live bait for lings??

SalmonJeff · 03-01-2007, 06:11 PM

I know some of you are exteremly experienced in live bait for ling cod so I am curiouse what type of systems you use for them? In the past I have used a dropper and a 4 to 5 foot leader and basicaly bounced the dropper along the bottom and this alowed me to bounce it without haveing much dammage to the bait and the bait could still swim freely as I drift along. Have any of you tried anchoring and dropping bait down on shelfs that might hold lings? I am curiouse if it is better then jiging? I have also heard of guys puting live bait under floats and bobber drifting them along but i would think that the bait would be to free to swim to far off of the bottom un less you had a seriouse amount of lead?

anyway this is what I am thinking what do you guys like to do? I am thinking about trying out Tillamook bay this wednsday if the conditions are not bad. In the past I have had them chase down rock fish as I have been reeling them up and have hooked them on jigs but bait might be a fun twist to things to mix it up a little?? P/M's are fine to

Tinman · 03-01-2007, 06:25 PM

I've never had much luck live-baiting lingcod with small rockfish, greenling, etc. It's been hard for me to set the hook effectively. Most often, I swing hard and miss, even if I let them eat the bait for a while. I do much better with big jigs.

Weather or Knot · 03-01-2007, 06:35 PM

Jeff I,ve used a slider with a 2 oz. banana weight on the bottom(kind of like stergeon fishing). This way you can really feel when the baits about ready to get eaten!:blush: seem to work well and is easy on the bait.

newportfisher · 03-01-2007, 06:37 PM

You dont set the hook when using live bait. If you are using a greeling you drop it down with about a 4 foot leader, and a banana weight of about the same maybe lighter or heavier depending on the drift. Drop it to the bottom crank up so you dont get snagged and watch the rod. It will bend but you dont reel it in or set the hook yet. Wait about 10 minutes until the bait is well into the fishes mouth and start cranking up very slowly. The slower the better. If the fish lets go just wait a second. Many times they will come back. Reel it up until you can net it. I have done the "hitch-hiking" when I deck hand out of Newport if we are getting lings but nothing super big. Often times catch bigger fish this way. We have also been doing this when we have a 28 or so inch fish at the surface and a bigger one comes to eat it. Net em both!

Tinman · 03-01-2007, 06:56 PM

Newportfisher, no wonder I was'nt hooking the lings. I need to try this. Will they stay with the bait for 10 minutes even when the boat is drifting?

fishkisser · 03-01-2007, 07:07 PM

Hi, my go to rig for lings is a 6oz. leadhead jig with a 50lb stranded wire leader 12 inches long attached to the jigs eye . on the buisiness end of the leader I attach a 4/0-6/0 treble hook . A 10-12inch greenling is then hooked through the lips by the jig and the treble is rubberbanded to the tail . This has put the hooks into more ling than you can imagine . As most of the ling cod will grab a single hooked bait and just refuse to let go and never really get a hook into themselves . Always gaff a ling under the surface when their head clears water if they are not hooked they will release the bait and wave goodbye with their tail to ya ... Smokin drags. Fishkisser

fyshndad · 03-02-2007, 08:13 AM

The biggest lings I have caught never got a hook in them
Using a small live bass or grenling for bait

And as stated above you just reel them up very slowly as they won't let go until they reach the surface so be sure to have a net on the ready and bag that bad boy ASAP

Pilar · 03-02-2007, 08:58 AM

Yeah .. use circle hooks. When he eats it and swims you will feel the pressure. Just start reeling until you get a head shake and then crank hard to get the fish off the bottom.

I like the 8/0 gamakatsu on 100# mono leader. Rig it just like a salmon leader. See tech tips above for a pictorial on how to make this rig.

A small rockfish or greenling is the best bait. But I am not clear on the rules for deliberately using a live rockfish for bait. What I do is mooch herring on that double circle rig. If I get a rockfish hooked up I just let it swim around for the live bait action.

One thing to remember is that lings are ambush fish they dart out of hiding, clamp down and then swim off. They will only eat what they grabbed when they find a place to be where they feel safe.

Because of that it is very hard to get a hookset with a 'J' hook. You just end up ripping the hook out of the fishes mouth.

Alot of lings come to my boat that are not even hooked. They are just clamped on a small rockfish. When you see that double fish coming up don't let it get to the surface and net it before it lets go.

