Rockfish (copper, quillback, black)
Know your fish
Rockfish (copper, quillback, black and others)
Sebastes spp.
Typical size:25–50 cm, 0.5–2.5 kg
- Spiny dorsal fin with 13 sharp spines; big eyes; perch-shaped
- Copper: coppery brown with a pale stripe along the rear lateral line
- Quillback: tall spiky dorsal, yellow-brown with dark blotches
- Black: slate black-blue, schooling, mid-water
Looks like: Yelloweye rockfish (orange-red with bright yellow eyes) must always be released. Kelp greenling has no dorsal spines like these.
cm
OK to keep
- Inside waters closed roughly Oct 1 to Apr 30; 3/day on the west coast, max one quillback/china/tiger
- Carry and use a descender device for every release
Must release
- Yelloweye, always
- Anything caught in a Rockfish Conservation Area (which is closed to fishing anyway)
Best months
May, June, July, August, September
Rules
Yelloweye rockfish: non-retention everywhere. Any released rockfish must go down on a descender device or inverted weighted barbless hook. Rockfish Conservation Areas are closed to all hook-and-line fishing.
Fishing licences across Canada
Rig to tie
- 1Main line 20–30 lb braid
- 2Swivel Size 4 barrel swivel
- 3Leader 20 lb fluorocarbon, 60 cm
- 4Jig head 1–2 oz round head, 3/0 hook (1/2–1 oz for greenling)
- 5Soft plastic 4–5 in curl tail or paddle tail, dark, motor oil or white
How to tie and fish it
Tie it:Tie braid to swivel with a Palomar. Tie leader to swivel and to the jig head with an improved clinch. Thread the plastic straight so it does not spin.
Fish it:Cast to the kelp edge or boulder seam, let it hit bottom, lift 30 cm and drop. Hits come on the drop. Set hard and lift the fish off the rocks immediately.