Fishing Coastal Estuaries, Rivers, Bays, and Nearshore Ocean Waters

The term “inshore” is a generic one used by anglers to refer to coastal marine areas. Although the spot where inshore ends and offshore (see) begins is not strictly defined, in general inshore fishing refers to angling from a boat for resident and migratory species in estuaries, rivers, bays, and nearshore ocean waters, whereas offshore fishing refers to blue-water fishing for pelagic species.

Inshore environs may be fished from a variety of craft: cartop boats and canoes, outboard-powered rental rowboats and skiffs, a wide array of medium-size runabouts, center console and walk-around cuddy cabin boats, and even cruisers and large sportfishing boats. Anglers also have the option of inshore fishing from party boats (see), which sail daily to pursue a wide variety of species.

Inshore waters are popular for many reasons. Chief among these is the limited travel time required to reach the fishing grounds, which makes short outings feasible and facilitates a swift return to port for any reason, particularly stormy weather.

Of course, another reason is that inshore waters hold a variety of popular gamefish and bottom feeders. Coastal estuaries, generally identified as the area where the tide line meets the river current, are the spawning grounds and, in turn, the nursery areas for many species. Estuarine environs provide a delicate balance of water conditions favored by many marine species, and they are also suitable for a few freshwater species that are comfortable living in water of nominal salinity.

Some anglers travel great distances in pursuit of their favorite gamefish and bottom feeders while overlooking fine inshore fishing close to home. Inshore waters often hold an abundance and variety of species to satisfy the most discriminating angler with a fine catch.

Tackle

Inshore fishing is suitable to a variety of angling methods. Even though drift and bottom fishing with bait may be the most popular methods overall, inshore anglers have opportunities to cast and jig for various species, troll for some species, and, in certain cases, stalk and sight-fish for their quarry. This wide variety opens up the game for many different types of equipment and approaches.

Generally, however, inshore fishing is well suited to light tackle. The waters are protected and usually not very deep, and inshore species for the most part are relatively small, although heavyweight specimens of such species as striped bass, bluefish, snook, tarpon, redfish, salmon, and halibut can test the angler’s tackle and skill.

For maximum enjoyment, the choice of tackle should be appropriate to the species sought, so that the angler isn’t handicapped by tackle that is too light or too heavy. Those fishing out of private boats have more latitude in gear selection and more opportunities to use lighter equipment than those fishing out of party boats, where maneuverability is less and where more people of differing skill levels have to be accommodated.

Conventional tackle is popular with many inshore anglers; a light- or medium-weight casting or popping rod, 51/2 to 6 feet long and coupled with a levelwind reel loaded with 150 yards of 10- to 15-pound-test line, is ideal for this type of fishing in most locations. It’s well suited to casting artificials, drifting natural baits, chumming, and bottom fishing.

Spinning tackle has some following, although less than conventional tackle, and is more likely to be used for shallow water situations, for casting activities, and for smaller species. Lighter outfits, as opposed to the heavy ones employed in surf fishing (see), are best for most applications. Rods that are 51/2 to 61/2 feet long, capable of handling lures or rigs ranging from a half ounce through 11/2 ounces, are ideal for most inshore fishing, coupled with a reel that holds at least 150 yards of 8- to 15-pound-test line. For some inshore fishing, like casting light jigs and small plugs or soft plastics, you can use a lighter weight outfit, like a 61/2- to 7-foot rod and a reel that holds 6- to 10-pound line.

In saltwater inshore fishing, it’s usually better to use a line that is on the heavier side rather than one on the lighter side to reduce the attrition rate of lures and terminal rigs, which often become snagged while drifting or casting. Within reason, line diameter (which often correlates to strength) is not a major factor in most inshore fishing, except in shallow, clear water situations where a lighter, thinner line is less likely to spook the fish and call attention to the lures or bait.

