ?.......Thanks for that info...Bob

Ugly Stiks and Penn Special Senators are tuff to beat for reliability and the $. This set up will also be a good start for offshore.

Todd

G&H mojos and sea witches will catch anything that swims inshore and offshore !

Bob, if you take me shopping, it is nothing but Gold Reels and Super Seekers for you!!! (your bank account will never be the same again....)

Hey Todd, what kind of rigs do you use for Rockfish? I would think that you would have a pretty good handle on what works and what doesn't as much striper fishing as you do. Do you think it is better to stick with all the same rigs? or would it be better to mix it up with bigger stuff on the Mojo's and umbrellas, and lighter stuff on the parachutes and stretch's?

6ft mh ugly sticks 4/0 sennators 40lb mono 80lb leaders
all tandem rigs white on oneside chart on the other
20oz -short
160z-med
8oz-longs
1oz trailers on all
I would like to see you guys do some 4oz & 8 oz and adapt your sea witches with fixed split rings for trailers. your skirts are the best period !
The way you do the split ring to a replaceable hook is the only way to go and they are hard to find.
I would also like to see pink
Keep up the great job you guys do

Phil & Mike,

Great Post & Great Info. The following is my preference!!!

You can't beat a Penn Senator. Buy it once and keep it for life!!! We carry a combo of 4/0's & 6/0's. I keep 330 GTI's as well. For dropping eels we also include some Penn 750's to change it up a bit all powered with Power Pro.

As for the rigs. G&H mojos!!!! Don't leave home without them. Every weight possible to cover the "Entire" water colum. Got to carry both White & Chart, even keep a "Purple" headed one down deep.

As for the umbrella rigs, I like to add a Mojo or sometimes a large swim shad 7"-9" as a stinger. Weight varies at what depth the fish are at.

As for Daisey Chains, in my opinion Mark Carstens makes the best. They don't wear out and can take a beating.

As for light tackle....Penn 550's comboed up with 7' Ugly Sticks M-H are the ticket. Some folks don't like Power Pro so I like to keep the light tackle mixed up. Some with Mono and the rest with 30lb PP. The mono is nothing less than 17lbs. We use Windcheaters, Swim Shads and Buck Tails. Variety of colors.

While we are live baiting, I like to use the 750's with a 7' Penn rod. Don't use anything else except Power Pro here!!!

Great post!!!! Hope this helps everyone.

See you all on the water & "Good Luck to everyone this "Rock Fish Season".

Capt. Scott

I'll post a few pics of gear in action!!!

NOTE:
this IS NOT the proper way to store your rockfishing equipment



Countdown to the Frostbite Continues!!!!

I still remember clearly after reading FROSTBITE reports, WTF! How do you prep for day two? Can't wait to get after them, just need the wind to lay down. Great job working up equipment wish list adding that we mostly use Tekota 600's/700's 5'6" and 6'6" 17-30# rods with 25-40# mono for eeling and light trolling. Once in a while we will pull out a TG50WII for the heavy troll hoping for a double on 40# fish, so far just fish under 30".

Todd, I like the idea of the 4-8 oz....we will have to check into getting a different mold. If we do get one, you (and Bob, he is the official tester) will be the first to try em!!! What is up with the pink??? Have you had success with this color for Rockfish?? Head or skirt???

Yes. All ...skirt head & shad. Love the tinsel in all of your skirts.
Todd

what I started with offshore + 4 6/0 and still using Ugly sticks for rock fish after 4 years even got an big eye to boat with one they seem to work well in the bay and now I use them for bottom fishing offshore not the best for that but my rods have to multi task thats just me I like an Ugly Stick good info G&H

Buddy

Hey Buddy where have you been hiding ? We got to fish together soon.
Todd

sounds good
been here just not able to fish offshore much this summer looking for that thing called a job in Feb. after 20 years with out one tends to put a kink in fishing hope to be able to get up their and do some rock fishing tho need to try and get up their for the next meet and greet
Buddy

well, just put in an order to g n h lures. cant wait to get em. thanks for the advice. ill post pics of the hogs i have yet to catch later

Here are a few of the items that I have used that catch fish.

1. The umbrella rig - if you don't have one you are missing out they catch a bunch of fish but you need a rod that can hold the weight of this rig. (Photo below)

2. The parachute rig - it is a smaller 4oz weight along with a heavy mojo that will work on a three way.

3. A tomic - I always have one and have changed my hooks out to a large J or a circle to increase hook ups. I always put one on the top and let it swim. If I haven't been catching much I will drop it down about 20ft and see what happens.

