how to catch cabezon???

[donater]

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...

[JoshH]

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.

[G-Man]

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.

[Larry3215]

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.

[Toni]

I caught one a couple years ago out of Sekiu, by accident. We were jigging for bottom fish. 2oz Wannafish A Lure tied jig with no scent. Good eating.

[3footvis]

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....