Though less common than either conventional or spinning gear, flycasting tackle is effective on the inshore scene for some species and in certain environs (it is good, for example, for shallow water striped bass but not for deep bottom feeders). Eight-, 9-, and 10-weight outfits are used depending on the species (lighter for bonefish and redfish, for example, and heavier for striped bass and tarpon). The reel needs ample backing for those fish that are likely to make serious runs, and a variety of fly patterns, mainly large streamers, are used in bays, rivers, and the open ocean.

Primary Species and Tactics

The following briefly reviews the primary inshore species and the most popular methods of fishing for them along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts of North America. Not all fishing tactics and opportunities can be mentioned here; nevertheless, the traveling angler far from familiar waters will often find conditions very close to those in home environs and will be able to use favorite tackle to enjoy good sport as well as some fine-eating fish.

Northeastern flounder

The rock-studded coastline of Maine offers hundreds of rivers and bays that empty into the Atlantic. Many have mud, sand, or pebble bottom where winter flounder take up residence. By anchoring on mud flats or along channel edges and chumming with a mixture of ground clams or crushed mussels sent to the bottom in a chum pot, these tasty flatfish are quickly attracted within range.

Small No. 8 or 9 Chestertown or Wide Gap hooks baited with sandworms or bloodworms readily bring strikes from flounder, and sometimes harbor pollock or small codfish are caught on the same rigs, although most are immature fish that should be immediately released.

Much the same scene is repeated along the Massachusetts, Connecticut, Long Island, and New Jersey coasts. The difference is, instead of a rock-studded coastline, many barrier islands, with broad bays separating them from the mainland, provide an abundance of winter flounder for fine action each spring and again in the fall.

Atlantic mackerel

The Atlantic mackerel summers in the inshore waters of Maine, often traveling in schools that number in the tens of thousands. While mostly found in the close-to-shore ocean waters, they’ll often invade large coastal bays as they search for food. These provide fine light tackle sport and will strike tiny diamond jigs, bucktails, or tube teasers. Flies worked with a sinking line will often draw strikes until the angler’s arm is weary.

These same mackerel, averaging three-quarters of a pound to 3 pounds, usually winter off the Virginia Capes and provide boat anglers with fine action as they move north to the Maritime Provinces for the summer and then return again in early winter. They’re fun to catch and especially well suited to newcomers and youngsters; when you get into a school, the action is often fast and furious, and a great deal of skill isn’t required.

East Coast stripers and bluefish

It would be difficult to determine whether striped bass or bluefish are the most popular inshore gamefish along the Middle and North Atlantic coasts. Both species frequent the same inshore waters and are regularly targeted by anglers casting or trolling artificials, chumming, bottom fishing, drifting, and jigging.

Most of the stripers and blues that migrate north to New England have achieved respectable size. Many smaller fish are encountered along their midrange of Long Island and south to New Jersey and through the Chesapeake Bay area. Many of the youngsters of both clans spend their first few seasons in the bays, rivers, and creeks near where they were hatched. The inshore nursery grounds have an abundance of grass shrimp, spearing, sand launce, and other forage to satisfy their ravenous appetites.

Some of the fish are small but provide fine catch-and-release sport for anglers armed with light outfits. Both species are readily caught on plugs, plastic-tailed and bucktail-dressed leadheads, metal jigs, and streamer flies.

Inshore party boat fishing for both stripers and blues is popular throughout their range, because it enables anglers to catch trophy fish with minimal cost. The most popular technique for catching bass and blues is using a diamond or slab-sided chromed jig, with a plastic or feather teaser 18 to 24 inches ahead of it. The schools are often mixed, with stripers on or near the bottom and bluefish closer to the surface.

Party boats use their sonar to locate the schools and then drift over them. Jigging is accomplished by lowering the rig to the bottom and retrieving to the surface. As a rule, a slow retrieve concentrated near the bottom gets strikes from the stripers and a fast, jigging retrieve gets action from the blues near the surface.

Tautog, sea bass, and porgies

Bottom feeders like tautog, black sea bass, and porgies are plentiful in inshore waters along the Middle Atlantic. They’re found around most broken, irregular bottom, particularly rock ledges and artificial fishing reefs, and frequent these areas because of abundant food and sanctuary from predatory species.

