Hello all, back for some more advice. I am curious what the rockfish typically bite in the spring? I will be headed to Salt Point with the wife May 10th and just hunting the coast around there. Plan on fishing right off the rocks at salt point, ocean cove, timber cove, and fort ross. I also plan on just bringing every different type of bait I can buy locally (sacramento) but wanted to know what you guys are or typically do have success with time of year. Any replies are appreciated, thanks.
Salt Point has some gorgeous rock formations and a ton of nooks and crannies to wet a line. I catch everything there on squid and shrimp but if the swells are down plenty of people kill it with swimbaits in the 4-6” range. Lings, big cabs, striped surfperch, kelp greenlings, and grassies are what you’ll likely run into. Make sure your braid is heavy enough to pull yourself out of snags and heavy vegetation.
I would avoid Timber Cove unless you feel very sure-footed and are willing to scramble down rocks closer to the water. Otherwise most of those cliffs are just too damn high up to fish from and release fish in a safe manner if you don’t/can’t keep your catch.
Ocean Cove is another fantastic spot and offers plenty of tree cover if you want to take a lunch break away from the sun & wind.
Haven’t fished Fort Ross yet but it’s a helluva sight just touring around the old fort. Looking forward to hearing how you do there!
There are a few other coves and turnouts between Timber and Ocean Cove that are worth checking out. Any spot that is calm enough as a launching spot for yaks is plenty fine to fish as long as it’s not a protected zone like Gerstle Cove SMR.
Absolutely beautiful coastline and early May ought to start really calming down. Good luck!