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Ling Cod 2017

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cod ling
17K views 180 replies 30 participants last post by  mtskibum16 
#1 ·
Anyone make it out for the opener today or planning to soon? Post up some flies you're using, gear, technique tips, pictures of fish you caught, etc here. I have yet to target lings on the fly, but I'd love to go if anyone ever has an open seat!
 
#2 ·
I might go next weekend on a friend's boat (gear guy) and lop some foot long flies on T20 tips :)
I did get one on the fly last year with the same setup (per Nick Clayton's advice) a bit later in the season, smaller size but cool nonetheless.
 
#3 ·
I've been researching a tiger muskie setup and realized it would also double for lings. I'm thinking the flies could do double duty too. With such a short season I should have been prepping before now, but I'd really like to get out. I have a 30' T-something head setup I put together for getting down on my 8wt. I'm sure it would work in a pinch on a 10wt.
 
#8 ·
A search of this site should provide lots of information on targeting lings with a fly.

For those interested in chasing lings I strong encourage you to focus your efforts in the San Juan Island, outer straits or the coast. For a couple decades there were excellent relative shallow opportunities for lings in central Sound that no long is the case. The combination of heavy pressure and a series of poor recruitment classes the population is on the verge of collapse.

Curt
 
#15 ·
Nice looking flies Lou.

I've only fished lings once. Board member Jay C invited me out on his boat to show me the ropes.
I used a 10 wt with 30' of T-14 looped to a intermediate running line.
We were fishing in 35-45' of water, so long casts weren't required.
We both ended up with legal fish in the 30" range. Lots of fun.

I think if I ever do it again I'd play around more a bit with the patterns I'd plan to use.
SF
 
#16 · (Edited)
@SilverFly I've watched a ton of his videos. Got the gears turning. I might even build a table for making brushes.

@Kfish Is that EP Fiber, SF Blend, or what? Nice looking flies. With the upturned it really seems like those would want to run hook point down. Adding the dumbbells on the hook point side of the shank might help keep them oriented that way. I assume point up is advantageous to limit snags on structure?

@Eyejuggler Snag rate on structure? I've never used circle hooks. Isn't the idea that you don't set the hook and just let the fish take the fly?

@Stonefish I have a 30' T-14 head I used at Neah on my 8wt. It's certainly heavy for my 8wt, but I had planned to test it out then trim is down. Now I'm seeing the full head matches the grain weight of a 10wt OBS and I think I'll keep it whole. I'm really thinking I'll pick up an Echo Ion XL 10wt assuming it passes the casting test.

@Bajema At Neah we were fishing for rockfish around rocky structure in 30-50' of water and tangled with a few Lings (that absolutely kicked our ass). We even hooked on to some on 3-4" standard chartreuse/white clousers. Basically you're using a T-something head on an intermediate running line. Lob it out, and let is sink down. Retrieve back up. We were kind of deep water swinging past good lies and structure. Super fun! I'd for sure want a 10wt if I was targeting lings on a regular basis, but we even got our ass kicked on the 10wt out there. There was big bad boy hanging out in one cove and he could not be pulled from his rocky lie! If you haven't fly fished for big game fish, the power of these fish is shocking! Hell even a 6lb rockfish will bend an 8wt to the cork!
 
#24 ·
Snag rate on structure? I've never used circle hooks. Isn't the idea that you don't set the hook and just let the fish take the fly?
Where I have fished (Commencement Bay) around big rip rap and sunken "habitat" my first 2 years I lost a minimum of 4 flies a trip, careful twitching can often release some, but not always.
When I did some clousers with the circles, I got 1 or none on subsequent trips. I typically chuck it out and use the current to drift me over and I pseudo jig/strip the fly just off the rip rap, when I can feel it bouncing, I bring it up a few inches.
My takes have been so aggressive that the hook just does its job as I try to winch the Ling up an away from the rocks it tries to go back into.
Hooks are very personal, this is just what I have found to work for me!
 
#17 ·
So basic fly. I'm thinking something like Lou posted. Basically a big clouser-ish fly maybe with a stacked dubbing head. Maybe some weighed some not. What size and style of hooks? Like 4/0? I like the idea of cheap(ish) regular gear hooks. I tied some needle fish for 'cuda on some big ol' siwash hooks from Sportsman's that actually looked pretty nice.
 
#27 · (Edited)
I would go with 6/0, not too big!
Circle octopus helps big time with the snag issue while not affecting hookups from my limited experience.

Those are SF blend mixed with crystal flash to give it a full body appearance without too much bulk with the front of anadromous brush wraps.
Absolute beauties! I know not very necessary for ling fishing, but you can add a stinger on to these and use these same flies (or fly pattern/style) on other trips, say if you go fishing in warmwater environs for big roosters, sailfish, dorado, et al.

Just a thought...
 
#19 · (Edited)
You can't tie on a hook too large for lings. Nor can you tie a fly too large. I agree regarding 6/0 at a minimum.

I've started going away from circle hooks just because it's so hard to resist setting the hook on a tight line grab. I haven't found them to be any less snaggy on the rocks than other hooks.

Matt, large spun deer hair heads are a lot of fun to tie, and fish extremely well. That's another thing I've gone away from.... Huge eyeballs and weighted flies. Just not a huge need when I'm fishing T17 or T20 in most places.

I'll be doing some jetty fishing down here over the summer. I'll be sure to report any success.
 
#20 ·
Thanks Nick. I may shy away from the circle hooks because I'm hoping to come up with some double duty ling/tiger flies. Should be a good way to kill a couple packs of my lesser used SF blend.
 