The most popular technique for catching all three of these bottom dwellers is to use a high-low rig, employing a pair of hooks snelled to 12- to 18-inch leader. Virginia, Sproat, Claw, or Beak style hooks are most popular. Use a No. 8 or 10 hook for porgies, which often average from less than a pound to over 2 pounds, and a No. 4 or 6 hook for the generally larger sea bass. With tautog it’s a matter of where you’re fishing; in open ocean waters where they range in weight from 3 to 6 pounds or more, Nos. 2, 1, and even 1/0 hooks are preferred.

Small pieces of conch, clam, squid, or seaworm are preferred baits for porgies and sea bass, while tautog prefer green crabs and fiddler crabs, although they’ll take the aforementioned baits as well.

This is relaxing fishing; simply find some structure, such as artificial reefs or rockpiles or mussel beds in bays and the open ocean, and anchor your boat so it is positioned directly above the structure. All three species stick very close to the structure; if you’re positioned even just a few feet away from the structure over sand bottom, you’re apt to not catch a thing.

Once anchored, bait up, using sufficient sinker weight on your rig to hold bottom, lowering the rig to the bottom and waiting for strikes. All three have notorious reputations as bait stealers, so be alert and lift back smartly with your rod tip at the first tug on the bait.

Weakfish and seatrout

The weakfish is a darling of inshore anglers when plentiful because it grows to over 10 pounds, provides a variety of angling opportunities, and is excellent table fare. Caught from New England through the Chesapeake Bay area, the species is also found in numbers through the Carolinas. From Virginia south, the spotted weakfish, locally called trout or seatrout, becomes more prevalent and is found throughout the inshore waters of Georgia and Florida, and up the Gulf Coast of Florida and across through Texas. The only major difference in appearance is the large black spots that are prominent on the backs of the spotted weaks.

The techniques, habitat, and feeding patterns of these species are very similar, and in some places you may catch both in a day’s outing. Both are creatures of habit and tend to be lazy when seeking a meal. As a result, they’re easily attracted to a chum line of their favorite food, which includes the tiny grass shrimp so plentiful in coastal bays and rivers, as well as the larger shrimp that are targeted as table fare.

The technique of chumming (see) for weakfish and seatrout doesn’t vary much along the many miles of Atlantic and Gulf Coasts that weakfish and seatrout frequent. They spend much of their time in the shallow reaches of bays and rivers, moving across eelgrass and weedbeds where forage is abundant. Often the water on the shallow flats ranges from 3 to 6 feet deep.

Armed with 3 or 4 quarts of live grass shrimp or their larger culinary counterparts, you can easily seek out promising water and double anchor—to keep your boat steady and prevent it from swinging in the wind—and begin chumming.

Dribble only a few shrimp over the side at a time, allowing them to be carried away with the tide over the weedbeds. For larger shrimp, cut them into dime-size pieces and sparingly distribute them to establish a chum line that attracts the weakfish, but don’t provide so much food that they hang well back to feed. You want to get them moving toward the source of the food.

Once the chum line is established, it’s time to bait up. Tie a No. 1 or 2 Claw or Beak style hook with a bait-holder shank directly to the end of your nylon monofilament line. Bait up with three or four tiny grass shrimp, or use a small piece of a larger shrimp. Ease the baited hook into the water, and permit the current to carry it along, much the same as the current is carrying your chum. Once the bait has drifted off 40 to 60 feet, even more at times, simply reel in and repeat the procedure. Often the strikes will come from as close as a rod’s length from the boat on out to the end of your drift. The key is keeping the bait moving naturally with the chum line.

If you’re chumming in very shallow water and the weed growth is heavy, the baited hook may sink to the bottom and not drift properly, especially if there’s little current. At such times an effective strategy is to add a float to the line so that your bait is suspended just above the level of the weeds. A small split shot or rubber-core sinker may be added to the line between the float and the hook, thus ensuring that it drifts along perpendicularly to the bottom.

Although plastic floats are popular, veteran weakfish anglers have found that a cork or plastic float with a scooped-out head, which emits a popping or gurgling sound as it is pulled through the water, attracts the attention of the fish more readily than an ordinary plastic or cork float.

