Anglers revel in the ability of using their whimpy little freshwater trout rods with spinning reels and freshwater bass rods with baitcasters normally foreign to typical ocean fishing, We recommend 12 to 15 pound test line, but the range goes from as little as 8 pound test to the heaviest running about 20 pound. The idea is to use as light of tackle as possible depending on conditions to have the most fun and best sport possible.

Upcoming trips and Reservations!

Lure weight is decided by the ocean's deposition, but usually varies from one to eight ounces. Yes, that's right, ounces. Once again, items normally reserved for freshwater are consistently thrown at these bottomfish including an array of plastics and hardware, even spinner baits. Sure, the good 'ol shrimp fly lures are a rockfishing staple. However, some of the most popular lures used are scampis: split tail plastic grubs with lead heads typically weighing two, four or six ounces. Preferred colors include rootbeer, motoroil, white and purple. Diehard casters also use all kinds of different varieties of iron. Diamond bars, Hopkins, Pt. Wilson anchovies, Salas bars all have their moment.

If you're not convinced about trying shallow water light tackle rockfishing on the Queen of Heart yet, this should do it: Check out the quantity and quality of fish possible. The rockfish limit, which is made up of dozens of species, is 10 fish per angler per day. However, there is an overall bag limit of 20 fish per angler per day. Critters such as lingcod and halibut are counted separately from rockfish.

As will be the case once again this year, we've been running shallow water light tackle rockfishing trips on the Queen of Hearts almost exclusively during the open season on open load trips the past few years. To give you a feel for a typical season, we ran 119 SWLT trips during a recent season. Although you don't have to catch limits to have fun, over two-thirds of those 119 trips caught limits of rockfish, and just shy of 90% of all trips caught at least an average of three-quarters to limits. Included in these limits are the coveted Vermillion (red) rockfish, which frequently weigh as much as 10 to 12 pounds. In addition to the rockfish, over 600 lingcod were bagged as well as over 775 cabezon. There's also the chance of hooking into some good size halibut, with most of the halibut weighing in over 10 pounds up to a "barn door" 36 lb. halibut!

Upcoming trips and Reservations!

What about rods, reels and tackle? If you don't have any gear, don't worry. Tackle can be purchased and rods rented the morning of your trip. If you want to bring your own gear, it's up to you: spinning, baitcasting and conventional outfits are all used.