Edmonds Pier - Guide to Bottomfishing

[bubba800]

Ok ive fished edmonds for awhile for bottomfish and ive decided to make a guide.

Rockfish - These are the most commonly fished for among edmonds they grow anywhere from 2-3 inches to 14-15 inches they taste great fried or steamed. The smaller ones make great bait for ling cod as i will explain later.


Bait Fishing Them - Ill start by telling you how to catch the smaller ones. you use a size 6 or 8 snelled hook with 3-4 inches of leader line attached to a swivel and a light bullet wait above the swivel. attach on some worms or shrimp and your good to go. throw it near the pilings anywhere from 3-4 feet below the surface or all the way to the bottom. to catch the bigger ones 10 inch or bigger get a really small hook small as you can. put a tiny piece of shrimp or worm and look for a school of perch and slowly lower your bait into it. you should be able to see the perch hit it if there is no perch nearby try to get a sculpin or anything small that moves other than another rock cod or ling cod make sure it is 2-3 inches minmum, dead baits like frozen herring work well and if you want to use shrimp for it works too just put a pretty big chunk of it on your hook.. once you have one take size 3-4 snelled or circle hook stick it through the back. Careful not to pierce the spine or you'll kill it. then rig up any way you like with a nice sized weight and 5-6 inches of leader. throw it near the rocks or at the bottom of a piling and you will be sure of hook up if its a good day you will get a bite within 1-30 mins. The second you have the rock cod on reel it up fairly fast as it will try to swim into the piling or rocks.

Jigging for them - My experience with jigging for rock cod are not as good as baiting i prefer baiting them buts that my preference. if you wish to jig for them use a lead jighead with a curly tail grub according to the size of the rock cod you want. bright colors have worked best for me. i only jig for them if i can see them. i have had luck with darts those ones that look like candlefish but not much only caught 2 or 3 but they were pretty large.

Flounders/Sole - In my opinion flounders taste horrible anyway you cook them. i advise that if you do eat them always fry them because if you dont the meats go soft. i use them as crab bait they work better than other than much other baits. just cut a couple of long slits on them.


Baiting for them - you would use the same setup as in catching the small rock cod. put a piece of shrimp or worm and slowly drag it or leave it on the bottom. berkley gulp bait sand flea crabs work good too on the bottom. ill share with you guys a story about 2 to 4 years ago during the summer there was a huge flounder swimming on the surface 10-15lbs if anyone remembers and a guy snagged it with a tiny white jig and brought it in somehow. was being yelled at by my uncle for not telling him. if anyone was there that was an amazing moment for edmonds flounder haha biggest one ive seen outta edmonds.

Jigging for them - theres no ways to jig for them unless you can see them which you rarely do. but if you do a small white grub will work well throw it behind them and keep reeling it in across there face. you either snag it or it takes the jig.

Cabezon - i would say this fish is decent for eating but more useful as ling cod bait. they are ugly as hell though you will lose your appetite once you see its blue meat. yes thats right BLUE!!! anyways it turns white when you cook it.


Baiting them - cabezons have not been what they used to be at edmonds. you could usually toss anything at the rocks and you would get one. i would throw shrimp and perch into the rocks with decent size hooks. i wouldnt get your hopes high of getting one though as i havent caught one since 07.

Jigging - I have never tried to jig nor caught one on a jig. if you have had any luck please tell me and i will add it into this guide.

Sculpins - they are also a bad tasting fish used as bait for rock cod and ling cod and crab. the smaller ones for rock cod. and the big ones ling cod and crab.

Baiting them - anything type of bait works dead, live, fish guts. for the smaller ones i would use fish guts or worms and shrimps. whats amazing is that you can use a smaller sculpin and catch a bigger one. for the bigger ones half a perch or anything works well on a size 2-4 hook. they have large mouths and can fit lots in so a big bait works as well. when handling one avoid the 2 spikes on the side of their heads as the hurt pretty bad when you get pricked. if you are saving them for crab bait or dead bait. remember to cut off the thorns to avoid being pricked the next time.

Jigging for them - curly tail grubs work the best off the bottom. bounce them up and down and one will strike and occasionally you can grab a rock cod off the bottom.

Greenlings - i dont think they are bottom fish but they taste goood to me and i usually catch them off the bottom. like cabezon they have been declining as well havent had 1 since 06 :bounce: they are in my opinion the best ling cod bait. they are very tasty fried or steamed.