You can also catch weakfish by working a tiny, quarter-ounce bucktail jig or soft-tailed jig through the chum line. Small swimming plugs work, too.

Drifting across open bottom often brings strikes on an ebbing tide when the weakfish vacate the shallows. At such times a high-low bottom rig with a pair of hooks snelled to a 12- to 18- inch leader works fine. Use a bank or dipsey style sinker of sufficient weight to effortlessly glide along the bottom. Shrimp, strips of squid, spearing, and live killies are effective baits.

Both species of weakfish often migrate as seasons change, and they do so by vacating the protected waters of estuaries, bays, and rivers and moving into the open reaches of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf. They travel in huge schools, often moving close to the bottom and feeding on baitfish. On these occasions they offer exciting opportunities to catch them on diamond jigs and teasers, bucktails, or natural baits drifted along the bottom.

Trolling with small plugs, bucktail jigs, or spoons takes many of both species, as the small-boat angler can cover a lot of water. Once a school is located, the troller can continue trolling the area or shut down the motor and drift and jig over the fish.

Southern flatfish

Although weakfish are the darlings of many anglers along a really long stretch of coastline, the summer flounder and its cousin the southern flounder are two of the most popular species sought in much the same range.

Both summer and southern flounder spend a lot of time in the shallow environs of bays and estuaries, and they inhabit open reaches of the Atlantic and Gulf, generally close to shore. However, they often frequent humps or high bottom locations several miles from shore, especially when forage species are plentiful at these sites.

Unlike sea bass, porgies, and tautog, which stick close to structure, summer and southern flounder move about while searching for a meal and are aggressive bottom feeders. They typically forage over sandy bottom, where their backs take on the color of the bottom over which they’re traveling. This chameleon-like characteristic is very pronounced, with light sandy color when frequenting light bottom, with mottled or spotted brown and beige tones when over gravel or pebbly bottom, and with dark chocolate brown when feeding over mud bottom.

When resting, flounder usually lie on the bottom and use their fins to partially cover themselves with sand or mud. If a cold snap develops, which is not to their liking, they will lie on the bottom for days without moving about or feeding. At such times the mud will actually stick to their undersides; if you catch one shortly after it emerges from the mud, it will still carry a light covering of the mud on its otherwise snow white bottom.

As flounder rest on the bottom, their eyes extend upward, always alert for an unsuspecting baitfish, shrimp, or crab that happens by. They’re extremely fast and will engulf the prey in an instant. As a result of this trait, successful flounder anglers find drifting to be the most successful fishing technique. Although chumming does produce strikes from flounder, as does fishing at anchor, you’ll catch more flatfish if you leave the boat unanchored and cover known flounder grounds while drifting at the mercy of the current or wind.

Light tackle is ideal when seeking flounder inshore; however, in more open waters, where you may fish in 25- to 50-foot depths, somewhat heavier gear is appropriate.

The most popular flatfish rig is a simple setup with a small three-way swivel. Tie one end of the swivel directly to your line. To another end tie a 30- to 36-inch leader of 20-pound test, and then snell a No. 1/0 through 3/0 Carlisle, Beak, Claw, or Wide Gap hook to that. To the remaining end of the swivel, tie a 6- to 8-inch piece of monofilament line with a loop in the end of it; slip a dipsey or bank style sinker of sufficient weight to hold the bottom onto the loop.

The summer flounder, popularly called fluke through much of its range, feeds on a wide variety of forage species, including sand eels, spearing, crabs, shrimp, squid, and the young of almost every species in residence. All of these may be used as hook baits. Perhaps the most popular bait is the saltwater killie, or mummichog; it is quickly taken by the hungry flatfish when it is fished live and hooked through the lips and drifted along the bottom.

Redfish

Channel bass, often called redfish, are a formidable target of anglers fishing inshore waters from the Virginia Capes south through Florida and across the Gulf Coast. Often called the southern counterpart to the striped bass, they frequent much the same waters and have very similar habits.

