Bottom Fishing

Rockfish, Lingcod, Black Cod, Pacific Cod and More

There are many species of Rockfish available around Ketchikan. It’s not uncommon to hook into them while fishing for halibut or salmon, as they live at varying depths in the water column. Mature Rockfish will range in age from 4–140 years and range in size from 1–30 lbs. The average size caught above 100 ft will be between 1 lb – 10 lbs. The larger Rockfish are typically caught at deeper depths ranging from 100 ft – 2,000 ft. These colorful, spiny creatures are beautiful and taste good too! Their white, flaky meat is absolutely delicious. They taste similar to cod but are a bit less oily, yet they cook up almost the same. Lingcod are pretty tasty too and will get up to 50 lbs around Ketchikan, however, they average around 15–20 lbs.

Rockfish and Lingcod are aggressive feeders and are pretty easy to catch (if they are there), as long as you don’t get hung up on the bottom. Find a pinnacle or a ledge ranging from 50–250 feet deep and drop down a herring or bounce a jig. Just be careful not to drag your hooks along the bottom, or you’ll just catch the rock and not the fish. The best way to catch these bottom dwellers is to hit bottom, then immediately reel your jig up a couple cranks, jig it a few times, then find bottom again, reel up a few cranks, jig, and repeat. The trick is to keep finding the bottom without letting your gear drag. The types of bottom you’ll encounter around Ketchikan vary. Typically rocky and irregular with vertical cliffs, ledges, boulders, and holes. Sometimes the bottom depth will change 50 feet in just a 3-foot drift. This is the kind of bottom Rockfish and Lingcod love.