Lingcod

28 ibs and 41 inches cought march 16

That's a FATTY

So not sure if this counts a BIG fish but I limited out on lings today caught my first ever, a nice 24incher ,
Went back to that same spot and caught this beast. 32" and 20lbs not too shabby for my second ling ever!! Fought like a donkey!! Big props to Ndogg for pointing my in the right direction, they were right where they said they'd be

What was in that massively distended stomach when you filleted it?

Nice fish!
32" and 20lbs   How much of that 20lbs was stomach content?  That length usually weighs in around 12-14 lbs.

Dang, nice fish Bernie! That one is FAT!

Dang dude. That thing looks like it swallowed a basketball. Nice fish!

That fish had a approximately 18" ling in its belly.could have been bigger but couldn't tell, the head of it was mostly digested. The jaw bones were all still in there, I'll post a photo when I download off the camera. I bet it weighed 2+ lbs

Them Lings love to swallow big fish.



Sadly I wasn't able to use this for aoty points.

That reminds me, never posted my personal best lings in here

35.5 and 36.5

Nice lings guys.
Bernie I am glad that spot worked out for you.  Did you get it jigging or trolling?

Hit up my fav "secret" lingin' spot Saturday and it was ON!  Decided to live-bait which I don't normally do anymore because I'm too lazy.  But it reminded me that when I take the time, you get into a bigger class of fish.  First guy hit on the very first drop:



I had just started fishing and the limit is 1, so I tossed it back.  But not before it tossed this back to me:



A while back there was a discussion as to whether lings would eat sculpin if you couldn't catch a greenling (for bait).  I'd say yes.

Little later I hooked into this bad girl:



37".  Over the slot limit!  Fine with me.  Put up a damn good fight and made a few drag peeling runs.  That's what I'm in this for!  Unfortunately what I didn't pay attention to was that the sun was behind me, so all the shots were blown out, this is the only one where you can actually see the fish

She had this in her throat:



At first I thought it was a juvenile ratfish, but bsteves set me right.  it's a "sturgeon poacher".  If you google "sturgeon poacher" you get pics of this fish, and mugshots of criminals

Nice lings guys.
Bernie I am glad that spot worked out for you.  Did you get it jigging or trolling?

I was jigging a double swimbait rig.

Bernie that fish has a huge pot belly. Looks like it's been drinkin too much. LOL

My personal best so far. Caught at Sunset Bay on Sunday. Didn't have a scale but measured 36 inches. Also caught a nice blue ling!

Keeping this in the Lingcod thread!

While I cannot say it's the largest Ling in the thread...  It was a "spectacular fish" none the less.

My little guy and I were out and on his 2nd drop he pulled up his 1st ever Salt Water fish (a smaller Quillback).  A little while later he hooked onto his 1st ever Ling.  It hit his Lure hard and went for a run.  He let out a shriek and as I looked up, his rod bent down and the tip was in the water.  The conversation went something like this...

"DAD! I CAN'T HOLD IT... YOU NEED TO TAKE THE ROD!"  (Yes, I'm pretty sure everyone within 2 miles heard this, haha).

"Sorry buddy, it's your monkey so it's your circus.  Tuck the rod under your arm, take it easy, keep tension and bring it up"

"...multiple squeals of delight as the rod tip danced around... WHOA! THIS ONE IS A KEEPER!"

"lol, we'll see.  Rod tip up and bring it over to me (as I put the camera down)"

A couple guys were out fishing in their Canoe about 100 yards away (water was almost like glass).  They started hollering to see what all the excitement was about.  They paddled by a few minutes later and congratulated him on his 1st Ling catch.  It was pretty cute.

65cm for retention and this little Ling was only 60cm so back down it went.  We called home as soon as we hit the beach a couple hours later.  He was boiling over with excitement and mom needed to get him to slow down so she could understand the story he was trying to tell her!  By his version of the story, you'd think he caught a monster!  lol