Sanddabs, sculpin, dogfish for kids

[mtskibum16]

My buddy recently got a boat and is wanting to get his kids in to some fun, easy, fast paced fishing. I recommended he just bounces the bottom for some of the regular by catch that is so common. I haven't done much gear fishing here, so when pressed further I couldn't provide many more details. Looking for recommendations on gear setup and if not specific locations, the type of areas he should be targeting to maximize success and get them interested quickly.

My first thought was jig heads with small grubs, drop shot with grubs/bait, bandana weight with the same trialing. Like any beach angler I've caught plenty from the beach, also out deep jigging/mooching for salmon. Just not sure what to look for for ideal conditions. I'm sure he'd prefer to be in some protected waters (Dyes Inlet) with the kiddos than out bouncing around at Jeff Head with the salmon folks and big waves while trying to teach the kids to fish.

Any tips would be helpful.

 

[Stonedfish]

A chunk of nightcrawler with your leader tied to a swivel below an egg sinker will do some damage on multiple species of bottom dwellers.
Easy to set-up and for kids to cast if they are of that age where they can cast on their own.
SF

 

[IHFISH]

SF's idea sounds great and I've had success with things along the lines of what you were thinking when trying to get my kids and their cousins into some of those species. Berkley makes some scented biodegradable (I think) worm/grubs that worked well.

 

[Scudley Do Right]

I would probably just use a double hook dropshot setup and use small chunks of herring. Look for flats around 60' and just drift along and see what they hook. If he took a fly rod he might hook a silver while they bounce bottom.

 

[Chadk]

little cocktail shrimp or night crawler chunks - drop shot so you lose the weight and not the whole setup of you snag. You can anchor or drift with the current. Stay in 15-30 feet of water. Hit bottom and reel up a foot. Sandy bottom for more flounder. Could even do a slip bobber and just set it for about a foot above bottom. If you leave it sit on the bottom, you'll get crabs and starfish and other things eating/stealing your bait.

 

[Sam Roffe]

My dad would set me up with a banana sinker and 2-3 foot leader with a hook and herring. Drop to the bottom bring it up about a foot. Flounder, rock fish, dog fish, rat fish and an occasional salmon.

Been jigging for salmon and the bottom fish I’ve been catching are looking really healthy. Good sign.

 

[troutpocket]

A drop shot rig with a small clouser or shrimp pattern works too. Rub a little scent gel on and commence with yarding up the sanddabs!

 

[Scudley Do Right]

Another thought would be to get over some herring and let them go to town with sabikies.

 

[SurfnFish]

when I ran chartered ling cod trips, on the way out to the 12 mile reef would first stop in 30' of water to load up on sand dabs for the bait crew not bouncing bars, Lings love them. We used strung 4 hook shrimp fly jigs,6 oz weight, hooks tipped with small pieces of bait squid, usually load all four hooks, some flounder in the mix...and occasionaly a halibut would kick up a fuss.

 

[mtskibum16]

Good stuff guys! I think I was about on the right track for gear. Any more tips on types of locations to target? Sand flats? Better above dropoffs? Just about anywhere?

 

[Paige]

The best bait for sand dabs and all the other fun little creatures is a chunk of Lingcod skin! You will need a pair of pliers to get it on and will last all day, we would target sand dabs in 80' - 90' FOW for our lingcod bait.

Use lingcod to catch bait to catch lingcod!

 

[Chadk]

The best bait for sand dabs and all the other fun little creatures is a chunk of Lingcod skin! You will need a pair of pliers to get it on and will last all day, we would target sand dabs in 80' - 90' FOW for our lingcod bait.

Use lingcod to catch bait to catch lingcod!

As a kid I would use sculpin meat. Sculpin skin, especially the white stomach, stayed on the hook all day and had movement in the water like crazy. Caught salmon with it even.

 

[mtskibum16]

How big of strips of bait/skin/etc are we talking?

 

[Paige]

.5 x 1" give or take

 

[Paige]

I will add that if your doing CnR or using for live bait to use a bigger hook like 1/0, as the sand dabs will swallow the hooks if to small and they are not that tough of a fish and wont survive.

 

[mtskibum16]

I will add that if your doing CnR or using for live bait to use a bigger hook like 1/0, as the sand dabs will swallow the hooks if to small and they are not that tough of a fish and wont survive.

Good comment, I had seen something similar mentioned elsewhere too. 1/0 it is!

 

[EmergingFisher]

Currently doing this exact fishing off Vancouver Island. My daughter has been very into it. I’m using simple drop shot and little pieces of leftover hot dog and it has not disappointed. Rockfish, sand dabs, dog fish (my first ever, and then another today), sculpin. Drop to the bottom, one reel up for tension and wait for the bites.

 

[ThatGuyRyRy]

I took the advice off this thread and used a piece of salmon skin for bait for sanddabs today and we caught about 7 before calling it quits. Didn't have to rebait once.

 

[Smalma]

Introduced a number of kids to the joy of chasing PS flatfish. The go to bait was a 1-inch piece of power bait worm (any one of the various bass worms) on a #2 eagle claw bait hook. The bait was usually good for a number of fish and day's worth of bait could be carried in my shirt pocket and was readily available before the trip.

The kids enjoyment to seem to increase with the quality of the snacks provided. I use to have a simple species ID chart and some of the kids really got into seeing what species were being caught and each fish caught was immediately checked to see if a new species could be added to their list.

Curt