ODFW release – The recreational offshore longleader gear fishery daily bag limit will decrease to a 10-fish daily bag limit beginning on Tuesday, September 5, 2023. The 10-fish bag limit applies to 10 species of midwater rockfish only (yellowtail, widow, canary, redstripe, greenstriped, silvergray, chilipepper, blue, deacon, and bocaccio rockfishes). Other bottomfish, including lingcod, are not allowed with longleader gear fishing. The longleader gear fishery targets healthy midwater rockfish stocks such as yellowtail and widow rockfish. To participate in the longleader gear fishery, anglers must be outside of the 40-fathom regulatory line and have a minimum of 30 feet between their weight and the lowest hook with a non-compressible float above the hooks. This helps keep the gear away from more bottom-dwelling yelloweye rockfish. Due to good ocean conditions and higher bag limits, the longleader gear fishery had an increase in angler participation this summer with a spike of an estimated 1,500 anglers during the month of July. Inseason projections suggest a reduction is necessary to stay within our annual harvest guidelines (quota) for canary rockfish.