Baiting them - i have had the most luck on a size 6 snelled hook with a medium sized piece of shrimp on it. a funny story of mine i had just caught a nice 14 inch greenlings to eat and tried to keep it alive. but when it died suddenly i wondered why. but i found out when i was gutting it that it had the shrimp stuck in its gill. well the best spot to try for these is at the far end of the pier right in between the 2 pilings.

Jigging them - i have never tried jigging for them so i would not know how tell me if you guys know anyway to jig for them and i will add that to this guide.

Dogfish - a type of shark that grows fairly large as big as a ling but not as vicious. i have not tried one because i have been told they taste because of a defense mechanism where they urinate through their skin. people have told me to soak them in lemon juice for 3, 2 hour periods but thats too much of a hassle for me.

Baiting them - herring works the best whole herring that is with the head cut off. on a size 3-4 hook. try using a wire leader because these guys have teeth. i dont catch many at edmonds and if i do average size is 15-20 inches. they mostly come out at night at edmonds.

Jigging for them - i dont jig for them and if you do tell me how and i will add it to this guide.

Ratfish - The goggly eyed whip tailed fish of the bottom. its looks like an alien with its big eyes. i like to poke at the eyes when i catch one because it feels weird. avoid the tails as they can cut you pretty deep. they have cut clean through my 20lb test once. i have never eaten one as i have been told they are poisonous.

Baiting them - dead baits work the best for these shrimp, frozen herring and fish guts. I catch them usually when i go for rock cod. if you see one leave your bait on the bottom and it will eventually come back and take it.

Jigging them - i dont jig for them but i do snag them with jigs if i see one and throw it into the break water they like to rip your baits in half with their buck teeth so i dont like them.

Ling Cod - DUN DUN DUN!!! the 2nd biggest fish to catch in edmonds other than chinook salmon. and the best tasting bottomfish next to rock cod. with a 26 inch minimum its huge. taking baits up to 14 inches long its the king of bottom fish.

Baiting them - if you are willing get yourself a strong rod 7-8 feet medium to large reel. 15lb abrasion resistant line and steel wire leader is a minimum as they have sharp teeth like a chum but not as large but many and are like nails. i would wear gloves when trying to remove a hook from their mouths i have had experience that if you dont bye bye finger or a deep teeth wound it will be like a line of red dots squirting blood out. first things first a average size keeper ling is 6-7 pounds that can take maybe an 6-8 inch rock cod, greenling, flounder, or sculpin. hook

[Rollin with Rolland]

This is a SUPERB guide bubba800. This will help myself and many others. Thank you.


One thought. It sounds like you are VERY EXPERIENCED at the pier. Now, I have never been there. I don't even know the regulations there. BUT, it may be that some of your techniques are NON-TRADITIONAL. I'm not sure, but Greenling is great for ling bait, but Rockfish (rockcod?) I don't think so. (It's not legal in any area I've fished, but may be off Edmonds, I dunno.) That was my only thought......

Great guide again!!:cheers:

[The Quadfather]

Bubba800/Spencer,

Thanks very much for a great post on the happenings at the Edmonds Pier. I've met you and Patrick (fishingboy) and you guys have a lot of spirit and remind me of myself literally 30 years ago. That's a great thing about this site,, we can all learn from each other. I grew up when the Edmonds pier was built. I used to fish there a lot as a kid. It was also the place to take your date to and walk around.... HA HA, maybe that was the teenage fisher freak in me coming out.
Anyway, I will have to start going out there again. It is an easy trip, and no hassle of boat launching, sometimes you just wanna sit down. I'm psyched to get out there.

[Gonefishing]

Quick reminder the use of a "food fish" like a rock cod live or dead can not be used as bait for Ling Cod per the Fish and Game department - whom I asked that question to a few years ago as I felt it too would be a good bait. The big problem is that a) low rock cod numbers in area 9 as they mature slowly but are kept by everybody it seems because there is no size minimum. Then there is the "the limit doesn't apply to me rule" that some seem to use.

I mostly use jigs except in the dead of winter when I have to go fishing and perch is the insane word.

Cabazon on jiggs - but last one was 2 years ago in the 10 pound range. All head and my wife thought the meat was bad because it was blue.

Ling - Caught em on squid or small piling pearch. Once 20 plus years ago I caught a 20+ on a jig - line broke as the net was being dropped. Remember people there is a season for them and July to late May ain't it.

Dog Fish - your reading a post by the idiot that caught 7 of them 2 years ago and 2 last year all while jigging for salmon.

