May is the Month for Lingcod
They may be scary looking, but they sure are tasty. In fact, if I had to choose between halibut or lingcod, I’d pick lingcod any day of the week. Problem is, I have always found them to be a little tricky to catch. So, when I do fish for them, I check tides and tide tables religiously. Once fishing, I work ledges and drop-offs keeping my bait as close to the bottom as possible.
The preferred method by many is jigging for lingcod. I like trolling for them using 4 to 8 oz swimbaits. It’s a lot of work and you must be on your toes since you are constantly bringing gear up and/or dropping it back down. But it can be a very effective way of hooking these “bucket heads” as they are sometimes called.
On opening day this year, my group of two and I were greeted by a beautiful sunny morning. Knowing I just missed the tide change on an ebb tide, I choose to fish the northwest side of Gabriola. Trolling two of my favorite 4 oz swimbaits, I watched my depth as I began to work an edge. Once alongside of Gabriola Island near the old Cannery, we finally started having some action. Unfortunately, our customers where Quillback, Cooper Rock Fish, and a very nice Yellow Eye and an undersized Lingcod. We still hadn’t found our prize fish.
With about an hour left in the trip, I was bringing up the gear as the depth changed from 160 to 90 feet when I noticed a slight bounce on the portside rod. I grabbed the rod yanking the line off the clip. I quickly handed the rod over to my guest and asked, “feel any better this time?” “Oh yes” was the reply. Five minutes later, we had our first nice lingcod aboard. Oh yeah!
If you enjoy eating white meat from the ocean, Lingcod is the way to go. And, with salmon closed until the beginning of June, it is all we’ll be fishing for. As I tell my guests, May is the month for Lingcod.