1980, fishing off the Avila Beach pier I pulled in something heavy, but not moving, thought it was seaweed, but turned out to be a large shock off a car or truck. When I got the shock on the pier out crawls a nice sized octopus which I turned inside out(the way I kill them if keeping for dinner). The Octopus made a great soup for the wife and me.
I have pulled many rocks from the ocean floor which I keep and have a large rock garden from them around my house. Once I was about 50 miles offshore chasing Albacore when I saw a brand new x-large galvanized thrash can with just enough water in it to float right side up, any waves would have sunk it, but there it was and no boats in sight. I asked all over the port to find out who lost it... now has been my garbage can in the shop for 20 years.

I agree 100%, just be sure to let it cure 24 hours before putting screw back in.

Check to see if it is a Hook "7X" series as the the "7X" has the slot for the map card, it does NOT have the capacity or ability to read Maps and only has GPS, a white screen with track lines or user installed way points and MOB capabilities. The Micro slot is for data transfers or screen shots, it would not read the $265 Micro card I bought and had to return at a $60 restock fee.
I found this out the hard way as I bought a HOOK 7X then bought the expensive west coast Mirco card and installed, but no maps showed up. After contacting Lowrance I was told the 7X series can not read any navigational maps, nor has any maps in its system. I then bought the Hook "7" and it will read all navigational Micro cards around the world.
Again check to see if the unit is a Hook "7X"

Check the tongue of fish, there are barbs on back of steelhead's tongue and none on a Salmon. This is the fastest way to tell an ocean returning Steelhead from a returning bright, king Salmon.
Black mouth with white gums at base of teeth on lower jaw. King (Chinook) Salmon, White mouth then Coho (Silver) Salmon.

Yes as you can have Pelagic rock fish and non-Pelagic rock fish Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) divides rockfish into two categories with separate regulations: pelagic rockfish and demersal shelf rockfish (DSR). Our anglers often ask what the terms mean.

Let’s start with pelagic. The term comes from the Greek pélagos, which means open sea. The zone of the ocean considered pelagic includes everything from the surface to just short of the bottom. The most common catches in the pelagic category are black, yellowtail, and dusky rockfish. The rockfish classified as pelagic in our regulations are more abundant and faster growing than DSR. Most are 7 to 30 years old while DSR range from 15 to at least 75 years old and are less abundant.

As for behavior, the rockfish frequently ignore their designated category. We catch pelagic rockfish on the bottom and we encounter DSR hundreds of feet off bottom. Because rockfish of all types are relatively slow growing and late maturing and are easily overfished.
https://anglingunlimited.com/2017/11/03/what-does-pelagic-mean/

Groundfish refers to more than 90 different types of roundfish, flatfish, rockfish, sharks, and skates off the West Coast. With a few exceptions, groundfish live on or near the bottom of the ocean. Fishermen from Washington, Oregon, and California catch them year-round using a variety of gear types.

Groundfish generally fall into one of the following categories of fish:

Rockfish: Numerous species, including widow, yellowtail, canary, and vermilion rockfish; bocaccio, chilipepper, cowcod, yelloweye, thornyheads, and Pacific ocean perch.
Flatfish: 12 species including petrale sole, Dover sole, starry flounder, arrowtooth flounder, and Pacific sanddab.
Roundfish: The six species are lingcod, cabezon, kelp greenling, Pacific cod, Pacific whiting (hake), and sablefish.
Sharks and skates: The six species are leopard shark, soupfin shark, spiny dogfish, big skate, California skate, and longnose skate.
Other species: These include ratfish, finescale codling, and Pacific rattail grenadier.

I use https://www.usharbors.com/harbor/California/Port-San-Luis-ca/tides for my area, you can put in your local area and get the results. I like the wave form graft that shows how fast the tide is moving up or down in the 24 hr time frame, also has tide chart for any dates you might need.

Yea, fish would have it made if they'd learned to keep their mouth shut!

The official California Fish and Wildlife records show Fred Oakley as one of two anglers holding the state record for barred surfperch with a 4 pound two ounce fish, the other being Artie Ferguson Jr. who caught his fish in Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo Co. on 11/8/1995). Artie is a friend of mine and he broke my record of 4 pounds that I set in 1990. I caught mine on Pismo Beach.
http://kenjonesfishing.com/2014/11/5697/#:~:text=The%20official%20California%20Fish%20and,other%20being%20Artie%20Ferguson%20Jr.

Hummm... Atascadero (Spanish for Mudhole) about 25 miles north of me and Los Osos (valley of the Bears)is 10 miles from me.

Haha Saxmanpdx I have had a lot of the same experience with suicidal fish, but it seems as if they are always ones not in season or under sized.

As I stated in my profile... PSL (Port San Luis) Calif is home base. You can see a dressed, 65 lb White Sea Bass in my profile pic, it was one of two I caught that day trolling off the beach near Avila Beach Calif. in 45' of water.
Oh, I should mention I'm 6'5" and weight 400 lbs. The White Sea Bass in the pic in being held next to my body with my arm in gut and my thumb sticking out just under throat, it was a beauty.

Next pic is AK. Halibut and Ling cod caught off the Coast of Canada in 2005. Next a Ling cod free gaffed that was Hitchhiking on an Golden Eye Rock Cod same trip.

Next pics are of my retirement boat "Trick'a Fish".

Hi Trick'a Fish here,
I've been reading the forum for a long time and thought it was time I join and contribute to the forum. If you read my profile you will see I am a life long sport fisherman with a life time Calif sport licence, and I'm a 30 year retired commercial fisherman. I've have a 6 pack license for over 30 years and ran Tuna, Salmon, and other types of fishing boats in the past. I was 10 year President of the PSL(Port San Luis) Commercial Fisherman Association.
I was instrumental in developing the "Live Fish" industry in Calif... all rod and reel fishing. My best year of live fishing I landed 2,100 lb of live fish(keeping them alive all the way to market) one fish at a time, one hook at a time and no fish over 6 lbs as there is a slot size to get max $ at the Live Fish market. I had Carpel tunnel surgery in both wrist that year.

I now only sport fish mainly for Rock Cod, Ling Cod, Halibut, White Sea Bass, Salmon and Albacore out of an 18' center console Bay Runner, 70 hp Yamaha, tuna tower and Scotty Down Riggers.
I build all my own rods and have most of my life along with pouring all my lead jigs and sinkers. I have dabbled in rubber making, but find it to messy and would rather buy my rubber tails in bulk.


Haha enough about me, I only hope I can contribute to the forum with tails of great fishing and some not so great fishing trips and How I do things on and off the water.
Respectfuly,
Trick'a Fish
(Big Larry)