Klingon

Threemuch · 03-02-2007, 09:27 AM

I have intentionally used live sardines, anchovies, squid, sanddabs, greenlings, and mackerel for lingcod. They all work great, Lings love live bait, and you can fish it quite a ways above the rocks. Sanddabs, greenlings, and macks are really good for targeting lings, because they get ignored by the rockfish. Most of my live baiting for lings was done in CA. They used to have boats in Monterey that would do trips where you would make squid in the bay, then motor to Point Sur and fish live bait for bottomfish. 100-150 pound sacks were not uncommon.

Hitchhikers are a whole nother story. Keeping a small rockfish down near the bottom can often lead to Mrs. Big coming up for a ride. If you keep steady low pressure, and don't get their head out of the water, it is easy to gaff or net a ling who is jut hanging on.

I bet shiner perch would be dynamite bait too.

My top choice would be dabs, followed closely by greenling, then by macks.

What's the legality of using sport caught live bait in Oregon? I know that dines, chovies or squid are OK, but the rest?

Mark Mc · 03-02-2007, 09:51 AM

This has been covered before (legality)......you can use any of the "non-game" fish for bait (kelp greenling, small rockfish, etc). The caveat is....if you use a greenling you caught that day, that one greenling counts as part of your limit for that day.

p.s. on the 2 charter boats I ran in Ft Bragg in the 80's, every year (in the fall) we'd run trips where we......loaded up on sand dabs on the way out, put em in the live bait tank, and fished for lings in the shallows (15 - 30 fathoms). That was back when the ling limit was 5 per person....on a good day we'd have limits / near limits for 15 - 20 guys.

When I ran out of SF Bay, the "normal" live bait rockfish/ling trips were with chovies of course. So that was with the standard live bait hooks, 3-way swivels & 8 ounce balls....fishing off the Marin coast & esp Pt Reyes. When I ran to the islands / Fanny Shoals, on the deepwater "lingcod specials" we'd use big bait....mackerel on a "ling cod death rig" which uses a big single in the nose, and a big treble in the tail, off of a 3 way swivel rig.

With the small live bait, if it's a non-circle hook then you set the hook. With a circle hook, it's like any other circle hook fishing.....you slowly tighten up. For deep water lings (40 - 100 fathoms) and the humongous bait (2 lb mackerel) on large trebles, you let them inhale & chew the bait a little, then set the hook hard.

PIR8 Hook · 03-02-2007, 03:13 PM

I have been fishing for lings since 1967 and slayed my share of toads. Live greenling is the key!!!! #1 I NEVER SET THE HOOK....just use a broomstick for a rod and heavy line. When I feel weight I start cranking in slowly. #2 I now tie up my own mooching rigs and make the bottom hook a 8/0 Owner treble hook that never gets placed into the greenling it just trails or I place a small rubber band on the tail to hold it in place for when and/if they let go and start to swim to the bottom.....I don't pump the rod just slow & steady. I use a trolling banana weight with about 4' of 80 lbs. leader but a 3way swivel and a cannonball works just as well. Be ready to gaff or net as the fish come to the surface because MOST will NOT have a hook in them. I have even seen a triple...a greenling bit my herring, a 12-15 lbs cod bit him and a 50+ lbs bit him....I caught the greenling and the big one but the middle slipped away. I still wonder how hungry he had to be to keep hanging on while a fish 3X his size was "eating" him..

PIR8 Hook · 03-02-2007, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tinman

Newportfisher, no wonder I was'nt hooking the lings. I need to try this. Will they stay with the bait for 10 minutes even when the boat is drifting?

You still owe me that beer and I'd fill you in on these "secrets"

Still need to get you the photos of your beautiful boat out of PC huh?

newportfisher · 03-02-2007, 03:35 PM

Use smaller greenlings. Dont use rock fish because they have nasty spines on em and it seems to me that the Lings dont like them as much. You can use really any bait but I think that greenlings work the best. One thing that I think is the coolest is when your bait is down there and begins to get scared. You rod will start dancing all over and then it will bend in half.. As the size of the rod we usually use normal salmon rods.