Perhaps the most exciting method of catching redfish is to sight-cast to them as they travel in schools just beyond the surf line off the Atlantic coast during spring. This is also done in Gulf waters and in the backcountry, where schools of a hundred or more redfish may be encountered.

A hammered stainless-steel jig is one of the most popular lures for enticing strikes when the fish are on the move. Schools present themselves in different ways. In open ocean waters, they often appear as a huge dark shadow or dark area while they cruise along, whereas in the shallows of bays and estuaries, their movement often disturbs the surface as the tightly packed schools mill about.

The key is positioning your boat upcurrent from the school and permitting wind or current to move you within casting range. Don’t approach too closely while motoring in because you may spook the school. Once positioned, place your cast so it goes beyond and ahead of the fish; then work the lure back toward the school. Properly presented, the spoon draws quick strikes. Bucktail jigs and their plastic-tailed counterparts, swimming plugs, and small spoons all prove effective in this exciting inshore sport.

Not to be overlooked are opportunities to catch redfish on live shrimp, spot, pinfish, or grunts, or to troll for them using spoons. Much fishing for reds is done by seeking and casting to small groups or individuals in the shallows of bays, where they are feeding. These fish are often caught by stalking and making presentations to individual fish, especially with soft-tailed jigs. When the wind is blowing and the water is too deep to spot fish, blind casting can be effective with the same lures, with shallow-running plugs, and with shrimp bait.

Bonefish, tarpon, and permit

Bonefish, tarpon, and permit are among the most prized fish of inshore environs. Although they are usually associated with flats fishing (see) and sight-casting activities, they may also be caught in the bays and in the deeper holes of near-shore waters by using methods suited to fishing for nonvisible fish. All three of these species are caught by a variety of techniques, including live baitfishing at anchor, drift fishing, and in some cases deep jigging.

Unquestionably the most challenging, exciting, and popular technique is to pole across the shallow flats and sight-cast to the fish as they move through water barely deep enough to cover their backs. All flats travelers are spooky, and care must be exercised to avoid approaching too closely. This entails poling until a fish is sighted and then positioning yourself and waiting until the fish moves within range. In some cases, mainly for bonefish on the shallowest flats, you can wade into position and cast to a fish slowly feeding across a flat.

Bonefish are fairly plentiful and, though generally traveling alone, they do sometimes gather in small pods and even schools. Many anglers employ a single live shrimp on a 1/0 Beak style hook and cast just ahead of the cruising fish. Tiny jigs also bring strikes, and fly fishing has become more popular. Permit are sometimes encountered on the flats, and they present a formidable challenge because of their wariness, greater size, and fast speed. Permit are also caught on shrimp; they can be taken on flies, although fly fishing for permit is more difficult than it is for bonefish. The most common offering is a small, live crab.

Tarpon are a particularly good fly fishing species when they cruise the flats; they, too, may take shrimp and crab baits. In the channels between flats and islands, they are popularly caught on live mullet or pinfish. Fishing for big tarpon in such renowned areas as Key West and Boca Grande Pass in Florida, and the many passes emptying into the Gulf of Mexico all the way to Texas, is usually a baitfishing proposition. Live crabs, pinfish, grunts, mullet, squirrel fish, and other small species are drifted through the area frequented by the tarpon, which move with the tides searching for a meal. Frequently, large pods of feeding tarpon are encountered on the surface and may be caught by casting a live bait to the cruising fish.

Grouper and snapper

Many species of grouper and snapper are popular with inshore anglers from the Carolinas to Texas. They’re found on nearly every patch of rock bottom, on myriad coral reefs, and around every shipwreck and ledge where food is abundant.

Inshore small boat anglers fishing these various structures employ a variety of techniques for snapper and grouper. Anchoring and chumming adjacent to and above the structure is very effective for yellowtail snapper and porgies. Fishing live baits in the depths is also productive, particularly with big black grouper, red grouper, mutton snapper, and red snapper. Bottom fishing with a high-low rig produces all bottom dwellers.

