Why do Lingcod change color on their skin once in the cooler beside another Fish?
- Thread starter MadJigga
- Start date
scott craven
Well-Known Member
keep your salmon separated from ground fish.
different acids in the skin will burn each other.
different acids in the skin will burn each other.
ryanb
Well-Known Member
It's not necessarily because they are touching another fish. It's because where they touch something there is no oxygen and the skin discolours. Even with one ling I find the skin goes funny where it touches the bottom of the cooler.
Humpbubble
Active Member
People still kill lings?
Seriously, leave the quills in the wata.
Seriously, leave the quills in the wata.
SpringFever2359
Well-Known Member
Lings..yumm...love eating them.
If season is open and legal size it's getting killed on my boat
TheBigGuy
Well-Known Member
I much prefer eating ling or Hali to Salmon. Now if you were talking about Rockcod, I'd tend to agree with you. There populations are depressed in many areas and they are a very slow growing species. Very hard for their populations to rebound if they've been pounded hard. Small Rockcod are barely worth filleting.
Ling populations in most areas are in pretty decent shape. Obviously keeping monster breeders doesn't make much sense, but I hardly think it's really fair to criticize others preference in what they like to fish for and eat. Absolutely nothing wrong in keeping a ling for a nice feed of fish and chips. Best eats in the sea.
MadJigga
Well-Known Member
I have to agree with SringFever552 and TheBigGuy! A legal size Ling in season is getting bonked! I target them specifically! They are great eating! There population seams healthy compared to Rockcod. I prefer Lings in the 10-20# range. I've kept a couple trophy Lings over the years and found the meat to be a little tougher, but we never wasted a morsel.
I'm not sure why some folks bother posting when it's only criticism.
I was hoping for others experiences, why do lings change funky colors between boat and the dock? Oxygen..? I like it, but I'm not completely convinced.
I hadn't considered ground fish skins to be acidic either
Seems like I've got some googling to do!
Anyone else?
Prairie Locked
Well-Known Member
I'm not an expert, never caught a ling but hope to change that this year.
I'd speculate that it has to do with their skin type. Unlike most other fish that have scales, their skin is more leather like and more closely resembles ours. Blood supply is needed to maintain most colour while pigmentation is responsible for other. I'd think it's somewhat related to lividity (blood pooling into or out of the capillary bed) and is affected by gravity and direct contact.
Think of a dead person (corpse) and how pale they look. This happens within a very short time frame after circulation stops and on certain areas over time can actually appear waxy.
I'd speculate that it has to do with their skin type. Unlike most other fish that have scales, their skin is more leather like and more closely resembles ours. Blood supply is needed to maintain most colour while pigmentation is responsible for other. I'd think it's somewhat related to lividity (blood pooling into or out of the capillary bed) and is affected by gravity and direct contact.
Think of a dead person (corpse) and how pale they look. This happens within a very short time frame after circulation stops and on certain areas over time can actually appear waxy.
MadJigga
Well-Known Member
I like it!
And You'll catch your Ling!! Look for pinnacles and lots of underwater structure. Mostly I find them in 40-80' of water. They are aggressive. If they're there, they're bitin. I find medium anchovy jigs work great in silver/green 6-8 oz. Or heavier if there is much current/tides or greater depths. A little chunk of bait on the treble never hurts, I like octopus. And it can keep the treble from catching bottom less often. I generally change out the treble to something a little larger/heavier. I've had big lings do a crocodile death roll at the surface, we barely got that one in the boat! It twisted the stock treble around a few times! They aren't hook shy. I limit out my Lingcod every year pretty easily. Once you know what to look for on the scanner. Bottom bounce your jig or just off bottom, head out with a couple jigs with the expectation you'll lose some gear if fishing bottom, deep cliff faces can produce as well, and your less likely to lose gear. I,ve picked them up trolling for salmon as well when bottom bouncing in the winter(out of season so they went back) and recently out of Pedder Bay we dragged a just undersized ling for a while until it popped the pin.I like to bring them off bottom quick( don't let them run!) at least at the start as they'll back themselves into a hole or under structure and you may lose the fish.
Cheers and happy hunting!
Clint r
Well-Known Member
Try dragging a plug around just off the bottom. Tons of fun and you'll catch a lot of lings if they're around. They sometimes pop the clip and let go of the plug. If they do stop reeling they usually come back. Be ready for them though the take is sometimes pretty hard.
MadJigga
Well-Known Member
I,ve dragged a couple up when I hooked a rock cod, the ling wasn't even hooked, just held onto the rock cod all the way into the boat! Never tried with plugs, I totally agree about the second take, we do the same thing jigging, if they spit it out, drop er back down and the same fish will bite again. Usually with more aggression. Good times
sly_karma
Crew Member
Our boat caught nine huge lings using this method in one memorable day off Winter Harbour a couple years back. 5 lb yelloweye was the bait on a spreader bar rig with a 16 oz lead ball, these big old girls were swallowing it whole. They only let go when their head came out of the water, easiest catch and release ever. Then you drop the gear again and sometimes the fish will strike it again en route to the bottom. 'Voracious feeder' is a big understatement.
