my farvorite ling cod live bait

lings are the apex predator.  the only thing they worry about is a larger ling.  when fishing locally, i use swim baits, iron or dead bait.  when i've got the time (or opportunity), i like to send down a live bait.  just for giggles, and to see what you guys use, i thought i'd list my favorites in order.  here goes....

jack smelt > mackeral > greenling > olive rockfish > sand dab > blue or black

greenlings have to be 12 inch minimum to retain.  olives, blues, blacks and greelings must be added to your daily 10 count limit.  honestly, i think anything with a wiggle will attract a strike, though i've had absolutely no luck with a puked up octopus.  just wondering what you guys like. 

My buddies boat in San Diego was named the "Apex Predator" 

And for live baits I only have experience with sardines and 'chovies.  Big 'dines work pretty well.

MolBasser

white shark eat lings.  they eat people too. they are the apex predator!

I've only caught and seen lings caught on kingfish, but I bet they eat anything that wiggles as you say.

I bet humans have eaten more white sharks than the other way around....

MolBasser

I've just witnessed my first ling caught on a live smelt that was around 10 inches long, caught by JTF, a few weeks ago.

From my experiences: blue/black, chovie/dine, sand dab, smelt(top and Jack) and puked up octopus, kingfish.

I'll bet live squid is pretty sweet.

MolBasser

I have jigged lots of live bait and never gotten a ling to attach solidly.  All of mine have been on plastics and irons.

They like kingfish as much as greenlings.  Shiny and no spnes, hard to beat.

I was the Bean Hollow this weekend and scored (and lost ) some lings on small black/blue rockfish and the biggest ling went for a greeling that I was able to "mooch" from John / jdyak (thanks again bro )

on a side note: When I used the greenling for bait, I hooked it right on the dorsal fin instead of the mouth, so I actually was able to "hook" the ling properly. I lost the big ling with a small black RF that was hooked on the mouth. The big ling had the whole RF in it's mouth - tail end first - the hook  was the ONLY thing that was not in the Lings mouth 

Greenling!  I've found more half digested greenlings in the bellies of lingcods then any other large baitfish.  That has to tell you something.  But honestly, I'll fish with the first live bait sized fish I catch.  Lings will eat anything that wiggles down there.

-Allen

i've gotten lucky on blues that were hitchiked a couple of times, watched puked up octopus work too.  Most success with iron and scampi (white and root beer).

Pete

It's good to use a shrimp fly on a dropper over a live ling-bait, that way the wiggling bait will attract fish too small to eat it and they'll go for the shrimp fly instead.  Probably catch more fish that way than with a swimbait under a shrimp fly due to the struggling fish.

Orca is the apex predator in the ocean, not the white shark. I saw a video tape where a huge white was attacked and killed by a pod of orcas. They actually played with the dead shark but didn't really care to eat it. Orcas are too smart to mistake human for their food.