Deep Sea Fishing: Bottom Fishing

Learn why the easiest way to start deep sea fishing is by bottom fishing for rockfish

Deep sea fishing may sound intimidating, between the early morning call times (i.e. 5 or 6am) and heavy duty rods/gear.

However, the easiest way to try out (and fall in love with) deep sea fishing is to go bottom fishing for rockfish.

Bottom fishing off of Dana Point for sculpin was the entry point fo us to discover deep sea fishing in California – we were hooked after just one Scuplin trip!

Why? Let me step back first to explain the main three deep sea fishing techniques.

Types of “Deep Sea Fishing” or fishing trips through landings

1. Bottom Fishing for Rockfish – Bottom fishing is exactly what it sounds. You drop your line all the way to the bottom – it can be as shallow as 150ft, but more likely 250-350ft. Typically, the captain of the boat will look for structure (meaning rocks where fish will likely congregate, hide and feed) and fish activity. Once the anchor goes down, he’ll announce how many feet down it is, and what type of bait to use. Usually it’s cut up squid. Depending on the fish that you’re going for, you may also end up using jigs (i.e. artificial baits) to attract certain species.
2. Fly-Lining – I consider Fly-Lining to be much more difficult. A party boat typically stops at the bait barge in the harbor to load up on live bait, such as small sardines or mackerel. Fly-lining is the technique of hooking this live bait in a way that the fish bait is still alive and freely swims once you drop or cast it out. You want the liveliest bait that happens to swim away from the boat
3. Surface-Jigging – Surface jigging is probably the most difficult and technical of all. Essentially you are casting out artificial irons on the surface of the water and reeling it back in a way that mimics live bait. It requires a considerable amount of research in understanding what types of fish like what kind of looking bait, whether color, size, depth of water, etc. It also requires a huge amount of investment in terms of buying all different types of surface irons, including different colors for different times of day! However once you master the finesse of surface jigging, you can essentially fish anything in any condition.

As you can see, this is why bottom fishing is the easiest! You hook up some bait. Drop it all the way to the bottom. And then wait for the fish to bite! Of course, it will take practice to truly “feel” what would be a hookable bite vs a nibble vs even just the current.

Bottom Fishing for Rockfish 101

Rockfish refers broadly to the types of fish that lives among rocks at the bottom of the ocean. There are many different types – some are better eating than others!

• 

• 

• 

Most common types of rockfish caught:

• Vermillion Rockfish – In Southern California, the most commonly targeted rockfish is also one of the tastiest – Vermillion Reds. Those caught range from baby to rather large. They get to be humongous when caught in Central California, where waters contain a lot more structure and can be more protected and less overfished. These fish are commonly found at the supermarket. When caught, they typically do not fight and can be rather easily reeled up.
• Brown Rockfish – In Southern California, the Brown Rockfish caught typically doesn’t get very big. However, I’m always excited when I reel these up because they are my favorite to eat! The smaller the fish, the more tender and delicate. Other similar rockfish include Canary Rockfish, Starry Rockfish and Copper Rockfish, but they are less common in SoCal waters than Vermillion and Brown.

• 

• 

• 

• Boccacio Rockfish – These fish are fun to reel up because they are comparatively huge in Southern California waters, and give you a chance at jackpot. However, they are the least delicious out of all of the fish. They typically can be found 3 to 15 cranks or so above the bottom.

• Scuplin – Be careful reeling these up! The fins are poisonous and extremely painful for hours. These fish are rather ugly, but are perfect in fish tacos. They live in the rocks and often will try to run back into their rock home. This can cause some momentary confusion as to whether you actually hooked a fish, or if you in fact got stuck on some rock. Just keep reeling it in! If you don’t, and the line goes slack, the fish can end up unhooking itself. I still think about this ginormous mystery rockfish that I lost due to doubting myself.
• Lingcod – This is now one of my favorite fish to catch and eat, since the meat is so delicate, tender and tasty. They have a vicious bite and are perhaps the most prized sportfish out of the rockfishing category! Often known as “Lings.” Some perceive them as ugly, but others see the beauty in their multi-colored variants.

• Ocean Whitefish – This fish is often found in the same structures as vermillions, and are often in schools. We often cook this fish in fish soup as it has a flaky white texture that holds together well but isn’t quite as tasty as vermillions or brown rockfish.
• Sheepshead – Sheepshead are really delicious, and often prefer shrimp as bait but may also get caught on squid. They are particularly desirable sportfish and are fun to reel up as well! Black and red, they often are rather large fish in deep SoCal waters.

Best bets for bait:

• Squid – Strips of squid are hardy and effective! Scuplin like squid heads more, whereas Vermillion, brown, canary and copper rockfish do just fine on squid strips.
• Plastic swimbaits – If you don’t have squid, a good alternative would be to try a variety of plastic swimbaits for sculpin. Even better if you add a little scent with a piece of squid on the hook!
• Live sardines – While squid are preferred by vermillion reds and other similar rockfish, sardines are preferred by fish like bocaccio. At the end of the day, fish mostly prefer to eat bait fish that swims, smells and tastes like food!

Please always check the latest regulations as to how many fish, and of which variety, may be kept! In our opinion, bottom fishing for rockfish on a party boat is the most fun and easiest way to get into deep sea fishing. It’s a relatively small learning curve since it’s just dropping to the bottom, the fish are eager to bite once the captain finds the structure, and the fish are delicious to eat!