MadJigga
Well-Known Member
That sounds like an amazing day!
TheBigGuy
Well-Known Member
I agree Lings do like plugs. I think you might actually do better if specifically dragging near bottom by using a plug like a jplug or Lucky Louie instead of a Tomic. They fish well at slower speeds and Ling seem to like them.
You don't need to be right on bottom to catch them either. I've caught a fair number trolling off bottom with Lucky Louie plugs.
I generally try to fish ten to fifteen feet off bottom for lings. You will catch almost as many lings as being right on bottom, but you will catch hardly any rockfish that way. I try to keep my rockfish bycatch to zero if possible. I hate killing a rockfish because of decompression, as I tend to fish quite deep for Lings. 180 - 350ft is where I find the most and biggest Lings, as they are not pounded as often in the deeper waters.
You don't need to be right on bottom to catch them either. I've caught a fair number trolling off bottom with Lucky Louie plugs.
I generally try to fish ten to fifteen feet off bottom for lings. You will catch almost as many lings as being right on bottom, but you will catch hardly any rockfish that way. I try to keep my rockfish bycatch to zero if possible. I hate killing a rockfish because of decompression, as I tend to fish quite deep for Lings. 180 - 350ft is where I find the most and biggest Lings, as they are not pounded as often in the deeper waters.
Clint r
Well-Known Member
This is my go to plug. 4" Lyman. I use this pattern everywhere.. I use them on the local lakes until the lip wears out and you have to troll too fast to get the action you want. Then they go in the salt water tackle box. I've got one that's seriously caught everything from Rainbows to Dollies to Spring and Coho Salmon and even a halibut.
MadJigga
Well-Known Member
Great info, and I hadn't considered the fishing off bottom to reduce rockfish bycatch. I'll add that to the repertoire! I,ve never targeted Lings that deep, only Hali, I'll be looking for deeper pinnacles and structure now while exploring! I'll hopefully always still have my go to spots, but seeking out new territory is one of my favorite parts of fishing!
TheBigGuy
Well-Known Member
Lymans are great plugs. I love them for freshwater. Wood plugs have unbeatable action. Unfortunately they can't take much abuse from toothy critters or bouncing off bottom like plastic plugs can.
X2 TBG totally agree. There are 2 add-ons I would offer to this conversation. Since both rockcod and lingcod populations can be depressed in many areas - consider releasing female spawners. For rockcod - in the spring (often May) the females live release larvae. Easy to tell, also that they are preggie (gravid). There are commercially-available (and reasonably cheap) releasers available. You can also easily make your own cheaply using a lead weight and a barbless hook - or a milk carton. For lingcod - the larger (>100cm) fish are all females. Consider releasing these - if they are in good shape. There were some good conversations on this at: http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/index.php?threads/big-lings-at-thrasher.61130/page-3#post-771551
TheBigGuy
Well-Known Member
I agree with you agenttaqua, rockfish can be saved if you use a release to lower them back down. I fully support using that kind of device if you have regular bycatch. I think if you are going to fish right on bottom at any deeper than 75 feet you should consider making and using a release device for rockfish.
I choose to try to avoid catching rockfish completely if possible. It may reduce my catch marginally on ling by fishing at least 10 feet up from bottom, but I rarely catch rockfish by fishing off bottom. I think I only caught one, or maybe 2 rockfish last season while fishing for ling.
I wish more guys would realize you don't have to drag bottom to catch Ling. I know that ling will rise a fair distance to chase a bait, most rockfish will not.
I do not keep monster female breeders, as they are better left to regenerate the local population. I only made that mistake once when I was quite young, and I have no plans on repeating it. The large one I kept when I was young was very tough and not good eating at all. It was the only Ling that I have ever caught that was not great eating.
The areas I fish for lings seem to have pretty healthy populations, as I have no problems catching multiple very nice size Lings any day I target them. I never punch my limit on lings, I might keep 2 - 4 teeners a season, but that's about it these days.
I also try to spread my take to different reefs, so as to not adversely affect any small reefs local population severely. I could take far more if I was inclined to, but I do not feel the need, I grew up as a kid bottom fishing and I have no problem getting them if I choose to. If anything it's far too simple to catch them these days with all our technological aids. Spectra lines, GPS chart plotters, and depth sounders make for pretty efficient harvesting. I grew up having to count down on my drops to guesstimate the depth, and you had to triangulate landmarks to hopefully land on the reef. No magical X marks the spot like nowadays with all our fancy chart plotters. With that kind of technology at everyone's disposal some kind of restraint should be shown to help ensure healthy populations for the future.
That being said I don't condemn anyone for keeping what ever they see fit within the regulations. That is everyone's right if they so choose. Hopefully most guys know when an area is being hit hard, and exercise restraint, rather than having new closures imposed on us. Just my opinion.
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