Blue lingcod

M

Marco Flamingo

Active member
I'd never heard of blue lingcod. When I caught one at Kyuquot, Beth and I went all through the BC fishing regulations to see if there were special rules. I finally decided to take it in to the processor. The processor said he had seen some of them before and that nobody was certain as to what caused it. Even the guts were blue. The picture showing a regular ling next to the blue isn't my photo. I forgot to take one. The picture of the frozen fish is mine. The blue lingcod lost some of its bright turquoise during processing (and might lose more from cooking). We are having some of both for dinner tonight and can report on a taste comparison, assuming that we survive.

Mark

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When I was younger I did a lot of SCUBA diving and spearfishing around the Vancouver area. (It was legal then to take lings from around Vancouver). Some of them were blue and indeed the guts were blue as well. Some of them were a really vivid blue, and some were more of a green-blue. All were good eating, and the blue color disappeared after cooking. (I'm still here, so they must have been OK to eat.)


Chris :D
 
Hey Mark, since we are on the subject, what is your preferred method of fishing for lings? Depth? Bait? Bottom type?

Thanks,
Chris
 
I've never really mentioned this here before, but in my off time I work as a lingcod quality control consultant. Because you're a fellow C-Brat, I'll take that blue lingcod, cook it, eat it, and then report back on its quality compared to a regular one, all free of charge. That way you'll know next time you run across one how it will fair. And just to be thorough, I'll deep fry some for fish n chips, grill some for fish tacos, and bake some stuffed with something like crab meat, maybe.


I've caught and eaten blue ones, green ones, some with big ol' yeller spots on them, and regular brown ones. But in order to maintain my consultant certification, I must continue procuring and eating as much as possible. Some one's got to do it.
8)
 
My favorite way is to use the same setup that I use for salmon. Just a spoon on the downrigger with no flasher. I'm trolling along for salmon and notice that I'm going over a seamount. Before I can get the downrigger weight up, POW, I think that I've hooked the bottom. Nope, it's a ling. Catching them incidental to salmon fishing is a nice bonus.

If targeting ling, I like to look for seamounts in an area with fairly strong currents but waiting for slack. Drop a big jig from "upstream" and drift over the area. I also like fishing "cliffs" in an area that can have strong currents. Places where you are 20 feet from the cliff but in 180 feet of water. I still remember catching lings on the SW end of Johnstone Narrows on a slack tide. Slack only lasts 15 minutes, but it's enough time for a couple big lings before the current makes it impossible to drop down. I'm sure that they are still there, but chances are you'll catch the bottom before another ling.

I rarely use bait for anything. No refrigeration or other futtsing when using a spoon or a buzz bomb.

Mark
 
We caught a blue ling on our trip to Winter Harbor 2 years ago. Great eating! I read or heard that a diet of eating crabs caused the blue color. Works for me. :thup

Peter
 
1 out of every 3 I catch between Newport and Astoria are blue. I have been told it is caused by iodine in their diet. I have heard old times say the blue ones taste better, I think I agree with them.
 
You'd think that all the lingcod in a given area would tend to have a similar diet (they all eat what's there) and would all be the same color if diet was the cause of the coloring.
 
Caught a few, ate a couple and never looked back. After catching cooking and eating large Cabezon, (we call them sleestacks) it seems less strange.

Greg
 
Here is Susans blue ling from this year. Looking back at old photos I think we catch as much as 20% blue lings. We eat all of them and they taste the same.

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I spent a week fishing with a gentlemen that has spent years diving with and doing research on ling cod as a side hobby. He is my source for the sea weed commit. I have caught blue ling in the same area as non blue ling at about a 20% rate in the San Juan and near Everett. male link do not wander far from their rock and eggs. so I guess it depends on location to a very fine point. Bigger females are known to migrate farther and from deep water. I just love catching and eating them .
 
starcrafttom":1t09w3gm said:
I spent a week fishing with a gentlemen that has spent years diving with and doing research on ling cod as a side hobby. He is my source for the sea weed commit. I have caught blue ling in the same area as non blue ling at about a 20% rate in the San Juan and near Everett. male link do not wander far from their rock and eggs. so I guess it depends on location to a very fine point. Bigger females are known to migrate farther and from deep water. I just love catching and eating them .
Click to expand...

I want the same.
 
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