Airflo Big Game Depth Finder w/ 10 ft Airflo saltwater polyleader and mono or fluoro leader of 6-8 inches of 25 lb looped to the polyleader and 2-3 ft of 40lb or heavier looped to the 25 lb bumper and down to the fly. This way if you get hung bad you can probably get the 25 to break off and save your fly line. Replace the 2-3 feet of 40lb as line damage happens from either ling teeth or rockfish sandpaper mouth. Non-slip loop to the fly.
8/9 wt: 400 grain
10 wt: 500 grain
11/12: 700 grain
Figure out how the tide is working and pull up just on the edge on the structure (rocks, kelp, debris, etc.). Flip a 5-8” balanced, big, nasty hunk of rabbit, Finn raccoon, yak hair concoction in muted colors like tan and olive and just a bit of flash just upstream of what the drift is doing. Keep an eye on the graph. Have a bunch of extra line stripped off at your feet. Shake your rod tip to release more line as the boat drifts away from the structure. When you feel like the fly is in the zone (or you can see on your graph that you’re in there) reel up any extra slack you’ve stripped off the reel and start your retrieve. I like long slow pulls with intermittent short, sharp jerks. Then hang on when your line stops and the rod pumps. Could be a nice ling, cabezon, any number of rockfish species, or occasionally a salmon (especially near the kelp).
