tips on how to fight fish?

Mischievous divers in the sea are known to tug on peoples lines and then wedge em into rocks. Darn bubble blowers 

You caught mother earth. j/k bro, we've all been there at one point or another.

Lindbergh Lake in Montana has a lot of rocks on its bottom with thin projecting layers, mineral deposits, and cavities in which a hook can catch.  Several times I've snagged one of these rocks while downrigger trolling or jigging for lake trout, and at first they put up a pretty good fight.  After I set the hook, I would get a series of big surges as the rock bounced up and down at the end of my line.  Then it would settle down into a steady hard downward pull, not unlike that of a lake trout, which pull straight down, interspersed with further surges as I would raise the tip of my rod to pull up the fish.  But eventually I would realize that what was on the line was not alive, and would winch the "brown rockfish" to the surface and release it to grow bigger and reproduce. I took the pictures shown below because the rocks had interesting deposits on them.  I've caught other "brown rockfish" which were bigger but not as interesting looking.

That's quite a collection pmmpete, next is finding a good recipe for it

That's quite a collection pmmpete, next is finding a good recipe for it

Here you go

Thanks!
Very interesting, including the language, I was expecting to hear Spanish.
I believe Japanese have a similar soup dish, using hot rocks.

You caught California, there is no winning that  But for the sake of fighting fish, rockcod ling are not really difficult to handle. You will learn more about them as you catch them, can even tell the difference when you start fighting them.

This is pure gold 

Pmmpete, your rock looks more like a type of ganoderma fungus.

Pmmpete, your rock looks more like a type of ganoderma fungus.

That's what I was thinking.

Pmmpete, your rock looks more like a type of ganoderma fungus.

I sent one of the researchers at the University of Montana's Yellow Bay Biological Station on Flathead Lake some pictures of those encrusted rocks, and he didn't know what they are.  It would be interesting to scuba dive the areas I have caught those "brown rockfish" to see what the bottom of the lake looks like.  Based on the number of them I've snagged, there must be a lot of that stuff on the bottom.

They do look a lot like some tree fungi!

Would be wild if it's some unknown species and not just a rock

They do look a lot like some tree fungi!

Would be wild if it's some unknown species and not just a rock

One of the things I asked the Yellow Bay researcher was whether he thought the things are mineral, biological, or some combination thereof, such as an algae-mud conglomeration. He didn't know.

Looks like petrified Lingzhi Mushroom...

https://www.google.com/search?q=lingzhi+mushroom&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS730US730&sxsrf=ALeKk02C9uY1SA9Il5ZsK-NYBjmsCX1TVg:1596609856619&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=21z_4AFYOh4e-M%252Ci0YHciYcF4K8qM%252C%252Fm%252F02y1jf&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kTQbDiITDLmtZlO8-JGvhsfVVhHjw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjqyuSau4PrAhWUrZ4KHVgnDxwQ_B0wE3oECAgQAw&biw=1228&bih=656#imgrc=21z_4AFYOh4e-M

They do look a lot like some tree fungi!

Would be wild if it's some unknown species and not just a rock

One of the things I asked the Yellow Bay researcher was whether he thought the things are mineral, biological, or some combination thereof, such as an algae-mud conglomeration. He didn't know.

Thats kinda awesome!  Unknown lake aliens 

A fine specimen from Monterey