Passing the rockfish exam

Courtney Craft and I had gone to rockfish school with Capt. Bobby Jenkins out of Urbanna. Along with our friend Tim Tigner, Courtney and I had booked a full day trip on the Rappahannock with two objectives: First, a potential fish fry that evening, but mainly we wanted to learn more about how to catch rockfish in a big river like the Rappahannock when we went alone.
I feel pretty comfortable on a trout stream. No matter which stream, I know from experience where fish are likely to feed and seek cover. I can usually figure out a farm pond and at least throw my lures where the fish ought to be. Sometimes they bite and sometimes they don’t. Same with rivers, like the James and the New. But the Rappahannock is a different ball game. It’s huge, it’s deep, it’s tidal and in the past few years, Courtney and I had been skunked. Throughout our day with Capt. Jenkins, we picked his brain. Below are some of the things we learned.
First, trolling is better than chumming in the tidal rivers. Whereas a chum line may work well in the bay, it’s not very productive in the Rapp. So trolling it would be. But what lures, what speed, what depth?
Capt. Jenkins likes to fish a variety of lures until the fish pick the one they want.
“Change colors, change lures change depths, change speeds” the Captain instructed.
We used Stretch 25’s, albino colored Sassy Shads with a ball sinker, we wire-lined different lures to reach deeper water and we even tossed out an umbrella rig – a strange looking contraption with 4 or 5 lures attached which imitates a school of baitfish.
As for depth, Capt. Jenkins had this advice. Rockfish will come up to strike a bait, but they rarely go down. Therefore, if you err, err on the side of fishing a little higher in the water column.
Capt. Jenkins also advised that humps and the edges of river channels were prime spots to find fish.
We worked a hump that came up to 14 feet, then dropped to fifty. We made at least twenty passes across the hump, but to no avail.
“Keep trying until something works,” Bobby said. “Sometimes persistence is what it takes. Don’t give up. Keep fishing.”
We also learned that where diving ducks gathered, there was likely bait nearby. So when in doubt, fish where the ducks are. However, diving seagulls may or may not be working over rockfish. Often gulls will dive into schools of feeding bluefish. Bluefish rip bait apart, leaving scraps for the gulls, while rockfish just open their mouths and swallow.
As for speed, Capt. Jenkins likes to troll between about 3.2 and 3.8 knots.
“But watch the rods,” he said. “If they are working like you want, that’s a good speed for trolling. If you don’t get bites, try faster, then slower.
We ended up picking up most of our seven fish in about 34 feet, though the strikes were coming from about 14 to 24 feet of water.
Our biggest fish – a 39-incher – came on a big fish rig, the umbrella rig.
We had tried white shad on a similar rig and got nothing. When we switched to chartreuse, the rod went down. We were fishing the main channel in about 50 feet at the time.
On Sunday morning, Courtney and I decided to go out for a couple hours and see if we could pass the test of catching a few rockfish on our own.
We passed.
We had four and five lines overboard at times, including our own version of an umbrella rig. Since chartreuse had worked before, we tried it again. Both of our fish - a 23-incher and a 26-incher – picked the umbrella rig. We were out for about two hours and put two fish on ice. That was infinitely better than we had done in the last 3 years when fishing the same general waters.
We now have a little more confidence, an integral part of fishing. If you don’t have a little confidence, you may as well stay home and watch ballgames. Hope and confidence – in addition to a little knowledge – goes on a long way on a fishing boat.
To take a course in how to catch rockfish for your party, call Capt. Jenkins at 804-314-4799 or e-mail at .
You can contact Jim Brewer at 434-295-5100 or