Best Rockfish Rig ?

[walkerman]

Allow the Rockfish to inhale your bait, but instead of swinging to the heavens you just crank. In your case, with mono, you crank HARD!

You want to be sure to thread your dropper loop from front to back when going thru the eye of a circle hook.

[walkerman]

I Still think i should stick with the J hooks, i think I am just more confterable with them, i think i would loose fish with the circles.

Conftert has nothing to do with it....Try using 1 J hook and 1 circle hook
on your dropper loops and see which brings up the most fish. Especially if you are using mono.

[OciferDave]

To catch the bigger grade of bottom fish I use the same set up as I use for Halibut fishing: 3 way swivel with a small 8 " piece of light line and a sinker and a 2.5' leader of light flouro .. maybe 15-20 pound with a circle hook and a small mac on it.

[Westend]

Lucanus jigs by Shimano work and work well for all kinds of rock fish. I was skeptical at first but tried it and caught fish almost every drop. They are expensive though. I even caught fish with the rod in the rod holder in gear.

[vincentek9]

double dropper loop with big curly grubs and squid
150gr lucanus (1 hook cut off) and a fat grub 12-14" above it it. (2 hooks total = legal)

[andyrox]

I second the lucanus. Always manage to get the reds with the sunset crab color.

double dropperloop with 2 squid strips on mustad demon circle hooks.

Jax jigs are popular as well.

[smithers]

Conftert has nothing to do with it....Try using 1 J hook and 1 circle hook
on your dropper loops and see which brings up the most fish. Especially if you are using mono.

I don't recommend this; the hooks require a totally different style of fishing.
I switch back and forth between rigs often, and I'm constantly thinking about the type of hook I've got down there so I will be ready to either set it or instead be patient and let the bait get swallowed with the circle.

If you try to set the hook then you will have no luck with circles. Likewise, if you don't set, there is no reason to think a J-hook will do better if you've got the right sizes.

Basically I like circles for bait, but I also like to use a heavy jig with a teaser, but in that case the teaser is a J-hook since the treble on the jig also needs to get set (so no mixing the styles)

[walkerman]

I don't recommend this; the hooks require a totally different style of fishing.
I switch back and forth between rigs often, and I'm constantly thinking about the type of hook I've got down there so I will be ready to either set it or instead be patient and let the bait get swallowed with the circle.

If you try to set the hook then you will have no luck with circles. Likewise, if you don't set, there is no reason to think a J-hook will do better if you've got the right sizes.

Basically I like circles for bait, but I also like to use a heavy jig with a teaser, but in that case the teaser is a J-hook since the treble on the jig also needs to get set (so no mixing the styles)

He's using straight mono...there will be no setting of the hook no matter how hard he swings. Seriously, how much of a hook set do you get at 300 feet, or even more since your line is at an angle and not straight up and down.

[bdmudd]

You don't have to swing with a J hook; you can fish it just like a circle and it will hook the corner of the jaw most every time.

[conchydong]

Be careful on your math......2 long shank hooks on drooper loops and a jig on the bottom = 3 hooks (illegal).

I like 2 long shank circles, called Mustad E/Z-Baiters on drooper loop (I tie with a spider hitch or double surgeon's ) and I use re-bar for the weight.

Squid, Octopus tentacles, Pismo clam and shell-on Shrimp.

Have fun. I'm looking forward to some codding too.

I use the same hooks for deep water fishing in FL (Mustad 39977) and I much prefer these over the short shank circles. Easier to bait and remove fish. The curvature is less than most circle hooks almost like a hybrid between a J hook and circle but just enough circle where the fish do not shake off during the long haul back to the surface.
For those who don't like circles, do yourself a favor and try these. You will not be dissapointed.

Don't let the sizes fool you. They run much much smaller than normal hook sizes.