August 22, 2009 by Webmaster
The first thing one must understand to catch ling cod is that they are a very aggressive species of fish. They have no fear and will pretty much swallow anything that will fit in their mouth. And that even includes other fish and lings that they couldn’t possibly swallow.
The second important thing to know about lings is they like the bottom. You can and do catch them in mid water but more often than not it is because they have followed some poor victim up from the depths in the hopes of a meal.
With those two things in mind it’s time to get down to the details.
Fishing for lings is a lot of fun, but not something that just any beginner can do. Because you are targeting a fish on the ocean floor you have to have an excellent feel for your bait and the rocks on the bottom. Because of this you need to be prepared to take losses. I have been out on days where I only lose one or two lures and other days I have lost 5 or more. You can never tell. But the more experience you have on the feel of the bottom and your bait, the less you will lose.
I like to start with heavier jigs when fishing for ling cod. In Oregon waters you are often fishing 30 to 120 feet of water from a boat most likely. With wind and tide moving the boat around, keeping the bait on the bottom isn’t as easy as it would seem. Many people like to fish 3 ounce jigs, but I typically like 5 to 8oz jigs with jumbo scampi rubber lures on them.
With the added weight your lure tends to stay on the bottom longer and being a bit bigger (6-8″ long) most of the smaller fish only bite at the tail so you can focus on your target, landing the lings.
If you are looking for the right bait, Bandon Bait has a full range of jig heads, lead weights, rubber scampi, Gulp baits and more. You can find them here.
Basically all you need to do is have a light touch and keep the lure or bait as near to the bottom as you can get. When a ling hits he usually hits hard and fast so you only usually have one shot at hooking him. Set the hook the moment you feel the strike.
Next make sure to keep pressure on the line. Ling cod are fighters and like to throw hooks almost as much as they like a good fight. If you let off for even a moment, the fight could be over and the ling off on it’s way back to the bottom to look for another meal.
Now that you know this, go forth and catch them.
In Oregon the minimum length is 22″ and the weight of keepers goes from 6-7 pounds to in the 50 pound range. Anything in 15 or more pounds is a great ling cod!
If you are in or around Bandon and want to go fishing, make sure to check out the great guys at www.prowlercharters.com Ken and Wayne Butler run an excellent service and provide all the gear you need for a bottom fishing, Tuna, Salmon or Halibut fishing charter.
I have been fishing for lings many years and I find this article to be very helpful Thanks for publishing it.
Comment by Ray Diaz — October 31, 2009 @ 4:11 pm
Ya know the best way I have found is to catch a small red snapper then put the hooks in the snappers back and throw him back in …It doesnt take very long and a Ling Cod will hit it …then all ya have to do is real em in (they wont let go of the snapper) gath em into the boat ..we did this over and over again up near Neah Bay some years back .
Comment by Pat Sample — May 24, 2010 @ 8:06 pm