An especially enjoyable method of catching all of these species is to drift and deep-jig the reef with bucktail jigs or plastic-bodied leadheads. When there is deep water and swift current or strong wind, you may need to use jigs weighing from 1 to 4 ounces in order to reach the bottom; then keep the jig perpendicular to the bottom as you retrieve.

Schools of grouper and snapper are located by cruising the reef areas and employing sonar. Once fish are located, simply position the boat so that the current or wind will carry you over the fish and away from the reef. In this way, as fish are hooked you’ll be drifting to deeper water or away from obstructions.

All grouper and snapper are fast. Make no mistake about it. As a result, an effective method of working your jig is to let it settle to the bottom, then quickly lift your rod tip so that the jig darts toward the surface, and continue reeling and jigging until it reaches the surface. If a strike isn’t received, drop it back down and continue jigging and retrieving.

This strategy requires tackle rated at 20 pounds or heavier. Fish that weigh 15 to 50 pounds or more will often break free with little effort if you’re using light line. Fish a firm drag; as soon as a fish is hooked, lift back smartly and work hard to get the fish up and away from the bottom. Once a grouper turns back to the coral, it can rip line from your reel and instantly cut you off.

Bonus inshore catches are possible when you’re deep-jigging the reefs. This includes species like jack crevalle, king mackerel, wahoo, Spanish and cero mackerel, dolphin, barracuda, and little tunny.

Cobia

Cobia are still another great inshore gamefish that provide sterling action. Found in nominal quantities along the Atlantic coast from the Carolinas south, they really come into their own along the Gulf Coast, where they’re apt to be found cruising around channel markers, buoys, docks, and anchored boats.

Although cobia are found out in the open Gulf where they cruise among the anchored shrimp boats culling their catch, the greatest numbers are inshore residents and found in most every bay and pass. One of the two most popular methods of catching them is anchoring in a pass and using a sliding-egg sinker rig on the bottom with a live pinfish or grunt as bait. The second, more exciting, approach is to cruise the passes, visiting buoys, channel markers, and dock areas; once a cobia is spotted, cast to it. Bucktail jigs and swimming plugs all bring strikes, but a live baitfish hooked just beneath the dorsal fin and cast within range of a hungry cobia will quickly bring an exciting surface strike. Many cobia top the 30-pound mark along the Gulf Coast, so here you need heavier gear than what is customarily used for inshore fishing, with 20-pound-class spinning or casting tackle preferred.

Pacific kelp fishing

The Southern California coast has a great variety of gamefish and bottom feeders that are a challenge to catch and a welcome addition to the dinner table. Some of the most enjoyable inshore action is had while fishing waters adjoining the kelp beds. The kelp can best be described as a giant tree growing up from the bottom, its big, thick willowy branches adorned with huge leaves. Unlike green seaweed of the Atlantic coast, which is carried along by the current, the Pacific coast kelp, which is a brown seaweed, grows in huge beds and is stationary for the most part. The limbs of the kelp are often as thick as a man’s arm, and the leaves are several feet long by a foot or more in width. This mass of kelp provides sanctuary for anchovies, sardines, and a host of small fish and the fry of others, all of which often satisfy the appetites of bigger game.

Chumming is a popular method of fishing the kelp beds. After leaving dockside, boats stop at a bait barge located in most coastal harbors and take aboard a supply of several scoops of anchovies, sardines, or mackerel to be employed both as chum and hook baits. Private and charter boats generally anchor just off from the kelp beds, positioning the boat so that anglers are sufficiently close to cast their baits near to the kelp, or to permit the current to carry the lively baits along the edge of the kelp.

Because tiny anchovies and other small baitfish are the favored bait, anglers prefer a rod with a delicate tip action, one that can softly cast a bait weighing a fraction of an ounce a fair distance from the boat. Correspondingly light lines are used, often only 12- to 15-pound test, with either a conventional or a spinning reel.

The most popular technique is to swim a tiny anchovy bait, hooked lightly through the gill collar or lips with a small No. 1 or 2 fine wire hook, tied directly to the monofilament line. As the bait swims along, often swiftly heading for the sanctuary of the kelp, other anchovies are tossed out sparingly to attract but not feed the fish.

