Bucket List - Ling Cod

[Untangler]

Went to Westport WA last week in hope of scratching a Ling off the bucket list. A buddy of mine from Sedro Woolley invited me - he gets a group of 20 guys together every year and hires a boat. I drove 10.5 hours Thursday planning to fish Friday & Saturday returning Sunday. On Friday morning, after a two hour boat ride, we started fishing for what they call Rockfish but I've caught a similar species in Alaska and they call them Black Bass up there. I'm sure you folks will shed some light on identification. The limit is 10 each and they averaged about 4 lbs but we caught several in the 6-7 lb range. We used feather shrimp flies/jigs as lures, three hooks per rod. I caught a triple on my first "cast" which was cool. It took us about 2 hours to catch 200 Rockfish then we headed in search of Lings.

According to the captain, it was a little early for prime Ling fishing but we ended up boating 32 (the limit is 2 each) so we came up a little short. And, yes, I caught my two since I was proudly representing Idaho. They weren't as big as I expected - I caught one that was a little over 8 lbs and the other was 11 lbs. The biggest on the boat was 15 lbs.

We went back to the dock Saturday morning to find that a bad storm was coming in and the Coast Guard wasn't allowing boats to go out. So......I got back in my car and drove home.

It was a lot of driving for one day of fishing. I didn't take any photos of individual fish because I planned to take them on Saturday but this is what 200 Rockfish and 32 Ling Cod look like. Nick, the deckhand, filleted all these fish on the trip back - it was impressive to watch him work.

The boat we fished from was the Playboy Too from Deep Sea Charters and the captain was Eric Samuelson. He is a great guy and worked hard to get us into fish. I recommend him, and Nick, highly. I haven't tried the Ling yet but the Rockfish is as good as any fish I've ever eaten.

It was a good adventure.

Eric




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[crappyslayer]

Alaska is the place for ling cod. Here is a picture of what we caught in Alaska 2 yrsago. I paid for myself, girlfriend, and my daughter and her husband. WWewere out for 5hrs.
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[Jimbojump]

When I was a teenager we did a self guided fishing trip in the San Juan islands in need Washington state...these two old guys were in a small 12 foot Lund Salmon fishing...they hooked a nice salmon and were about to boat it when a giant long cod inhaled half of it and latched on...the gentlemen landed it even though it wasntv hooked...it just wouldn't let go...the salmon was damn near ripped in two. The Ling was 6' long...just a giant! It was awesome.
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[Kodiak1]

Black rockfish, black bass, sea bass, black snapper, or salt and peppers......all the same fish. I agree, they just might be one of the best tasting fish on the planet! Have you ever visited Bloody Decks Outdoors, Wash. salt to see their reports on Westport, Neah Bay, etc. ? There is always some good fish porn on the site. I use it before I head out to Sekiu, for good reports. There is a terrific charter captain out of Neah Bay. He combines halibut, lings, and rockfish on one trip. They often go into Canada. Congrats on a successful trip. Lots of guys have not been able to get out at all this spring due to weather. Mike
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[Kodiak1]

Eric,
Just ran across this report on Westport. Look at Sunday's water. Should have hung around another day! Mike


[url "http://www.salmonuniversity.com/or_fishing_reports.html"]http://www.salmonuniversity.com/or_fishing_reports.html[/url]
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[cpierce]

We always called them rockfish, I don't know what their official name is. Maybe it's just a Washington thing.

Nice mess of fish. I am drooling at just the thought of some rockfish and ling. Really good eats. Enjoy!
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[AverysAdventure]

Nice report Eric, thanks for sharing. Oh how I miss the ocean.

Rod
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