Fishing

The moratorium on rock cod wasn't all that bad. Besides giving the rockfish a breather it uncovered two new fishing adventures that previous to the closure weren't done. Last year in an effort to find something to replace the rock cod, skippers uncovered the halibut fishing technique of drifting with 50 anglers aboard. These sportboat skippers probably realized that they could fish in the same areas that the deposed gill-netters used to rape at this time of year. They experimented and found boundless numbers of butts for their patrons and saved the day for the landings up and down the coast.

The other adventure wasn't new but it wasn¹t very high on the fishing priority. This is the attack on the sanddabs. Many landings are now running sportboats to the sanddab grounds 2 or 3 times a week. They have built up a dedicated bunch of anglers that wouldn¹t miss a weekly trip for any reason. Sanddabs are delicious eating and there is no bag limit on them. You can take all the dabs you can carry. It is not unusual for a single angler to catch over one hundred fish in one single trip.

Gear used:

Reels:
Penn Senator 113 4/0 or 114
Shimano TLD 30II 2 speed

Rods:
Pak Hawk Ocean Striker Rock Cod OH6-6616RC.
Seeker Classic RS/RT Tuna Rod.

Line:
Power Pro Spectra 50 or 80 pound test

Sanddabs are small flatfish in the same family as the halibut. There are two species in the Southern California area. The bigger of the two is the pacific sanddab and it can reach a length of 16 inches. (I have never seen one larger than 12 inches). The other is called a speckled sanddab that rarely gets over 6 inches long. They live on sandy bottoms from 150 feet to over 450 depths but they are thicker than fly maggots on a deer carcass at 300 feet in some areas of our drop-off. Usually they range about 3 fish to a pound. Cleaning them is simple. You scale them and cut off the head with a diagonal stroke from the top of the head across the gut. This removes all traces of the innards and its ready to fry. Some anglers prefer very small dabs so they can be chewed on, bones and all. The bigger the dab the larger the bones and for this reason I like to catch big ones and filet the bones out. It can be done patiently with a skinny filleting knife. If the filet is paper thin, roll it up and pin it together with a toothpick, and fry it. When you eat it, hold it by the toothpick like you would with your favorite Hours de Oeuvres.

Fishing for these critters doesn’t take a lot of talent, it takes muscle! Since they are way down there, the wind-up can be tough. Sportboats usually drift across the dab areas placing all the anglers on one side of the boat where the tangles become unmerciful. On a filled out sportboat you can plan on being tangled almost every time you wind up. So actually you organize your tackle to keep the tangles to a minimum. I have found that by using a very heavy sinker, larger than what the guys next to me are using, helps to cut down on the tangles. In dab fishing it¹s imperative that the sinker drags the bottom. If your sinker is heavier than the surrounding anglers it will be closer to you while theirs will be down stream and over the top of your sinker.

There are no restrictions on the number of hooks you can deploy. If you have the muscle tie on 10 or more. I use no more then 4 hooks, size 6/0. Only the larger dabs are supposed to get on the larger hooks but if you leave the bait down there long enough they never miss getting themselves hooked no matter how big the hooks are, even without bait on the hooks.

I recommend using the old Penn Senator series. They have 2 1/4 to 1 gear ratios and allow you to lift easier than the newer 4-1 ratio reels. The Penn Senator 113 4/0 or the 114 are power lifters that suffice for any deep-water applications. Personally, I use a reel that I can do both with. I can wind quickly with a 4-1 gear ratio or push a lever to convert it to a 2-1 ratio. It¹s more expensive but it worth it to me to be able to yo-yo a reef for Mexican yellowtail with the 4-1 speed or lift large groupers out of their caves with the 2-1 ratio. My reel is a Shimano TLD 30II. I use 300 yards of Power Pro Spectra line wound on over half a spool of regular 50 LB mono. With 50 LB Spectra being as skinny as 12-pound mono, much of the water drag on the line is reduced. But best of all Spectra doesn¹t stretch like mono. Also Spectra is so skinny 300 yards of it will top off a 4/0 that's half filled with 50 pound mono. I tie on about 30 feet of 50 LB mono to the end of the Spectra, knotting it with the Albright Knot. I think this knot is best for the junction since the Spectra line is so smooth and very, very slick. This 30-foot leader protects the Spectra from bottom nicks or cuts.

Rods should be short and stout, preferably with roller guides. Roller guides are best because they reduce the friction on the Spectra line and reduce the possibility of the Spectra grooving the guides. A short rod also gives you better leverage when you crank the sinker up with a load of fish. I like a multipurpose rod to use with my 2 speed, which would be for fishing the depths for dabs or slowing down a billfish. There are many inexpensive rods on the market. You might try the Pak Hawk Ocean Striker Rock Cod OH6-6616RC. For my personal use I use a Seeker Classic RS/RT Tuna Rod. It’s very short and powerful.