#21 ·
I didn't have any big ass fly hooks when I tied my ling flies and my vise would only take so big of hook.
I just ended up using some big Mustad Siwash 5/0 hooks I had lying around. Seemed to work ok and not get snagged too much.
SF
 
#25 · (Edited)
I'm in the bigger hook for lings boat. Ever watched a 30"+ ling gulp bait with an 8" wide mouth? I don't bother with less than 6/0, with 7/0 or 8/0 being my preference.

I'm sure they work for others, but personally I've never been sold on circle hooks. For sure they help reduce snags. But you only get so many lingcod grabs, and I have itchy strip set trigger fingers. Octopus hooks have better hook-up ratios for me for both gear and fly. I like the 4x strong ones for some dispersed weight.

Most of my ling flies this year are this simple pattern in green/white, orange/white and pearl/white. Holds a nice profile with lots of flash but still fairly sparse when wet. Diggin the maribou and anadro wraps on some of the above. May have to experiment with those. I also like the wire weed guard idea.

Haven't been out yet, but headed to the San Juans this week and longer trips planned to Van Island and Neah later this month, with some local jetty attempts in between. May is one hell of a fishing month on the salt!

 
#34 ·
The salmonoid shank/intruder and tube flies were invented to avoid the difficulty of setting and staying attached to big hooks but still tie big patterns so I'm going with those lessons learned. :)

About the only benefit to tying on big hooks I can see is it sounds cool to say you whipped up a couple 8/0s :)

Still like your pattern though.

Bob Lemay style wire weed guard.

I suspect #4 wire for big fly weedguards



Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk
 
#36 ·
No need for Kevlar IMO. I used to but gave up on it. Haven't had any issues.

Whether it's in my head or not I feel more confident in larger hooks, and can't see any advantage to going smaller. And really I'm not too interested in trying to pull smaller hooks out of a toothy mouth.

I've hooked a lot of lings on size 2 clousers, but I haven't landed very many of them. Except when catching small ones in the kelp beds.

T8 running line is tits! Absolutely a huge fan of that setup.
 
#39 ·
No need for Kevlar IMO. I used to but gave up on it. Haven't had any issues.

Whether it's in my head or not I feel more confident in larger hooks, and can't see any advantage to going smaller. And really I'm not too interested in trying to pull smaller hooks out of a toothy mouth.

I've hooked a lot of lings on size 2 clousers, but I haven't landed very many of them. Except when catching small ones in the kelp beds.

T8 running line is tits! Absolutely a huge fan of that setup.
You calling 2/0 small? :)

Smaller than giant hook plus lead allows for jig action or complete control of weight placement compared to a hook that weighs 1/8 oz already.

If those teeth are scary then these ARC dehookers are da bomb for fly fishermen. Two different modes of operation depending on if it's a lip hook or deeper in the mouth. I bought a dozen from the link on Ebay and give them to friends whenever they don't have one. Everybody loves them. Just watch the video / pics on how to use. EBay for $1.99 down from $12.99 is pretty cheap. Do a WFF group buy!



http://m.ebay.com/itm/371918504752
 
#37 ·
shit, I'll bet that you could tie up some stuff like what @Nick Clayton was fishing for rockfish I think (from a previous report?)...where he was fishing just purple soft baits...which one could copy with just a long purple (or take your pick of color) synthetic tied to a hook...nothing special (especially since you're fishing tight to the rocks, then you won't be so heartbroken by losing a fly)...I'm gonna tie some shit like that up for me next jetty trip....super simple and basic...see what happens.
 
#40 ·
Yeah getting fancy with ling flies is much more for us fly tyers than it is for the fish.

Considering how many lings are caught on pipe jigs and simple lead heads with big grubs I don't think it matters too much. When a ling is hungry it will eat whatever is moving around. Though there does seem to be a difference between ocean lings and PS lings in that regard. PS lings are often fished over extremely hard and aren't as anxious to eat just everything. Still they see way fewer flies than they do jigs and IMO can be enticed a bit easier into eating a fly than a lot of standard hardware.

And for the record we catch a lot of lings on those small rockfish grubs out here for sure.
 
#43 ·
When I first started targeting ling cod with a fly some 25 years ago I first used some of my larger bull trout and salmon streamers tied on 1/0 hooks. While the lings liked the flies just fine it was obvious that some specific fly design changes were needed. The lings teeth made short work of the bucktail and angel hair that were the foundation of those early flies with a fly rarely surviving beyond 3 or 4 fish. At the local fly shop found some "yak" hair and I looked to use that material as the foundation of my new ling flies and I thought that some of siwash hooks (3/0 to 5/0) that I had in some of salmon gear with the straight eyes might fill the hook need; handling the full range of lings I encounter in the Sound (fish from 18" to more than 35#). The new flies performed so well that both yak hair and those siwash remain my standard. The new flies would last for 20 or so lings (I think my best day with a single fly was 25 fish). A couple years into my ling fishing I started using Kevlar thread. Before that my flies would eventual fail from either cut thread or destruction of the material in the fly. With Kevlar I would only need a new fly once the material had been thinned out to the point that the fly lost effectiveness.

I have never worried too much about corrosion of the hooks as the life of the fly was rarely more than a day or two of fishing. Though to be fair with the reduced abundance of lings corrosion may be a larger issue though rinsing the fly in freshwater and then drying helps (I keep a coffee can with lid filled with freshwater in the boat and soak any flies used that day in the freshwater on the run back to the launch.

Curt
 
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