The above photo is from a recent trip out of Westport, WA in April 2022. We had incredible weather and easy limits of bottom fish such as black rockfish and ling cod within a few hours of fishing!
This time of year it’s all about lining up the right weather windows with your own (and your crew’s!) availability.
Once you have the right marine weather conditions, success is all about efficiency. With the cost of gas these days, I like to get at least 3-4 people to help with gas, but that means you have a lot of fish to catch and limited time.
We launched around low slack fished the rock piles north of Westport, and finished with our last decent-sized lingcod about 10 miles north.
There are many many ways to catch your limit of rockfish and lingcod, but only a few techniques will get it done so quickly that you can get off the water within a few hours. Luckily I’ve prepared an article for just this purpose: My comprehensive guide to lingcod fishing.
Additionally, take a look at the double rig I’ve been using for quick limits of black rockfish. I should hopefully have a video done soon showing much more of it in action (specifically all the doubles) from this trip as well.
Like you, I have more trips planned for May and June both for rockfish and lingcod, as well as halibut…but I’m running out of freezer space!
Also, I have to share my latest purchase of a fillet knife:
Best Fillet knife for processing rockfish and lingcod
This Dalstrong 6-inch fillet knife is the sharpest knife I’ve owned and it keeps its edge remarkably well. It’s also the sexiest knife I’ve owned, the handle is modeled after the stealth fighter and the feel is incredible, it really takes the chore out of filleting all those rockfish.
The above link is an amazon affiliate link which allows the blog to get a small commission, but doesn’t change what you pay. I only link to what I buy, use and enjoy!
Hopefully, I will see you out there, stay safe!
