Lingcod 2018

After seeing a recent halibut thread, I’m itching to go fishing in the salt of course I don’t have the experience so that brings me to lingcod. I figured Edmonds would probably be a good place to start.  Any advise?  Anyone planning to go out?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hey man, Im new to the salt game also. Been mostly yak fishing in fresh water. Been itching to go out after some lings/rock fish myself. You should try and put a meet together. Safety in numbers. I would be interested in meeting up as long as its on the weekend, preferably Sunday. I live near Seattle.

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=19333.msg206485#msg206485

Might offer some tips. Good area to pay attention to the ferries and dive park just north of the ferries.

Definitely pay attention to ferries (Law of Tonnage!!!), but also pay attention to the boundaries of the underwater Dive Park and watch out for "diver down" bouys and marker flags...  There have been far too many tales from the local dive clubs about boats trolling right thru the park (illegal as hell and of course dangerous to divers).  Hate to think of Yak'ers being part of that particular problem.

No tips as this will be my first go at it but I will meet yall out there in Edmonds.  The water drops off real quick from the marina wall and I imagine should hold some good habitat away from the dive park.

Would love to join you all out there as well!!

Please be sure to check over your regs really well guys before heading out. In Puget sound Lingcod has a very limited season and slot size. You're also not even allowed to target rockfish in most areas of the sound including where you're looking to go out.
Otherwise best of luck and make sure you're good to go with the weather.

Yup, inside the sound its generally May 1-June 15, with the slot being 26" - 36".  Limit 1 fish a day.  Remember to stay above 120 ft. 

Don't forget your decending device which is now mandatory to have onboard. I have found Shelton's fish decender to work well and easy to use. I have even made them from old spreader bars.

Would a net be overkill?  I figured I might be able to get away with a pair of lip grippers.

Lip grippers is all I have used, leave the net at home. Just beware lingcod like to spin.

Would a net be overkill?  I figured I might be able to get away with a pair of lip grippers.

Nets do come in handy when landing a "hitch hiker".  Sometimes, lings will hang on for dear life, all the way to the surface but let go once they get to the top. 

-Mark-

Would a net be overkill?  I figured I might be able to get away with a pair of lip grippers.

I use a net.   Too many things seem to happen to me once the fish gets to the boat, resulting in lost fish.  For me its easier to measure the ling and not get gnashed by the teeth with the net. 

Would a net be overkill?  I figured I might be able to get away with a pair of lip grippers.

I use a net.   Too many things seem to happen to me once the fish gets to the boat, resulting in lost fish.  For me its easier to measure the ling and not get gnashed by the teeth with the net.

Would a net be overkill?  I figured I might be able to get away with a pair of lip grippers.

Nets do come in handy when landing a "hitch hiker".  Sometimes, lings will hang on for dear life, all the way to the surface but let go once they get to the top. 

-Mark-

A nice sharp gaff will grab hold of a hitchhiker just fine and doesn't grab any wind in OR. In WA you may want to bring a net.

Also, unless you are having a miserable day you are looking for the lings you don't need to measure. I have seen plenty of greenies bleed out a couple of 23" fish then cry crocodile tears when they proceed to catch much nicer ones that have to go back a short while later.

I try not to kill a ling if it isn't at least 27“ as there just isn't enough yield.

Conversely I won't take any cabs that go much bigger than 25" if I take them at all. The big cabs are what makes all the small ones. The exception to that rule is ORC of course, but even then I would feel bad. The last big cab I kept years ago was chock full of worms and I felt like a douche for killing it. Definitely wasn't worth the few bucks I took off the homies in the mbf pot.