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     © John L. Beath

              Lusting After Lingcod

Silently, with the clicker off and no one watching, I free spooled my flashy cut-plug herring to the bottom. The skipper continued to call out depths where we might intercept a coho or rogue chinook. "Keep your baits at 45 feet, if you want to catch salmon," he announced.

This occasion could not be better since the fish finder suddenly revealed a steep dropoff surrounded by a rock garden – the perfect lingcod living room! Apparently I had not been the first to silently stray from the top half of the water column. Before my lead echoed its arrival 90 rugged feet below, my fishing partner’s rod arched over with something other than a salmon at the end of the line. The sudden jerks and short runs signaled a nice lingcod. Within minutes, he coyly smiled, knowing he had made the right decision to explore the bottom with his bait. The skipper returned the knowing smile, turned away and gaffed a prime 18-pound lingcod. "I thought you wanted to catch salmon?" he asked. The only reply thrashed at the end of his gaff hook.

Immediately upon reaching bottom, my bait ended its journey inside the mouth of a decent-sized rockfish, a common catch near any lingcod’s hideout. Not wanting to waste valuable fishing time, I quickly reeled the unwanted fish off the bottom. Half way up my rod tip doubled over with added weight and strength. "Something" had almost jerked the rod from my hands. To the inexperienced it might have seemed as though the rockfish had turned into an underwater version of Superman. Having experienced this event many times, I knew the "something" on the end of my line was a lingcod hitchhiker, and would have an ugly head, sharp teeth and an appetite to rival my teenage son after school.

With steady pressure the lingcod came closer to the surface. Peering into the dark water, an unusually long shadow appeared. "This lengthy mass couldn’t be just one lingcod," I wondered aloud. "Could it?" Once again the lingcod’s aggressive nature surprised me when not just one ling appeared, but two. The largest, a bulky 20-pounder had my rockfish tight within its jaws. The other ling, a slender 15-pounder nipped at the tail of the larger ling, proving that a lingcod’s appetite is far larger than its eyes or mouth. That’s the beauty of these toothy, eat-anything denizens of the deep. Whenever salmon anglers grow tired of waiting for a bite, they can simply lower their bait or lure to the bottom in hopes of entering a lingcod’s living room.

Where & HowTo Find Lingcod Living Rooms

Lingcod live throughout the western Pacific Ocean from northern Baja Mexico to the Alaskan Peninsula. Searching for lingcod can be a matter of luck or an exercise in timing, weather, electronics and location. Finding lingcod is no different than selling real estate. In both cases it boils down to location, location, location. Almost anywhere you find an uneven bottom with rocky reefs, shoals, ledges, jetties, underwater spires or pinnacles, you will likely find lingcod. Close to shore look for kelp jungles and areas where the currents are strongest. Any vertical relief from an otherwise flat bottom usually holds lingcod or the bait they love to munch.

"Lingcod frequent rocky areas, but they can be found in pelagic schools from time to time. If you get out into deeper water, female lings are more abundant," says Tom Jadiello, coastal fisheries biologist with the Washington Department of Fisheries. "Lingcod tend to lay in the upside of current flow over rocks. They wait for their prey to flow over them so they'll lay in these hydraulic liaisons and jump on prey going over them."

Nautical charts and current charts aid in the search for lingcod living rooms. Regardless of where you plan on fishing, nearshore or offshore, large scale nautical charts, (1:10,000) or (1:40,000) will enable anglers to quickly determine structure and the precise location. A current chart provides the direction of current for low and high tides. Knowing this information can save time and lots of money. While some charter boats anchor over lingcod habitat, most private boaters do not. Always try to fish from shallow to deep, thus avoiding constant expensive hang-ups on the bottom. That’s why current charts will more than pay for themselves.

Since GPS units have made their way onto most boats, finding and returning to bottom fishing locales has become much easier than years past. Now, anglers need only enter coordinates into the unit or push the instant save button when they find new areas. The newer electronic chart plotters also make it easier to find productive lingcod lairs. Load an electronic map cartridge for the area you intend to fish. Zoom in on charted underwater reefs and banks to direct you to otherwise hidden underwater irregularities.

The Lingcod’s Lifecycle

Lingcod, ophiodon elongatus, means, snake, tooth and elongate. While their outward appearance won’t win a beauty contest, their prized white fillets will win over the most demanding of taste buds. Don’t be alarmed if your lingcod has a minty green tinge inside and out. This coloring is common and the green-tinged meat will turn snowy white when cooked.

Sport anglers typically catch a higher percentage of smaller male lingcod because they’re more abundant and they live year round in shallower nearshore waters where anglers are more likely to fish advises Jadiello. During summer months anglers enjoy relatively easy access to many prime lingcod locales. It’s this time of year when a large portion of the lingcod catch comes from salmon anglers who can’t resist the temptation to drop a line to the bottom.

Spawn Timing

During the annual spawning season, which begins in Fall and continues into Spring, large lady lings begin their annual migration. They move from deep, cavernous, rocky offshore areas ranging from a few hundred feet to a maximum of 6,600 feet, into shallower, male-dominated bachelor bottoms. The lingcod will spawn in the shallowest areas throughout offshore and inshore banks and reefs. During spawning times, anglers can expect to catch female as well as male lingcod without having to fish very deep.

