Bull Rock

Tackle & technique

Striped bass

Striped bass feed where moving tide pushes bait past structure: inlets, points, jetties, bridge pilings and rips in the surf, usually in 2 to 40 feet of water. Fish dawn, dusk and night hardest, casting plugs, bucktails and soft plastics or drifting live bunker and eels, and chunk bait on the bottom in current. In midsummer the larger fish drop deeper or feed mostly after dark.

Pacific halibut

Halibut sit on sand and gravel bottoms near drop-offs, bars and pinnacles, most often in 90 to 500 feet in Alaska and on the shelf off Washington, Oregon and far northern California. Anchor up-current of a likely edge and fish herring, squid, octopus or a salmon head on a circle hook with 24 to 32 ounces of weight, or bounce a large jig on the bottom. The best bite usually comes in the hour around slack tide.

Albacore tuna

Albacore hold 30 to 100 miles off Oregon and Washington in clear blue water around 60 to 65 degrees, usually along a temperature break. Troll clones, cedar plugs and diving plugs at 6 to 8 knots until a fish hits, then stop and work the school near the surface with live anchovies, swimbaits or iron. Bar conditions and the long run decide most trips before the fish do.