About Saint George Reef

Saint George Reef is an outer, exposed rock flat off Crescent City, California, where depths run 20 to 60 feet over hard bottom. Chinook Salmon move through from April to September, while Lingcod peak in February and March and again from August to October, joined by Black Rockfish in March and May through August and Blue Rockfish in March and April and again June through August. Chinook are worked by trolling anchovies, herring, spoons, or hoochies across the reef, with mooching whole anchovies or cut herring as a secondary approach. Lingcod hold tight to the rock structure and respond to metal jigs, swimbaits, and leadhead jigs, or to live bait such as rockfish, sanddabs, and squid dropped into the same terrain. Black Rockfish take jigs and swimbaits over the flat, while Blue Rockfish come to shrimp flies, squid strips, anchovies, and swimbaits fished through the water column.