With avid lingcod anglers, it’s the spawning season that affords anglers the opportunity to catch trophy-sized lings. It’s also the time to think about conserving the resource. Lingcod are slow growers, especially large lady lings. Jadiello says male lingcod grow at the rate of roughly one-inch per year for the first five years. Females, he says, grow slightly faster, until they get older, at which time both sexes don’t add as much length as they did in their early years. "By the time one of these fish reaches age 15 it won’t grow anywhere near an inch a year but it will put on weight," Jadiello says.

While few anglers ever see lingcod over 50 pounds, a few rare specimens could weigh 100-pounds. Male lingcod grow old like the female, but they seldom weigh more than 20-pounds. Knowing this can aid anglers in their decision to catch and keep or catch and release broodstock female lings.

When & Where To Target Lingcod

Anglers from California and Oregon specifically target offshore and nearshore areas during the fall in hopes of finding an abundance of fish. Washington, British Columbia and Alaskan anglers also enjoy fall months, but find better success during springtime and summer. "The majority of lingcod in Oregon are caught during summer months because that’s when anglers put forth the most effort. You essentially can catch them year round though," Said Jerry Butler, marine region fisheries biologist with Oregon Fish & Wildlife. "I consider them pretty easy to catch. It’s a matter of finding habitat."

"Fall is the best time to go lingcod fishing here in Monterey California," said deckhand Joe Chapman, from Chris’ Fishing Trips. "We don’t go specifically target lingcod until October 1^st, it’s an unwritten rule."

Shore-bound anglers can find lings too. Jetties, harbor breakwaters, swell-breaking revetments and headlands along the Pacific Coast provide lots of opportunity. Care and caution is advised, especially during stormy seasons and rising tides. Slowly work the bait or jig up the sloping rocks toward you to entice strikes.

Live Bait

Most hard-core lingcod lovers agree that live bait is the best way to tempt a ling onto the hook. In California that means using live squid, anchovies, sand dabs, jack mackerel or Pacific mackerel. Throughout the rest of the lingcod’s range, live herring, greenling or rockfish work well. When using live baits, intentionally or unintentionally, never pull their head out of the water. Always net or gaff the lingcod while it's still entirely underwater, otherwise it might let go. If it lets go before you net or gaff it, lower your bait back down and past him - sometimes they'll grab the bait again.

Live Bait Rigs

Spreader bars with heavy 30 to 40 pound mono leaders hosting a double set of 6/0 to 9/0 hooks work well when using greenling or rockfish. Put the top hook through both lips and the back hook through the skin near the tail. Spreaders allow the bait to reach the bottom rapidly without tangling the mainline. To avoid loosing anything but your weight, tie a 20-pound test, 24-inch leader to the swivel on the bottom of the spreader bar, then tie the leader to the 8- to 24-ounce weight.

Crescent sinkers, torpedo sinkers or sliding sinkers with heavy leaders work well if you’re using smaller live baits like herring, sand dabs or squid. I prefer using sliding sinkers when fishing live bait. This method allows the live bait to swim more actively and allows you to feel the live-bait fish trying to escape when a hungry lingcod rears its ugly head. When you feel the lingcod take the bait, feed it line until your rod starts to bend, then set the hook, hard. Gangions also work well when using herring, squid, anchovies or mackerel {5/0 to 7/0 work well for average these baits}. Make sure the hook doesn’t prevent the bait from swimming.

Artificial Lures

Ask a dozen ling lovers which jig they like best and you’ll likely get a dozen answers. "Nine times out of ten I use a 6 to 12 ounce leadhead jig/scampi," Butler admits.

"It really doesn’t matter which jig you use," advises Chapman, the experienced deckhand. "Any color but blue works and chrome is red hot!"

Large pipe jigs and a variety of imitation baitfish jigs also work well. I prefer using 6 to 12 ounce Pt. Wilson Darts or Zzingers in glow-in-the-dark, white or chrome. The trick, as with any bait or lure, is to get it above the structure where lings live.

Avoiding Costly Hangups

Plan your drift so your jig or bait goes down hill. As you drift let out enough line to keep it as close to the bottom as possible without snagging. A watchful eye and good depth sounder will avoid snags. Occasionally bounce your jig or weight on the bottom. Never drag it. Every few minutes reel the bait/lure off the bottom 30 or 40 feet, then freespool it back to the bottom. Lingcod will follow your bait with their mouth open as you reel up. When you suddenly drop the bait down, it might trigger a bite or fall into a ling’s big mouth.

Rod & Reel

For maximum sport I like a 7 to 7 ½ foot fast action jigging rod. A medium size level wind reel loaded with 200 or 300 yards of low stretch, high strength Berkley Gorilla braid or Fireline provides plenty of line and winding power.

Proper Care Of Your Catch

The finest eating lingcod are those in the 8 to 20-pound range. Large female lingcod are prized by anglers, for their size and fighting ability, but not for their table value. Large lings tend to have tough, grainy meat. They should also be prized and respected for their spawning value. Anglers should never over harvest large females from any area. If you make the choice to release a lingcod for whatever reason, rest assured, they will survive the ordeal. Unlike rockfish, lingcod don't have air bladders - they can swim freely throughout the water column without injury.

Proper care of your catch will result in "prime" fresh fish. Immediately after landing a fish, cut through its gill-rakes and allow it to bleed out. Put your catch on ice and continue fishing. This process only takes seconds to ensure you take home excellent eating fish.

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