Are you searching for an adventure this winter in the great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest and have a passion for saltwater angling? Then you might consider “Deepwater Lingcod”, for you next great fishing adventure! Lingcod fishing in Oregon is a year round passion for many anglers but the winter season is special. Anglers are allowed to venture further into the deep reefs of the ocean, outside of usual depth restricted areas. Anglers, targeting trophy Lingcod in the 30# to 50# class,search in depths of over 300 feet. Due to this great depth, the use of heavy lead pipe jigs in the 2# class, studded with large menacing trebles hooks is a favored lure. To retrieve this heavy jig the electric powered levelwind reel is becoming more popular. I use Diawa Tancom 500 electric reels on my vessel with great success. They allow the angler to retrieve his lure quickly when its necessary to reset a drift across the reef. This time saving method is extremely important when your trying to maximize fishing times in the ever present inclement weather of the Pacific Northwest in the winter.  Some anglers that I fish with choose to go one on one with a trophy lingcod using there high speed levelwind and crank them up by hand which adds to the excitement. There is something about the huge head, gaping mouthful of sharp teeth, and the heavily camouflaged body of the lingcod that makes the imagination of the angler run wild. The strike is quick and the initial fight of the fish is strong! The large lingcod commonly will rest while being reeled and then dash madly for the bottom many times as they are reeled up from the depths. Many an angler on my vessel has though that there fish had gotten away only to be surprised by a bent pole and peeling drag moments later. There is also the infamous “hitchhiker” scenario to consider when fishing for the trophy lingcod. Lingcod love to eat fish, especially wriggling fish that are stuck on a hook. As you jig the bottom for lingcod it is not uncommon to have a rockfish bite your line and while trying to escape attract a lingcod which in turn bites and latches onto the struggling rockfish. Hence the term “hitchhiker”. The largest lingcod that have been landed on my vessel have come as hitchhikers on other smaller rockfish. So while angling for them it is important to remembe that if you feel a slight wiggling on your line while jigging it is best to leave it there and wait for a true giant! So don’t forget when the winter gets you down, remember there is always a silver liner in those clouds in the form of a trophy winter lingcod trip with Sharky’s Charters!

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