South Coast Oregon Fishing

I've seen lingcod hitchhike on rockfish that were over 1/2 their weight, so I don't think there is too big.  The problem being that they most likely are not hooked on these larger bait.  I would think 10-12" and smaller would result in hookups and anything too much bigger would just be hitchhiking.

-Allen

Thats interesting, and youve actually caught the Ling cod without hooking them?

Yes.  It happens quite often.  In fact, watch your rockies as you're reeling them up.  Often times, you'll see a "shadow" following them up.

-Allen

 
  I live in Brookings Or. and have caught lings from the shore rocks using several methods.
  Tie a sliding bobber on the line and allow for bait to be a foot or two from bottom, this is around 6'-10' depending on depth at time,I then thread an anchovie with a single hook, add my weight and work it around the rocks.
  Another method we use is just tye a leadhead jig at least 4'' long on the end of your line and toss out to the base of the rocks you are fishing and work back slowly. With this method you can lose a lot of rigs.
 Both methods seem to work well, kinda depends on the area you are in as to which method works best.
  I hope to use these methods from my yak this year, Im sure some variations are bound to occur as I am new to boat fishing. This will be my first year On the water.
  wish me luck!
 
 

I'm not up on what's open in Oregon, but you should be able to find Black Rockfish, Lingcod, and lot of other rockfish. Carbbing should be really good right now. Perch is always a possible target. If you feel like cruising south to the Sixes River (about an hour) there is an excellant salmon run and steelhead run in the winter. The river is easily fished from the  bank and if you go towards Cape Blanco there is a good boat launch to put your kayak in near the mouth. The river is likely pretty fast this time of year.

Heads up fellas!,
on page 12 of the Or. sportfishing reg.s you will notice under the heading of gear, bait and gen. restrictions, "live fish may not be used or held for use as bait, except live non-game fish may be used in the ocean, bays and tidewaters when taken from the waterbody in which they will be used"
NO kelp greenlings allowed as bait  

Karl,

I used a Penn 320 GT2 and a 7 ft ugly stick to catch the ling in my avatar.  Put some 25 lb test or similar on that rig and you should do fine.  If you want to catch large lings, think large bait.

As for live bait regs, I don't know much about Oregon, but in California you're allowed to use your catch as bait but you are required to count those fish as part of your limit.  For example, I'm allowed 10 rockfish in CA, if I use 3 for bait, I can only keep 7 others to take home.

Brian

my big ling in my Avatar was on a 12" black. I was fishing with Freddie on Cal north coast. He engulfed the whole black and was hooked on the iron I was using. Pretty amazing to see. Maybe someone could help me post the thread of that trip last Thanksgiving.