Rock-Fishing Cruise: The Farallon Islands

In an earlier blog post, I visited Santa Cruz in search of a limit of rockfish. The results were not as good as I had hoped, especially compared to my previous fishing trip to the Farallon Islands where schools of rockfish were thick, so thick that I couldn't drop my line down without pulling up two two-pound rockfish. Yesterday, an extremely generous man nicknamed "Lord of Lingcod" (LoL) took me (not my dad) to the land of rockfish paradise. That paradise is called the Farallon Islands.

The biggest rockfish of the day

The Farallon Islands are about two hours off the coast of San Francisco. The area known as the Farallons are made up of two major islands, the North and South Island. In between and around those islands, deep trenches hold swirling schools of rockfish. Below those schools a large fish known as the lingcod sits sullenly on the bottom.

LoL started the drive to Emeryville at 4:10 A.M.  In the car sat LoL, his friend from college "Jackpot", and me. After an hour of driving, all three of us piled out of the car and met up with LoL's brother "Lendy Lingcod" (LL). The four of us walked down to the dock until we came upon the boat Sea Wolf. Within minutes, we had all got our gear and reserved a seat in the cabin. A couple of minutes after that, we left the dock and embarked on the three hour pilgrimage to the Farallon Islands.

Picture with two of the lingcod 

The ride to the Islands was smooth.  Soon twenty-two excited fisherman crowded the rails of the Sea Wolf each looking for their limit of tasty rockfish. LoL, Jackpot, Tom, and I were clustered at the bow ready for action. Tom was the only one who had a lingcod lure on his line. The "lure" was basically a six-ounce bar of lead with a hook attached, but hey, it catches fish. LoL, Jackpot, and I stuck with the generic double shrimp fly tipped with squid. Dropping the offerings down 180 ft. was a snap with our one-pound sinkers. Soon, all of us hit bottom. I immediately hooked up with a double rock fish strike. Feeling good, I looked around the boat to see how other people were doing. What I saw was shocking. Several people were hunched over bent rods, grimaces of pain on their faces. The boat had just drifted over a school of lingcod.

There are two types of fish most people bring up from the depths. There is the normal rockfish, and there are lingcod. Bringing up a lingcod from the depths is similar to battling a large halibut. It is physically and mentally taxing.  There is often a long battle before an angler gets a glimpse of his/her's catch. Back to the story.

The lingcod that I caught myself

The day proceeded to yield triple limits of lingcod for the skilled angler (limit of lingcod is two). LL had long ago reached his limit and was giving lingcod away to the less fortunate few. LoL was also at his limit with two keeper lingcod and shakers that he let swim free.  Jackpot had a large lingcod and was arguing with LL about who's fish was bigger.

The limit of rockfish and lingcod

Then there's me. At the time, I had almost twice as many rockfish than many people on the boat. I had double limited out (limit for rockfish is ten) and  could not keep the rockfish off the hook. But, I was not satisfied. Without any specialized lingcod gear for myself I was stuck to watching in envy as LoL and LL pull in giant lingcod after giant lingcod. I was getting frustrated. Pinning on two live anchovies I dropped my rockfish rig down to the bottom, where I felt a solid thump. It was bigger than any fish I had felt on that trip. Excited, I settled in for the fight. A couple of minutes later, the fish was at the surface. It was a twenty-inch lingcod, my first lingcod ever. Pulling it up for a picture I measured the fish, deemed it under the size limit, and threw it back in. Maybe someday I'll catch it when it's bigger.

Cheers! My fellow fisherman with their catches

In the end, the entire boat limited out on lingcod and rockfish. It was one of those days that you read about in a fishing magazine, except our picture is out on the front cover. It was a truly special day, one that I will remember forever.



However, I would like to thank "Lord of Lingcod"for taking me out on this trip. Had he not decided to burden himself with taking me, I would never have had this experience. I have gone rock fishing at the Farallon Islands three times and he has taken me each time. He is a truly special guy and I think he is a model for many people who want to provide a child with the opportunity for a fishing trip that will be remembered forever.

Another pic. of the two lingcod

LoL and me on the Sea Wolf