Lingcod

[sdmosch]

Hi guys, I am new to kayak fishing and California--Florida native. My question is where do I get lingcod at on a kayak? I have seen the pics of people getting them in this forum but the clues that are given are pretty vague. I recently was at a restaurant in La Jolla and got try some lingcod, pretty tasty! Any help finding these fish will be greatly appreciated! Thanks

[momo fish]

I can share what works for me but others are far more experts. I look for big structure near kelp beds if fishing under 80 feet. The bigger the bait the better and needs to be one crank or 2 off bottom. You get a few shorts but every so often a nice legal. For better results fish structure 150 to 200 feet and use whole dead mac or whole squid. This is where I have caught 25+ size lingcod. Now most places it takes a good paddle to reach these areas so not for the solo trips. With some good time on water you will find the fish and mark your spots. Took me a whole year before finding one and then it was on.

[Dannowar]

Jigs off the bottom (I like salas jr) in scrambled egg works for me

[JeffB]

I have good luck on lings in LJ in 125-150' of water on heavy structure using live macs, 7-9" swimbaits with. 4-6oz lead heads and do very well with Lucanus jigs pinned with squid strips. As long as you have decent electronics on your kayak you can find rock piles pretty easy. LJ is littered with them all over the place. One of my hot spots however is about a 4-5 mile paddle from the shores. It makes for a long day on the water. A little advice is once you get out past the kelp in LJ is to go a little south from the far NW corner in about 115-160' and head south in water ever depth you wanna fish and monitor your electronics for structure. Good luck. Lings in LJ are a fish that's hard to catch a lot of. I catch one once every few trips. I see one about every other trip. I've had many of nice lings grab onto my rock fish.

If you are ever out there fishing and you get slammed while ground fishing and the fish lets loose on the way up, stop and let your bait back down a little. A lot of times it's a good sign of a ling and they will come back and hit it again.

[sdmosch]

Thanks! Should I try to buy the coastal maps for my Lowrance? It might help me find some of those deep water structure that I need.

[JeffB]

I have Navionics on my iPhone, it works pretty good. The easiest to find the big rock piles is google earth. That how I have found all of my hot spots all over SD Co. Find a spot that looks good, zoom in on it and the get the coordinates for it. Then all you have to do is punch them into your gps and your set.

[sdmosch]

Good idea, thanks!