Northwest Fishing Reports

How do you catch cabezon??? I have been trying this whole week trying to catch them around hat island. First I used shrimp and caught a million flounder so I gave up on that bait. Then I switched to red, brown, orange, and crab colored plastic grub type baits on 4 oz jig heads and jigged them off the floor. No dice.

I searched google and it seems people only catch them on accident...

I've only ever caught them on accident as well. Mooching herring, even with a buzz bomb from shore.

I've been told that they love gulp shrimp fished shallow, like 15 feet or less, and real rocky areas.

They specialize in eating crab and other shellfish, makes them kind of tough to target. They are a bycatch kind of fish and are more plentiful out on the coast. The State implemented a size and bag limit a bit too late in the Sound so they are a bit harder to come by in the greater Puget Sound area.

My brother caught a 12 pound cabezon in Neah Bay 2 weeks ago. We were jigging the bottom for lings and/or rock fish. He was using a jig with a white plastic skirt on it with lots of little legs - no scent or bait on it at all. When we opened it up it was full of baby crab and a few other unknown bottom things. The mouth and stomach were that blue color but the flesh was white and very very good.

Caught one blue like that with a rubber worm on a jighead. It's stomach was full of rocks. I wouldn't keep one again. I prefer Lingcod or Rockcod....