A little ling help

Here is my situation. I've finally gotten pretty set up over the last couple years. Dry top, breathable waders, fish finder...along with other spots in the sound, I've also played around off the west side of Whidbey, and feel fairly comfortable with that.

While I've mostly fished salmon around the sound (with a little experience for bottom fish up in the Canadian Gulf Islands), I've haven't spent a lot of time on lings around the sound.

We just had our first child a few weeks ago, and I don't see a lot of legwork happening this spring either.

While I know specific spots won't be shared, is there a general area worth exploring for lings in the central/northern sound area that doesn't require more than a few miles of paddling or a long ferry ride? I just won't have a lot of chances this spring. West side of Whidbey? Anything closer worth exploring?

I know I need to put in the time, but I was curious about general areas to start for lings in this neck of the woods.

Thanks for any suggestions, as well as all the past help.

John

Pull up some NOAA charts, and look for "rky".  Fairly obvious, but stands for "rocky".  Try those areas.  Just took a quick look, and there are a few off the west side of Whidbey.

Thanks...never checked those before....very helpful.

John,

There are several spots on Whidbey Island that are good for lings. Possession Bar on the south end of the island is supposed to be one of the best ling spots in Puget Sound, according to John at John's Sporting Goods in Everett. Also, Double Bluff is supposed to be good, and the launch is not that bad.

I kayaked from Possession Point Park over to Mukilteo Sunday, and there were a lot of boats out linging, just 1/4 - 1/2 mile south of the launch. This is the east side of Possession Bar. Also, the park is a great launch - concrete boat ramp - plus there is a fresh water rinse for your gear.

Check out John's website for details on ling fishing, area maps, ling lures, etc. Disclaimer - I only shop there, and get no discounts!!

Tim

http://johnssportinggoods.com/

While I know specific spots won't be shared, is there a general area worth exploring for lings in the central/northern sound area that doesn't require more than a few miles of paddling or a long ferry ride? I just won't have a lot of chances this spring. West side of Whidbey? Anything closer worth exploring?

I know I need to put in the time, but I was curious about general areas to start for lings in this neck of the woods.

Thanks for any suggestions, as well as all the past help.

John

I would explore those rocky areas on the west side of whidbey. Possession is a great place to fish for lings and salmon  from a boat but it is too hard to stay in the zone to target these fish effectively from a kayak.

Scott

Thanks for all the advice. I appreciate it.

I think I'll likely stick to putting in at Bush Point, as I've done that several times while salmon fishing and feel comfortable handling that water. I know that isn't likely prime ling water, but I've caught smaller ones out of season and also run into some small, rocky areas with nice drops.

I'll most likely try jigging 2-5 oz jigs with curly tails, although I'd love to hear any other advice.  Also, I don't know a lot about halibut other than the research I've done, but any reason you wouldn't have an outside chance of hooking up with a smaller fish while bumping bottom with a big ling jig and braid? I've seen a variety of bottom structures on the finder off Bush before (and out and down a ways) and 150 feet of water or so...I know halibut and ling don't have the same preferences, but seems like with some rock/sand combos and various drops, you could run into both species in that general area. Am I way off?

Thanks...again, I know it's not prime halibut water, just curious if you could run into a 20 pounder while fishing bottom there.

I am heading to Bainbridge island this weekend, and was curious if there are any good spots out there to find lings. Thanks any input will help.
 Thanks mountains2sound

So I put in at Bush the other day and tried a few spots out from there.

There aren't a lot of rocks there, but there are a few mixed with some kelp, mostly in 20-25 feet. I got into some nice rockfish (and some other bottom fish) but no lings.

If you're catching nice size rockfish, is it reasonable to think there could be a ling in the area?

I might be able to sneak away one more time this month. Does Richmond/Picnic offer any reasonable shot at a ling?

So I put in at Bush the other day and tried a few spots out from there.

If you're catching nice size rockfish, is it reasonable to think there could be a ling in the area?

