Northwest Fishing Magazine July 2025 Volume 4 Issue 9 - Flipbook - Page 36
to the weight with a rubber
band, and it is stopped by
a swivel to a leader. The
rubber band keeps you
from losing an entire rig if
your weight gets stuck, and
the swivel will keep the live
bait tangle-free. Give it a try
with surf perch on a single
hook rig, or sand dabs and
greenling on a double hook
rig.
The SECOND BOTTOM
FISHING METHOD is
jigging with soft plastics.
This method allows you to
go right out to the fishing
grounds. Oftentimes, the
soft plastic jigs come prerigged, so all you have
to do is tie them onto a
50-pound mono leader and
drop it near the bottom.
My absolute favorite for
jigging soft plastic is a
Fisherman’s Gold Electric
Eel jig. It has caught
absolutely everything from
giant 50-pound lingcod to
limit after limit of rockfish.
The only consideration is
how heavy and how big
you want your plastic.
Obviously, using a 32 ounce
12 inch eel won’t be the
right choice for rockfish,
but if you’re shallow,
there is little better than
catching black rocks on a 1
or 2 ounce eel. Fishing soft
plastics is the most versatile
of the 3 methods. You can
fish them light or heavy,
large or small, shallow or
