Lingcod refers to a type of bottom fish with a pretty wicked set of teeth. The fishhave big mouths, and they hide in the rocks mostly on the bottom and feed onwhatever swims its way. Due to this reason, catching lingcod is reasonablyeasy. Lingcod don’t put up a lot of fight when fishing, but they are incredibly tasty They are mainly found from Northern Baja to Alaska.
You can catch lingcod in the same regions as the Rockfish. The unique and fierce lookof lingcod makes them some of the most favorite bottom fish for many anglers.They don’t have any swim bladder, meaning they don’t blow up when reeled upfrom the deep waters. That makes them pretty easy to release them when you arefishing if you don’t want to keep them for consumption. Here are some of themain ways you can use to catch lingcod.
Lingcod baits
Lingcod eat dead or live baits, but live baits usually work better. In Baja or So Cal it’sdifficult to beat a huge live mackerel. You can look for one or two hookdropper loops and put in one crank off the rock bottom. On most occasions, thiswill typically result in a bite in approximately 5 minutes if there are someLingcods around that area. Lingcod also eat large swim-baits or plastic grubs.These are more difficult to keep on the rock bottom particularly when there arestrong currents.
Lingcod lures
Most Lingcod are usually caught on some metal jigs. The fishing jigs don’t even require alot of action, which means that you can easily bounce them up and down close tothe bottom. You don’t need anything fancy so that you can use simple and shinysilver jigs. When you hook one, you will have to pull pretty hard initially toget it out of the rocks. Using jigs with some stinger hooks on the lure’s topinstead of treble hooks on the lure’s bottom will help you snag less.
Lingcod fishing tackle
There are many tackle rigs that you can use for catching lingcod. Some of them includelead-head jigs, metal jigs, live bait rigs, and various herring rigs. Mostanglers will fish lingcod on all of them but what you need to know is that thebigger your jig is, the more atrophy lingcod will love it. The small lingcodwill target monster rigs as well, so you should always use the biggest rigpossible. Most anglers prefer using metal jigs. These jigs have a perfectresemblance of an injured herring baitfish. When it’s in the deep waters, thelight flashes them emitting a mirror-like gleam that further entices thelingcod.
Large-sized jigs are ideal when catching lingcod because they get down to the rock bottomfast and can remain there relatively vertically even if your boat is driftingat a fast speed. Jigs are also better than baits because you do not have toworry about your baits falling off. Again, catching live baits can be prettydifficult but using metal jigs saves time for more lingcod fishing. You can useother jigs like pipe jigs, lead-heads and many others used for lingcod but youcan get the highest catch with simple silver jigs.
Lingcod drifting technique
You can use the drifting technique for territories that you get on your chart plotter withrocks and sharp cliffs because you can view some lingcod and with time build upa chart plotter crammed with lingcod lairs. If you begin catching lingcod in aspecific area, it’s worth drifting a couple of times above the same place toextend your understanding of the region and know if more lingcod are holding inthat spot.
Conclusion
Lingcod put up some competitive fights and also make perfect table fair. Most anglers catchlingcod in the deep waters of California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, andBritish Columbia. Catching lingcod requires the right fishing techniques likethe ones discussed above to help you find out their habitats and to lure theirstrikes. As a predatory fish that violently attacks its prey and defends itsterritory, Lingcod attacks a lot of fish that comes its way including thepopular baitfish like herring as well as other species of greenling, salmon,rockfish and other prey such as crabs and squid octopus.