Hey bubba wheres the part about Sunstar - kidding. If there was anything I wish we had less of down at the pier that is it. For those that remember we use to have Hake, lots of squid, Ling, Rock Cod, the big Silver Pearch, and lord knows how many coho at the pier. Times have changed.

[Gringo Pescador]

As christoferbeebe pointed out on the other post..
http://www.washingtonlakes.com/forum/ya ... ind=unread

In the future, you and fishingboy need to coordinate who is going to post your info and when...

[bubba800]

ok my bad lol ill post this guide next summer =[ i was hoping for it get stickied

[Shad_Eating_Grin]

[

Quick reminder the use of a "food fish" like a rock cod live or dead can not be used as bait for Ling Cod per the Fish and Game department - whom I asked that question to a few years ago as I felt it too would be a good bait. The big problem is that a) low rock cod numbers in area 9 as they mature slowly but are kept by everybody it seems because there is no size minimum. Then there is the "the limit doesn't apply to me rule" that some seem to use.

....

There are lots and lots of restrictions on rockfish. But there is no prohibition in the regs about using them for bait .

[Shad_Eating_Grin]

...

Flounders/Sole - In my opinion flounders taste horrible anyway you cook them. i advise that if you do eat them always fry them because if you dont the meats go soft. i use them as crab bait they work better than other than much other baits. just cut a couple of long slits on them.

Limits/Minimum size - 2 per day no minimum size

...

The limit of 2 for "all other fish" is referring to "Unclassified Marine Fish", which are basically fish other than bottomfish, foodfish, gamefish, etc. that are specifically defined in the regs.

Per page 102 of the regs: "UNCLASSIFIED MARINE FISH - Daily limit 2
per species of fish, except that the daily limit may
not contain more than a total of two sculpins not
included in the bottomfish definition."


The limit for flounder is actually 15 (i.e., the 15 fish aggregate limit for bottomfish), assuming that you possessed no other bottomfish species. Limit for greenling is also 15, assuming that you kept no other bottomfish. If you keep multiple species of bottomfish, just make sure the grand total is no more than 15, subject to individual limits, like no more than 10 perch amongst your 15 bottomfish.

[Rollin with Rolland]

There are lots and lots of restrictions on rockfish. But there is no prohibition in the regs about using them for bait .

Hmm. I just always assumed you couldn't use Rockfish for bait. Thought I read that somewhere, but I guess I can't find it now. Would this mean you could only use ONE rockfish for bait, because if you used TWO then you would breaking the rules on Daily Limit, which is the first rockfish caught??

[bubba800]

well people have told me that they keep 1 small for bait and then a large one for food but i dont know i think you can use them for bait because i have seen it for a while but they told me that if its on your line it doesn't count as your limit.

[Shad_Eating_Grin]

There are lots and lots of restrictions on rockfish. But there is no prohibition in the regs about using them for bait .

Hmm. I just always assumed you couldn't use Rockfish for bait. Thought I read that somewhere, but I guess I can't find it now. Would this mean you could only use ONE rockfish for bait, because if you used TWO then you would breaking the rules on Daily Limit, which is the first rockfish caught??

yep, you can keep only one, whether you use it for bait or for food. If you use one for bait, and then keep another one in the cooler, that would be a violation.

[bubba800]

...

Flounders/Sole - In my opinion flounders taste horrible anyway you cook them. i advise that if you do eat them always fry them because if you dont the meats go soft. i use them as crab bait they work better than other than much other baits. just cut a couple of long slits on them.

Limits/Minimum size - 2 per day no minimum size

...

The limit of 2 for "all other fish" is referring to "Unclassified Marine Fish", which are basically fish other than bottomfish, foodfish, gamefish, etc. that are specifically defined in the regs.

Per page 102 of the regs: "UNCLASSIFIED MARINE FISH - Daily limit 2
per species of fish, except that the daily limit may
not contain more than a total of two sculpins not
included in the bottomfish definition."


The limit for flounder is actually 15 (i.e., the 15 fish aggregate limit for bottomfish), assuming that you possessed no other bottomfish species. Limit for greenling is also 15, assuming that you kept no other bottomfish. If you keep multiple species of bottomfish, just make sure the grand total is no more than 15, subject to individual limits, like no more than 10 perch amongst your 15 bottomfish.

ok i added the stuff thanks

[Shad_Eating_Grin]

...

Flounders/Sole - In my opinion flounders taste horrible anyway you cook them. i advise that if you do eat them always fry them because if you dont the meats go soft. i use them as crab bait they work better than other than much other baits. just cut a couple of long slits on them.