The key is to have the reel in freespool or the bail open and let the bait keep moving. It struggles to get into the kelp, thus attracting the fish that are cruising along the perimeter searching for a meal.

There is no mistaking a strike; in fact, you know it’s coming. As a big fish approaches, the tiny baitfish senses the predator and furiously tries to avoid capture. When you feel the bait get excited, you know that in an instant you’ll receive a runoff as the bigger fish inhales the helpless anchovy. Here it’s important to keep your rod tip in a lowered position, with the tip pointed in the direction the line is moving. In the instant that the line moves off quickly, engage your gear or close the bail, and lift back smartly to set the hook. With the fine wire hook, which is necessary because of the delicate baits, you just set the hook once, as repeated strikes may rip the hook free or spring it open.

You must maintain sufficient pressure on the fish so that it can’t reach the kelp. If it does, the line often becomes fouled and you won’t be able to work the fish back to the boat. Usually the combination of the line becoming fouled and the fish pulling on it strongly will break the line.

In this kind of fishing, you never know which species will take your bait, because there is variety galore cruising along the kelp searching for a meal. Pacific barracuda and Pacific bonito are two of the most popular, although somewhat smaller, of the targeted species. Pacific yellowtail and white seabass also call this habitat home and are among the prized catches. Kelp bass readily inhale a lively anchovy fished tight to the kelp.

Bottom fishing along the kelp also brings results. Although chumming usually entices strikes from fish that move through the midrange and surface layers, you can often score down on the bottom, too. When the other species mentioned aren’t co-operating, many anglers add a weight to their lines, sending the bait right down to the bottom for sand bass, California corbina, or Pacific halibut.

Silver and king salmon

Inshore anglers have opportunities for silver salmon and king salmon off Northern California, where the time-proven technique of using cannonball sinkers to get anchovy baits down to the fish proves most popular. Most of the party boats use cast-iron breakaway cannonballs, often weighing up to 3 pounds. However, many small boats employ downriggers to send their attractors and anchovy- or herring-baited hooks down to the level of the salmon.

This angling takes place in open waters not far from shore, and finding fish is of tantamount importance. At times, slow trolling for the big salmon is fast and furious. Frequently, though, you have to put in the time, searching with sonar for schools of baitfish and, once they’re located, systematically slow-trolling the area until the bigger signals, indicating salmon, show up on the screen. When the season gets underway, the fish are usually concentrated, with the professional party and charter boats communicating daily and zeroing in on the fish, and smaller boaters working the same areas.

Rockfish and lingcod

The many species of rockfish that inhabit the cold Pacific waters from the Golden Gate north to Oregon and Washington are among the tastiest fish these waters have to offer, and are regularly sought by inshore bottom anglers. While they are caught well offshore in deep habitats, sufficient numbers are found inshore wherever the bottom is broken and with irregular rocks. Drifting chunk baits using a basic high-low rig with sufficient weight to hold bottom results in fast action when you locate a piece of choice underwater terrain. Small boat anglers will often drop a marker buoy once a productive area is located, and they will repeatedly drift over it. Another option, of course, is anchoring right above the productive spot.

Many consider lingcod to be the Pacific’s finest eating species, and they are a favored target of small boat and party boat anglers in Oregon and Washington waters. Although lingcod are the favorite here, literally dozens of species of rockfish are also caught as a bonus, and live baits are favored for these. In fact, anglers who catch a small fish on the lingcod grounds will often bait up with it or will use live anchovies or sardines, with live baits usually providing best results.

Slack tides usually afford the best opportunity to hook lingcod, because it’s easiest then to work a bait or lure straight down to the rocky, snaggy bottoms where this big predator is found; too much current or wind results in a flat line angle and constant hookups on the rocky bottom.

