Ling Cod – Sharky's Charter Fishing Oregon

Reeling, reeling, and more reeling is one of the main things I remember about halibut and bottom fishing trips that I went on as young man with grandpa. It was just part of the trip and the adventure to have cramped arms and sore shoulders after reeling hundreds of feet of 50 lbs. monofilament all day. Grandpa would drive the boat and let us young guys do the work of reeling up fish after he had put us on the spot. Our Penn Pier reels could handle salmon or halibut. One turn of the handle brought in about a foot of line. Drop down and reel up for eternity was just how it worked tired or not. I know if he was with us today he would be right there alongside us and we’d be fishing deeper than ever looking for the big ones with our electric reels. Electric Reels have put the fun back into fishing deep, allowing people of all ages and strengths to enjoy ocean fishing again. The first electric reel I used was on a fishing trip out of my home port of Charleston Oregon with Chinook Charters. Bob pointed the vessel north from port and we headed out on a spring day to fish Tenmile reef using homemade lead jigs weighing about 3 lbs. each! I signed up for the adventure just to see how these new electric reels worked and Bob always could make me laugh. If anyone has fished with Bob you’d know he is quite the character. An ex school teacher from the east coast , he had used all his patience up years ago on kids asking to many questions. Bob has the accent and mannerism of what I image a New York cab driver to be like. On first inspection of Bobs treasured electric reels they were huge and cumbersome; big red amazing and wonderous monstrosities. They hauled those huge 20lbs lingcod, 3lbs jig, and all the line up from 300 feet of water in no time and all I had to do is hold on and push the button. Bob was my newest hero for showing me the way of the future! Now you might say that is cheating but I will tell you what after spending all that time in my youth reeling I felt like I had earned the break! fast forward 20 years and today’s electric reels are much different than what I had used with Chinook Charters. They are smaller, more affordable, and reliable. So when I started Sharkys Charters 9 years ago I had to have a set of them so we could put the fun back into fishing deep for our clients just like Chinook Charters Bob had figured out years ago. What I have learned in the past ten years that has most impressed me about the electric reel advantage, was that anyone now could fish for the deep-water fish as long as I could get them out on the ocean. Young and old especially could now participate in catching fish from the deep. It opened back up fishing to people that couldn’t have done it for health reasons or physical limitations. I like to use them for our trips fishing halibut, deep-water long leader rockfish, and live bait lingcod. Today all our boats here at Sharkys use Diawa Tanacom 750s. If you’d like to learn more about them and use them on your own boat check them out. Push the button and let it do the reeling for you!

We have had some record fishing days this season with limits of lingcod and rockfish common. Jigging for lingcod in depths near the coastline has been highly productive. A new technique I picked up has improved our hook to land ratio this season which really has me excited for the future. The technique involves jigging soft plastic baits with light tackle. Its not revolutionary but the way we do it is. You’ll have to come out and fish with us to see! In Oregon the ocean lingcod season is open year around, with some of the best fishing occurring in the winter and spring months. Lingcod are known for their cryptic camouflage appearance, and fierce toothy grin. They are piscivorous predators that lurk on the rocky near coastal reefs hunting for fish, crab, or octopus to make a meal off. Lingcod are highly aggressive in the winter and spring while spawning takes place. October through March the number of weather windows are limited but when tide, wind, and wave height allow our boats head out to reward the persistence with world class lingcod fishing. Our port of Charleston is unique in that it is a deep-water port, with the safest ocean access in Oregon. Our Captains are all seasoned veterans of the sea and are known for targeting trophy lingcod. We are also very good at finding the medium “good eating size fish” as well. Leave the trophy lingcod for pictures and keep the smaller fish to eat is my nuanced approach. If you have never eaten lingcod, let me describe it for you. It is a white halibut like meat but better and easier to cook. Known by locals for its moist consistency and mild flavor, it is highly prized as table fare. The lingcod limit is 2 per angler a day and it is very common for anglers to catch their limit. Head out with us for a winter adventure on the ocean and enjoy the best lingcod action you have ever seen.