Dropping squid in 500 feet of water and catch RockFishs in California! And there so many different species that are so similar!

The Channels Islands are rich in history and natural beauty. The five islands that make up Channel Islands National Park look much as they did when inhabited by the region’s Chumash Indians more than 10,000 years ago. The National Park Service and Nature Conservancy have worked for decades to erase damages from 150 years of European settlement and ranching activity, restoring native plants and protecting unique native animals like the housecat-size island fox. The islands boast several important, active archeological sites studying the lives and activities of California’s original inhabitants over thousands of years.

I remember with amazement standing on a high, windswept bluff during a naturalist-guided island tour of an ancient Chumash camp, gazing over an expanse of blue ocean toward a neighboring island and the coast beyond. I felt privileged to stand there and absorb a view that, while stunning to me, would have been a daily backdrop for Chumash families going about their lives.
Rock Bottom
While a wide variety of fish call the islands home, there’s is no doubt that rockfish make up the majority of the year-round catch (excluding California’s annual January/February rockfishing closure). There are dozens of rockfish species in these waters, with colorful names and even more colorful nicknames like vermillion rockfish, called reds, and copper rockfish, most often referred to as chuckleheads. Lingcod, which are not rockfish but a member of the greenling family, are usually included in the mix and considered a prized catch.

These fish and many others are targeted over rocky structure in depths ranging from 70 to 300 feet — conditions that exist in abundance around the Channel Islands. Here again, the outer islands shine, providing opportunities to target the biggest rockfish and lingcod in shallower waters. This allows for the use of lighter tackle and a variety of artificial lures.

You might call me a rockfish snob, in that I eschew the traditional bait and double dropper loop rig used by the majority of anglers. Instead I almost exclusively fish either heavy metal, single-hook jigs (known as iron) or large plastic swimbaits. The former, which I like to tip with a 6-inch Berkley Gulp curl-tailed grub for added action and scent, is fished by bouncing it up and down with sweeps of the rod, maintaining occasional contact with the bottom.

Capt. David Bacon of the Santa Barbara-based four-pack charter boat WaveWalker uses a two-in-one lure of his own creation he named the lingslayer, a heavy, hammered-metal Hopkins spoon with a large lead-head/plastic grub attached to bottom hook. Lingcod have big mouths and big appetites to match — and both these presentations are designed to provide these aggressive predators with a large-profile entree.

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