Metal slab jigs that imitate smaller fish work well, as do big leadhead jigs with soft plastic bodies or pork rind strips. Many bait anglers use herring, and live baits work much better than dead ones. The ultimate lingcod bait, though, is a live greenling, about 10 inches long, fished with a large, single hook through both lips to pin its mouth shut. Live bait anglers must use a sinker large enough to take the offering down but must exercise care in keeping it just off bottom, or the bait will dodge into a hole and become snagged before a lingcod finds it.

Lingcod also have a habit of diving for a rocky crevice when hooked, so anglers should try to turn them toward the surface and reel them as far off the bottom as possible after setting the hook. For this reason, many anglers use rather stout tackle for lingcod, including stiff boat rods; large, conventional reels; and low-stretch braided line of 40- to 80-pound test. A tough monofilament leader of 50-pound test or larger also helps avoid abrasions and breakoffs.

West Coast stripers

The waters of the San Francisco Bay delta are home to striped bass of all sizes. The original stock came from New Jersey over a century ago and prospered; then the population was depleted, but it has rebounded to a point where Bay anglers now enjoy superb sport. Enjoyable striper fishing here occurs with light casting or spinning tackle, using plugs and bucktails along the many miles of marsh that border undeveloped areas of the bay. Increasing in popularity is fly fishing from small boats for predominately school stripers in the 2- to 10-pound class.

The world-renowned San Francisco Bay Bridge offers exciting striped bass action. The bridge’s supporting tower in the water causes currents to swirl about it, often trapping baitfish and in turn attracting striped bass. The bridge is productive for small boat anglers, since the fish take up a feeding station there and become targets for casting bucktail jigs and deep-running plugs. Position your boat on the downcurrent side of the tower, and cast up into the swirling maelstrom of back eddies that are formed as the tide rushes along. Also try fishing the upcurrent area, where moving water is separated by the tower, resulting in a dead spot of minimal current where the stripers take up station to wait for food to be swept their way.

Northwest salmon and halibut

Oregon and Washington anglers who fish the inshore grounds have a choice of seeking silver salmon or king salmon on the inshore grounds, or they can send their rigs down to the bottom for Pacific halibut.

Inshore trolling at the river mouths is very popular for catching all salmon species. This is very seasonal sport, with the runs of each species taking place at different times. Deep, fast water at river mouths and turbulent currents result in anglers having to employ conventional outfits rated for 20- to 30-pound line. Trolling whole herring baits has for years been a proven method of scoring with these great gamefish. Depending on tidal flow and water depth, the baits are run into the depths with the aid of heavy trolling sinkers or via downriggers. Using sonar both to locate fish and to ascertain the proper depth to troll is essential.

Its impressive size, relative abundance, and brute strength make the Pacific halibut, which is the largest member of the flatfish clan, a popular quarry from the southern Oregon coast northward. Younger, smaller halibut under 50 pounds comprise most of the sport catch along the Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia coasts, and fish in these areas tend to congregate in specific areas where food is abundant, especially near islands and over banks and humps. The large fish are farther north off northern British Columbia and especially Alaska.

The key to fishing halibut successfully is to get a bait or lure down to them and keep it there long enough for a fish to find it. Most anglers prefer to fish with bait, especially large herring. Squid, octopus, and belly skin off halibut or salmon, as well as whole cod, greenling, or other small bottom fish, also are effective baits. Bait is usually fished on a wire spreader or a sliding-sinker rig, with sinker size ranging from 4 ounces to 4 pounds, depending on depth, current, size of the bait, and line diameter. Bait hooks range from size 5/0 to 12/0, depending on size of the bait and size of the quarry; some anglers prefer traditional J style hooks, and others like commercial circle hooks. Halibut use their eyes, nose, and lateral line to locate a meal, so anglers often lift the bait well off the bottom to increase visibility and then drop it quickly to create a thumping vibration.

Heavy tackle is generally preferred for halibut fishing because of the weight of the objects fished, the depth, and the size of the fish possible. A 7-foot boat rod with a stiff action, equipped with 4/0 conventional reel, is standard. For shallow-water fishing, though, some anglers fish much lighter tackle, and deep monster chasers may go heavier. Light-tackle halibut anglers use line in the 15- to 50-pound-test range, but deep-water anglers go heavier.