Steve, that's a puzzler...
I've heard of all this goats buzz, but we were not catching them when after rockfish. Then last Sunday, we cought a couple of nice ones in the same area we were rock-fishing, about 180 ft out... Look for marks on the bottom around lobster pots.
The canyon slope right outside the yellow buoys as you're paddling out (or coming back in) has traditionally been a good spot for the goats. Maybe 100 yards out past the yellow reserve can, where the bottom drops from 110 to 180+ steeply... It's a small section; try drifting that very edge / drop-off... When in 200 ft go back and repeat the drift 130ish feet, over the canyon edge. We haven't tried it lately, but that place has been producing rockfish over the years, and often had goats in the mix with other rockfish.
Hurry up - that spot will be off limits as MLPA kicks in on 1/1/12.