BaitStop · 03-02-2007, 04:16 PM

When we fished Pt. Sur in CA the biggest lingcod were caught with live mackeral fished with large Siwash hooks & 6-8 ounces of lead & 3 ft. of 80 lb. mono leader. The lings had no hesitation in swallowing the macs & it wasn't hard to hook them. This was prior to circle hooks & I'm sure they would have worked. Some of the guys opted for a big treble similar to the way the SoCal guys fish a mackeral for yellowtail.

pirk fan · 03-02-2007, 06:22 PM

I use a bottom bouncer rig like those used for walleye, but scaled up for the additional depth, the weight cast on the bottom leg of the spreader is typically 3-6 oz for the 50-100 feet I usually fish in. These things are very snag resistant, because the first thing that hits bottom is a vertical piece of wire. An additional benefit, no free swinging sinker to get snagged in the net. On the bait arm, 3 feet of leader with a greenling (probably better be over the 10 inch minimum if it counts as part of your daily limit), or lacking that, a herring. I just drift over a reef with this rig, making occassional contact with the bottom. Great for cabezon too (they seem to prefer herring)

Deeman · 03-02-2007, 07:06 PM

I use a large tri-swivel. Off of one of the horizontal arms I attach a smaller circle hook with a wire loop. this goes in the greenlngs mouth/nose. off the bottom loop I attach a large treble with 5-6 inches of wire. this either gets banded to the GL or one barb gets sunk in. Off the last horizontal arm I run 12 inches of wire to a barrel swivel. About four feet from the barrel swivel I will tie into one end of a bannana weight, generally about 4 ounces. main line from the other end of the weight. One hint for jetty fishing with greenling as bait, use smaller ones, kill them and stomp them good before using. Try to make them bleed. I use them with no weight and just let the surge roll them around. I will try to post a picture of the offshore rig.

SalmonJeff · 03-03-2007, 12:27 PM

yeah Mark I plan on rigggin them just like I did for anchovies really for live bait trips in the bay for bass and halibut and then just drifting them right off the bottom.

I cant see those things beeing to picky about bait really I think anything that is moveing and freaked about beeing eaten will draw a strike. I have hooked tons of them while reeling in smaller rock fish and on live anchovies. but a big greenling or rock fish as bait would be cool. the only thing with rock fish is they will freeze when they get scared and fluff up and not move an inch! it is funny to watch but I really like the freak out nature of a greenling they spook well and that is just ringing the dinner bell for a big ling.

any good pointers as to areas to look for the greenlings in teh bay

Tinman · 03-03-2007, 04:29 PM

Pir8 Hook, yes and yes on the beer and pics. Will you be near PC or Portland in the next few weeks?

plunkme · 04-08-2009, 11:40 AM

Most of these rig info is about fishing on a boat nyone have info about fishing off of jetties and rock cliffs? Is using live greenlings better than fillet. And how do I rig the hooks on line greens and what type of hooks should I use? Is there any way someone can take a picture of the rig and post it? Thanks in advance

BlackBass · 04-08-2009, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plunkme

Most of these rig info is about fishing on a boat nyone have info about fishing off of jetties and rock cliffs? Is using live greenlings better than fillet. And how do I rig the hooks on line greens and what type of hooks should I use? Is there any way someone can take a picture of the rig and post it? Thanks in advance

I have been fishing for lings the last month with live bait, and have done so many times off the rocks! I use a simple method catch your bait, keeper size and bigger, they hang out in any kelp bed, i use clams for bait to catch the Greenling! I use a simple method of rigging, take a 3 way swivel with a 3 foot dropper, have a 2 foot leader of 40 lb mon, or wire leader "wich i started using the last few trips" two 7 ot hook, hook the greenling straight through the mouth with the upper hook and out the gill plate, skin hook the second hook point into the fish, i mainly fish kelp beds ! As said above, let the fish take your bait, in my experience all of the lincod landed are hooked, but this is off the rocks, might be different out of a boat! 3 days ago i caught 4 fish, 2 keepers at 30 " and 38 ", fishing for lings has been REALY good the last month!

thefishslayer · 04-08-2009, 07:53 PM

talked to a charter captain on sunday, he said that if you use green ling, they just hold on and let go at the top, then you have to have the net at ready to grab em

KingSlew · 04-09-2009, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackBass

I have been fishing for lings the last month with live bait, and have done so many times off the rocks! I use a simple method catch your bait, keeper size and bigger, they hang out in any kelp bed, i use clams for bait to catch the Greenling! I use a simple method of rigging, take a 3 way swivel with a 3 foot dropper, have a 2 foot leader of 40 lb mon, or wire leader "wich i started using the last few trips" two 7 ot hook, hook the greenling straight through the mouth with the upper hook and out the gill plate, skin hook the second hook point into the fish, i mainly fish kelp beds ! As said above, let the fish take your bait, in my experience all of the lincod landed are hooked, but this is off the rocks, might be different out of a boat! 3 days ago i caught 4 fish, 2 keepers at 30 " and 38 ", fishing for lings has been REALY good the last month!

Hey BlackBass! What's your 20? South coast, central or northwest?