Limits/Minimum size - 2 per day no minimum size

...

The limit of 2 for "all other fish" is referring to "Unclassified Marine Fish", which are basically fish other than bottomfish, foodfish, gamefish, etc. that are specifically defined in the regs.

Per page 102 of the regs: "UNCLASSIFIED MARINE FISH - Daily limit 2
per species of fish, except that the daily limit may
not contain more than a total of two sculpins not
included in the bottomfish definition."


The limit for flounder is actually 15 (i.e., the 15 fish aggregate limit for bottomfish), assuming that you possessed no other bottomfish species. Limit for greenling is also 15, assuming that you kept no other bottomfish. If you keep multiple species of bottomfish, just make sure the grand total is no more than 15, subject to individual limits, like no more than 10 perch amongst your 15 bottomfish.

ok i added the stuff thanks

Careful on the cabezon above... the limit is 2 as specifically pointed out in the regs. Right now, your updated posting has a limit of 15 cabs (which is not correct).

My suggestion: remove/delete the limit info in your posting... the WDFW limits can get very confusing for the novice angler, who doesn't understand the "aggregate 15 bottomfish limit" and "individual species limit" set forth in the regs. Plus, the limits change from year to year, and even within the same year if there is an emergency. For the novice angler, knowing the technique and bait as explained by your post is a great start. They and all the rest of us can just get an attorney to figure out the limits part.

[Gonefishing]

About 5 to 7 years ago I was asking a Game Warden at the Edmonds Pier who was nice enough to answer my questions regarding bait while he was inspecting the hook on my jig. My first question did refer to the use of Rock Cod as bait for Ling or other bottom fish. He basically said no you can't because as has been noted earlier many can't count or say the one cod rule doesn't apply to them because the first (small) is being used as bait and the larger is being used for food.

The logic he used was you catch a rock fish and turn it into Ling Bait. Ling hits the bait breaks the line and gets a free meal out of it. What are you going to do next. Rebait up and then what - you don't have herring or squid or anything else but shimp so the odds are your going to catch or try to catch another Rock Cod. Problem is you already caught one and you killed it and kept it and used it as bait. There is also no way to prove physically if you caught a rock cod or not unless the Game Warden had seen you catch that first one. Witnesses may have seen it but because the fish was served as dinner to the Ling well...

I had asked the question because the day prior somebody was hooking Rock Cod left and right making sure they never had more than one either on the line as bait or in the bucket to be used as upcoming bait. The guy kept saying the one cod rule didn't apply to him because it was being used as bait.

To me this is kind of like the guy that catches Black Rock Cod leaves with 4 of them. You say nice Black Rock Cod but dude the limits one. And the person with the bucket says no they are black rock bass not cod. And to make matters worse the rock cod season had ended.....

Next dumb question was why does the bait shop that sells live herring have to stun the bait if you have a live well with air pump. And why does the game department frown on the use of live herring as bait. I don't recall the answer I got mainly because he told me to pinch the barb a little bit more, which I didn't do - I simply replaced the hook with a barbless one.

[Shad_Eating_Grin]

...
Next dumb question was why does the bait shop that sells live herring have to stun the bait if you have a live well with air pump. And why does the game department frown on the use of live herring as bait. ....

Sounds like that game warden needs to re-read the rules regarding the use of live bait. Live herring for saltwater fishing for salmon and bottomfish is 100% legal.

[Shad_Eating_Grin]

...To me this is kind of like the guy that catches Black Rock Cod leaves with 4 of them. You say nice Black Rock Cod but dude the limits one. And the person with the bucket says no they are black rock bass not cod. And to make matters worse the rock cod season had ended.....

...

"Black Rock Cod" --- do you mean "sablefish" (aka "Blackcod")?-- if sablefish, then the limit is 15 (assuming he possessed no other bottomfish as part of the 15 fish aggregate limit for bottomfish)

Or, do you mean "Black Rockfish"?-- if yes, then the limit is 1 rockfish and this guy was breaking the rules. Although, it's been a long time since people have been able to catch black rockfish with regularity inside Puget Sound (lots of them on the coast, but now rarely caught in the inland waters)

[Gonefishing]

I meant Black Rock Fish... sorry.... was tired when I typed that.

[Gonefishing]

For about 3 weeks or so the pier had a lot of them it seemed. They came in after the herring and the zillion shakers came arrived, around or after September 30th when Rock Fish closed in area 9. That was the point I was trying to make I guess that and the limit was only 1 to the guy in question.