Fishing in Rough Water for Lingcod

Fishing a Dropping Tide in some windy conditions

The wind was ferocious in the morning so I was patiently waiting and hoping to see if it would subside. Finally after lunch it looked to be dying down a little bit, so I was on the water by 1:00 pm. My Windy app said 6 knots of wind, but in reality it was probably around 12 knot, which is on the upper side of my limits. With more years of ocean kayak experience, I’ve gotten more confident in what I can handle AND it’s also given me more respect for the ocean and how harry things can get pretty quickly. That said, I almost turned back but figured I might be able to grind it out and hoped that the wind would continually die down. 

Anyway, I was fishing the dropping tide and noticed a lot of current when dropping my baits. There was no way small 2oz jigs were getting to the bottom in this current, so I was fishing my big 5.5oz Savage Eel jig (that I swear mimics the local Gunnel fish). In faster tide you need heavier lures to get to the bottom. You want to be fishing straight vertically as much as possible and not have your lure dropping at a 45 degree, it’s hard to get the action you want on the lure. 

Caught my keeper Ling (68cm) on a Eel Jig

I was fishing a local reef that runs from 90 feet to 45 feet deep. Around 2:00 pm, I was fishing roughly around 70 feet deep on this reef and as I’m dropping the lure I realize I’m not hitting bottom and line has gone slack. It’s at those times, where I start reeling quickly and set the hook hard! And lucky for I was hooked into a good sized Lingcod. He grabbed my lure before it hit the bottom and was swimming with it and I’m lucky he didn’t spit it before I set the hook. 

That’s a good tip, that when you feel that slack line or if you feel like you should have hit bottom by a certain point – SET THE HOOK! Hookset are free, don’t hesitate to set the hook often when you’re dropping your jig to the bottom. A lot of times fish have it in their mouths and you have no idea. 

The Lingcod put up a decent fight, it was tricky as I was battling more than the fish, I was dealing with some pretty big waves and ensuring my bow was pointing directly into them and not getting side swiped all at the same time. Anyway, I got him into the net and knew almost immediately he was a keeper. I can often tell by the head alone now. Even though this one was very close (3 cm over a keeper size), I would have bet the farm on it.