How to catch Lingcod

Lingcod feed in 42–60°F water and bite best at 46–54°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 7 waters; in October they are at their peak in Southern California Bight, Central Coast & San Francisco Bay, The North Coast and 2 more.

40 pts · trophy at 36"Feeds 42–60°FBest 46–54°FIn season nowArtificial reefLedge / hard bottomWreckPass / inlet

About

Not a cod: a toothy, green-fleshed rock predator of the whole West Coast and Alaska, the reef fish everyone wants. Males guard the nests in winter — and many seasons are closed then to protect them.

How to fish it

Bounce a heavy jig or swimbait on the rock piles and pinnacles; when a rockfish gets eaten on the way up, there's a ling under it.

What it eats

big swimbaits and leadhead jigslive greenling or sanddabherring

Live bait for it

SquidStrips on a bottom rig for snapper, grunts and porgies; whole on a deep-drop rig.

HerringCut-plug for salmon: head off at an angle, guts out, two hooks in tandem so it spins slow behind a flasher or a banana weight. Whole and live on a circle hook for stripers where the herring run.