BIG Fish

Just some thoughts on BIG fish... 

I have to admit some of the thrill of catching the 38" ling at BH last weekend was soured when I cleaned her and found she was full of eggs.  I couldn't help but think of all those thousands of baby lings that won't be there in years to come becuase of me.  I don't feel TOO badly about it, because I gotta eat....  but knowing what I know now I would have kept the smaller ling I released that day instead of the big girl. 

I know it's the end of the season and we are all trying to stock up for the winter, and I don't want to discourage anyone from keeping legal fish to eat, but just remember the larger fish are always female, and the larger females put out a LOT more eggs than the smaller ones.  So if you're lucky enough to have a choice, it's just something to keep in mind, that's all.

Not to make matters worse for your conscience, but studies have found that bigger females also produce bigger/better eggs and their babies tend to do better than those from smaller females.  It's still a little early for big female lings to be in shallow and full of eggs, so I think you just caught a really eager fish.  Or maybe the ocean is messed up and the large females are coming in early this year.

Anyway, there are really good reasons why lingcod season closes for the winter.  For one the big females come in from the deep to lay their eggs and catching big females full of eggs can be bad.  Secondly, once the eggs are laid the smaller males stick around to guard them, so even catching a small male can be bad as unprotected eggs will get eaten by other fish and crabs.

Bsteves, any way to ID a female ling?

Z

I'm not aware of any obvious sexual dimorphism in lingcod.  It's too bad because greenlings are in the same family and are easily sexed.

However, anytime you catch a large lingcod (>35") you should probably suspect it to be female.

Oh the flip side, just think about how many canaries will be saved!

-Brian G

Hey Eric,
Don't we all feel that way though after a good kill?

 That ling no doubt spawned plenty of times and mostly fed the fish with her eggs.
She has already done her job to replace herself and as a serious predator, killed and ate a few thousand feet of fish to make her 38 inches.
 Respect it, fillet it and feed your familiy
 I shot the pretty red sheephead last week [ kinda scarce up here]and my wife wants to know when I'm going to go get her another one. I told her I saw 2 other ones...and let em be.
What? Why?! She asked as if I threw money away....
 Shes from Tonga... where you take all you can to feed large families...[ and large people!]  How do I explain to her that I thought that one was enough?
 
Steve
Besides....its not like chicken farming, cattle farming , pork chop farming , salmon farming and shrimp farming is all that benign!

Eric take solice that by talking about the incident you are touching many minds and hopefully setting the example of taking a higher road. Now break out the Panko and fryer.

Now break out the Panko and fryer.

Randall, Randall, Randall   

Eric?   do you feel better now that you've let your "true feelings" out?   

i felt like that one day after shooting one-to-many small flying creatures with my BBgun and now think back and wonder...BAD ME!  i don't even kill bugs in the house now. i C&R them

Don't get me wrong: I will enjoy every tender, tasty morsel!  And I certainly wouldn't think less of anyone who decides to keep larger fish.  Just trying to pass on some enlightening facts is all.

No doubt I am feeling somewhat emotional as the season draws towards an end...  what can I say?  Ocean kayak fishing has had a profound effect on me.

Ocean kayak fishing has had a profound effect on me.

Goooood ain't it.

Z

I feel the same, especially when I'm fishing for salmon....once they are in the river, I'll leave 'em alone and hope they get to their birth place and spawn succesfully. I really admire what these fish go through.

...just my 2 cents.

i felt like that one day after shooting one-to-many small flying creatures with my BBgun and now think back and wonder...BAD ME!  i don't even kill bugs in the house now. i C&R them

Adam, does that include spiders? How do you C&R ants? 

I do a lot of C&R on spiders, ants not so much.

I used to be the complete C&R meister when it came to spiders - pick 'em up gently, toss them outside to eat other bugs. But daddy-longlegs have completely overrun our house. Now I'm a firm believer in kill-em-all-and-let-god-sort-it-out when it comes to Arachnids. After spending many hours using a vacuum (non-toxic, right?) to remove spiders inside and outside the house each year, I'm tempted to go all WMD on the eight legged freaks and call in Orkin/Clark etc...

Scott

After spending many hours using a vacuum (non-toxic, right?) to remove spiders inside and outside the house each year, I'm tempted to go all WMD on the eight legged freaks and call in Orkin/Clark etc...

Scott

Whoo almost saw the emoticon w/o it even being there.
Easy ST... easy...

Now go get em!!!

Z