I was out at Bush Pt and Double Bluff over the weekend.  There is a RKY marked on the NOAA chart just 1 NM north of Bush Pt.  I launched in the afternoon and spent about 3 hours at and around the RKY location, but there are no rocks anywhere near there and no lings nor rockfish either.  Also on the south side of Double Bluff (V-notch) is a well-known ling location and I fished it for 6 hours Saturday.  From 130 to 30 FOW, no rocks, a number of boats without luck, nothing that looked like ling habitat on the sonar.  A big bust.

Generally, yes.  I've found rockfish and lings hang together. 

Yes last weekend I went to blake island had my friend in his sailboat take me and my kayak out and was fishing in 60-80 feet but no rocks on my sonar seemed like just sandy bottom all around the island. Will give it another try but will try to do a bunch more research to find out were the rock bottom is.

I tend to look for steeper areas too.  When I look at the chart for Bush Point, the steepest section looks just off the tip of the point.  I think rock has to be part of the floor by nature of the point existing at all.  And the point itself will concentrate current onto that area, bringing in bait.  If I were fishing it, I would start on the current"ward" side of the point in shallower water, and drift deeper...banging, dropping, banging, dropping...all the way out.

Know a diver who slew a monster there decades ago in that passage, oh whats it called...don't have time to look right now, the  one with the bridge, spose you best watch the currents there though.

I tend to look for steeper areas too.  When I look at the chart for Bush Point, the steepest section looks just off the tip of the point.  I think rock has to be part of the floor by nature of the point existing at all.  And the point itself will concentrate current onto that area, bringing in bait.  If I were fishing it, I would start on the current"ward" side of the point in shallower water, and drift deeper...banging, dropping, banging, dropping...all the way out.

I've spent a fair bit of time around Bush Pt. and the water off the point can get pretty gnarly pretty fast.  Currents are routinely over 3kts, and when the current and wind are opposed the waves and eddies are vicious.  I'd hate to hook a halibut that took me on a sleigh ride right out into the washing machine.  This morning at 10 am the current is forecast to be going out at 3.17kts.  Be REALLY careful kayak fishing around Bush Pt. 

I tend to look for steeper areas too.  When I look at the chart for Bush Point, the steepest section looks just off the tip of the point.  I think rock has to be part of the floor by nature of the point existing at all.  And the point itself will concentrate current onto that area, bringing in bait.  If I were fishing it, I would start on the current"ward" side of the point in shallower water, and drift deeper...banging, dropping, banging, dropping...all the way out.

I've spent a fair bit of time around Bush Pt. and the water off the point can get pretty gnarly pretty fast.  Currents are routinely over 3kts, and when the current and wind are opposed the waves and eddies are vicious.  I'd hate to hook a halibut that took me on a sleigh ride right out into the washing machine.  This morning at 10 am the current is forecast to be going out at 3.17kts.  Be REALLY careful kayak fishing around Bush Pt. 

Great point.  Peak ebb and flow are tough fishing all over the sound.  One hour before slack to one hour after is a rough time table I use for bottom fishing.  Be safe.

Yes, that's why I stay away from the point at Bush. A couple years back, I was paddling back to the ramp to take out for the day. It was a beautiful, calm, hot August day, so I decided to make one more pass along an obvious current seam I could see out from the point...I probably wouldn't have tried it if the conditions hadn't been so pleasant.

Regardless, I got myself caught in a circular flow of current and couldn't get out of it. I knew I probably wasn't in any real trouble in terms of drowning...but I didn't have control, either, and that scared me. I was in my early 30s, physically fit, with a ton of paddling experience, and I had to paddle as hard as I could for 15-20 minutes to get out of it. I thought I might break my paddle I was digging so hard. So since that time, I generally make my way towards the state park after putting in (away from the point), and don't get too close when taking out, either.

The rockfish I found a couple weeks ago were fairly close to shore, and not too far down from the point. I found a couple micro spots in about 15-30 feet with a few rocks and some other structure (kelp?). I've caught baby lings in the general area off buzz bombs during pink season, so I figured with the nice sized rockfish there might be a keeper ling hanging around, too. But I didn't run into any.

How is the kayaking around Double Bluff? Fairly tame, or some decent currents to watch out for?