4. The stretch - your standard stretch 25 or 30.

5. A daisey chain - I use this to create some commotion throught the water. It consists of small bucktails usually five to six and then use a mojo at the bottom to keep it up and down. (Photo Below)

6. Small casting lures that I use around the rocks - I have my own that I use and are very similiar to the wind cheater but they will produce and it minimizes the hang ups over a bucktail around the rocks. (Photo below)

If you need something let me know I have the daisey chains, umbrella rigs and the casting lures. For Mojos I would not use anything other than a G&H mojo they track true and will not go from side to side. If you have a question PM me and I will get back to you.

VooDoo

that is NUTS

Cheryl's pic may be nuts but it was 8 degrees out on that particular morning and a lot of folks had that little icing problem. What I thought was nuts was the number of boats out fishing that WEREN'T in the tournament! Iced tackle, iced decks, iced ramps, folks falling in, malfunctioning bilge pumps, very cold fish....... It was a Challenge to remember! That said, I am hoping for temps in the 50's this year!

I just made a purchase from G&H for two of their 16oz Mojos,, just so you guys know how they operate,, my order took a week so for the delay they added a 28oz Mojo for free.. Talk about a happy customer.. I'm new to striper trolling this year and have never used these Mojos,, do you just slow troll them and let them bounce off the bottom or troll with a little speed to keep them off the bottom.. Thanks for any advise,, this site is great..

Use the mojo's in short- drop them down fast until they hit, then give your reel a couple of cranks to get them off the bottom. Troll along a uniform depth or give the rods plenty of attention to keep them near the bottom. If the depth is changing, adjust the mojos depth. Also keep an eye on your rod tip- if you pick up some weeds (and you will at times) you can tell by the change of action at the tip. I run 2 mojo's on either side of my OB, umbrella rigs or daisy chains further back off the corners and a couple of stretches long on either side. That's about all I can fit on my 21 CC. And that is for after it gets colder, normally. Early season I will troll along the CBBT pilings with Storms letting the tide carry them in close. If you don't snag a piling occasionally, you aren't close enough. I also like to toss a jig with a 10" Gulp eel to the individual pilings as I troll by. There are tons of ways to do this and some days they all work and somedays very little will. I just started with the mojo's and heavier trolling stuff last year so some folks will surely have another opinion and may even say I am dead wrong but we caught some nice fish last year, including during the Frostbite Challenge and they were hard to come by, I don't care who you are! The only thing we wern't hoping for that weekend was more ice! Good luck and enjoy the Rock you are sure to catch!

Kevin hit it about right adjust as you go and don't let them drag the bottom. Once you find the right depth where the fish are hanging then you can adjust accordingly.

Just remember a striper will hit just about anything when they are feeding. You could troll a trash can and they would get in it somedays.

Just switch things up if it's not working and use some umbrella rigs they will catch the fish when nothing else will. Good luck let me know if you need anything else.

VooDoo

G&H is 100% across the board. Their mojo's are second to none. Their Seawitches catch everything. And most important the customer service is "Is a model for all".

If you want a daisy chain that lasts. Mark Carsten's is the best around.

Capt. Scott

And for the pics of those ice rods!!! I think I have seen those before.

Mark- do you run hooks in everything on your umbrella rigs or do you run 'naked' teasers? Just wondering- I like hooks in all but a lot of the pre- rigged stuff come with teasers.

pretty sure i saw hooks on all the teasers on mark's umbrella. im going to put hooks on just the corners this year and see what happens. wayne from boaters world told me about that trick first and now i see mark does it, enough said. im sold. just one more way to stick em when everyone else is twiddling their thumbs.

I use hooks in everything. But on the inside part of the frame I run a smaller hook than on the outside. I have some newer photos of some I did recently that I will post up tonight. The photo I posted last time is one that I made up on short notice. If you want I can bring some to the meet and greet next week.


Let me know

VooDoo

I'm with Mark. If it is in the water, put a hook in it.... I have used teasers in the past and it just makes me mad when I see one that comes up with marks all over it or pulled in half.

Here are the new umbrellas. Racedad these are yours that you should get this week.

I am also going to do the Chartreuse with glitter and one with the Electric Chicken shad. Stay tuned for that one. Call me if you want to order one before the ocean season starts.

VooDoo

The "Electric Chicken" should be an awesome color for an umbrella! A touch of pink on Chartruse....

How the pink n tinsel mojos coming ?
Todd

Don't worry Todd.... you got one in the works.... I can't make em to sell yet, I still need to catch fish on one before I am sold on that color!! HA!!!

-Mike

Thanks put it on the smallest mojo you have less than 20oz would be great with your pink seawitch as the tandem. Ill test it for ya. Good luck this weekend !
Todd