It's rockfish and lingcod time of the year again here in Southern California, and it's time to prep for some bottom fishing. I'd like to share with you my rockfish / lingcod rig that I use. I've fished with this rig for quite some time and I can attest that it's consistent and quite effective. It has hooked pretty much almost all the bottom dwellers in our waters.
So whaddya think? Cool huh? Is it effective? Heck yeah! Check it out and see for yourself.
Just picked up some new jigs I can use for casting. I've collected many jigs over the years but most are too heavy for casting, and tuned more for vertical jigging. I'm beginning to prefer casting now, as in "horizontal jigging" than vertical jigging. Fact is, you can cover much larger area where fish might be holding and have better chances of hookups when jigging horizontally. This is especially true if you're fishing without the aid of a fish finder. Just cast the jig out against the wind, let it sink and drift away while letting out line, then when you think it has reached the desired depth start your retrieve.
When I spotted the Maria Sea Flower, I knew it was a good candidate for a casting jig. At 110gms, the weight is ideal for casting. It's designed for light vertical jigging, and it's tail-weighted to make it drop fast with a fluttering action. I figure that because of its tail-weighted design, the tail end would likely wobble from side to side when retrieved horizontally, resulting in a nice swimming action predators won't be able to resist. Add a treble hook dressed with feathers, it'll be deadly! The profile of this jig is very slim at the head and gets wider towards the tail. The eyes and side plates of the head are very realistic. The length is 4 1/2 inches, ideal size to mimic bait fish.
When Van Staal announced they're coming out with a new spinning reel design for boat use at a more affordable price, I was ecstatic. Finally a VS at a good price point. I own a VSB250 and loved it. Once the VM150 finally came out, I checked it out at our local tackle shop and played with it a bit. The reel felt solid and much easier to crank than the traditional Van Staal reels. The gray colored anodized reel body and spool makes the reel look badass! At size 150, it was a bit small. I didn't pull the trigger, and was undecided because of its small size. So I waited for months for feedback from other anglers who have used it. I didn't see any reports of major issues with the reel. The only issue I read about is that the automatic bail closure mechanism would engage and close the bail on the cast. It turned out that because of the weight of the handle, it would turn and engage the auto bail closure if the handle is in the up and forward position on a cast. Not too major of an issue. Some anglers have removed the auto bail closure mechanism and transformed it into manual bail closure, a quick fix. I just made sure the handle is in the down position before casting and never had any problems with the bail inadvertently closing on the cast. When I finally decided to get one, all tackle shops were out and on backorder. I had to reserve one with Charkbait and wait for the new stocks to arrive. When it finally arrived, Charkbait was able to spool it with 300yds of 55lb Daiwa Boat Braid. Awesome! A solid small reel with adequate capacity for fish fighting braid line. I was stoked! When I got home, the first thing I checked were the screws. I do this to all reels I buy. I found the screws on the frame were not tight and easily turned without much force. So I removed them all, applied some Loctite, and screwed them back in tight. It's ready to go!
Manufacturer's Specs:
Line Capacity: 350YDS/30LB Braid
Gear Ratio: 4.9:1
Weight 22.5 OZ
Drag: 30LBs (as advertised by tackle shops)
Side by side with its big brother the VSB250.
Size-wise, I thought a much better comparison would be with the Shimano Stella 8000PG. The VM150 still looks a tad smaller than the Stella 80000PG.
I was finally able to test the VM150 on a recent day trip (my previous blog "Preparing for Another Trip"). I hooked some YFT and Yellowtails with it. I paired it with my Major Craft KG Evolution Shore Jigging rod. The reel is solid and smooth cranking. The sound of the drag is suuweeeet, and it makes you want to hookup with even bigger fish! This reel is capable of landing bigger fish that other reels of the same size would probably get destroyed. I was able to shoot a couple of videos during some hookups. I kinda messed up the videos I took. This was the first time I wore the Go Pro camera with a head harness. I kept messing with it since I can't tell if the camera was indeed shooting a video of the action. It resulted in missed coverage of the entire action. To sum it up, the VS VM150 is an awesome little reel with big fish fighting ability at a good price point. I love everything about it--the all metal construction, awesome paint scheme, smoothness, power, and that wonderful drag scream! Surely another reel you want to add to your arsenal. Some videos of the VM150 in action. Fish on!
Prepping my jigs for another round of fishing for pelagics. I'm bringing Sea falcon jigs, P-Line Laser Sardine jigs, Tacklehouse Flitz lure, and a Baby Runboh lure for casting at tuna and dodos. I also packed my daisy chained purple cedar plugs for trolling. I'm bringing along my new Van Staal VM150 reel this time to test it and hoping to hook a tuna with it.
Fishing Report: Conditions was less than ideal. We ran about 70 miles offshore and it was gloomy and a bit rough the whole time we were in the tuna grounds, it even rained. I knew fishing was going to be scratchy and decided to use live bait the entire time to avoid skunkiness. The plan was to troll and at the same time look for floating kelp paddies that may be holding fish. Good thing I brought along my purple colored daisy chained cedar plugs for trolling. It was the hot lure on the troll and I scored the only dorado caught on the trip. We still managed to haul a variety of fish--YFT, Yellowtails, Dorado, and Skipjack tunas. All in all, it was another successful trip and great day to be out on the water.
