Sable Fish and Ling Cod

[Hardy Boy]

Went out with a buddy off of the West Coast as he was getting ready to head home and wanted some white meat for the winter. He mentioned that he had caught some smaller sable fish (black cod) earlier in the year so I mentioned that since it was just him and I we could poke around a little deeper and see if we could find some bigger ones. He was game so I picked a hump in 600 feet of water (10 miles off shore) and down went the gear, spreader bar with salmon belly/ skin, they are lite bitters but we got it figured out and got our 8 fish limit (5 were good fish, 3 smaller) after a few hours. I wanted to try deeper but alas he was low on line on his reels (diawa electric). Not bad for a total shot in the dark with out much thought. We did a few drifts later in the day, on the way in in shallower water (350 feet), he still used his electric but switched over to my TLD 15, and reeled in 6 lings and 4 small butts in short order ............my shoulder is now ready for Cedros. Cool to catch a fish many don't ever think about, next year we will play some more and go deeper and look around. These are my wife's absolute favorite fish to eat so she was happy. Sunny and lite winds what a day on the water !!

Cheers:

Todd

[alantani]

wow! didn't know you had black cod.  gotta try that sometime!!!!!

[Crow]

Nice catch !

[Keta]

wow! didn't know you had black cod.  gotta try that sometime!!!!!

They fight like a boot but are tasty.

[Maxed Out]

 Your wife knows her fish. I'd say it's my favorite white meat too, but we seldom get them here. Have had a few trips to VCI when we brought several home from La Parouse bank

You musta been close to tuna water at 10 miles. I bet it sucks to be you, and have so many options lol
.

[Ron Jones]

I was going to retire to Endinada, I'm starting to think that just a little North might be just as fun.
The Man

[Swami805]

Really the only fish I buy at the fish market here,it's so good. There's a few commercial guys that fish them here, 1200' plus.

[steelfish]

Todd, you can drop in a parachute some fillets when your airplace is flaying over San felipe on its way to Cedros

congrats amigo 600ft is really deep, the deepest I have fished is 500ft and I hate it LOL

[gstours]

Toddy,  just saw this and thought 💭 why couldn't I do that?  You did great and 😮 wow these sablefish are highly prized ,  great smoked, great pan fried w garlic in coconut oil. 
    Tell us more about the bottom structure,  what made it work.  Circle hooks.?  Salmon skin certainly stays on, were you on the bottom?  I've never caught one, butt must.😊🚣🧜‍♂️   Thanks for sharing your thoughts.   We need a permit to fish these black cod.  Our lings not.   Permit is free.   Thanks.

[Steve-O]

Toddy,  just saw this and thought 💭 why couldn't I do that?  You did great and 😮 wow these sablefish are highly prized ,  great smoked, great pan fried w garlic in coconut oil. 
    Tell us more about the bottom structure,  what made it work.  Circle hooks.?  Salmon skin certainly stays on, were you on the bottom?  I've never caught one, butt must.😊🚣🧜‍♂️   Thanks for sharing your thoughts.   We need a permit to fish these black cod.  Our lings not.   Permit is free.   Thanks.

Hey Gary,  We catch them on occasion around Prince of Wales Island. Mostly the Juveniles = bait.

Here's what AKF&G says:
Range and Habitat
Sablefish are found along the eastern north Pacific coast from Baja Mexico to Alaska, along the Aleutian Island chain, and the continental slope in the Bering Sea. In the western north Pacific, they occur from Siberia in the Bering Sea to the Commander Islands in Japan.

Adult sablefish are considered to be a groundfish and are associated with the bottom. They occur in deep water, ranging from 150 to 1,500 m (82–820 fm), along the continental slope, in shelf gullies, or in fjords. Sablefish are caught in soft, hard, and mixed substrates; however, they are generally thought to be found in soft substrates. Juveniles tend to be pelagic or semi-pelagic, living in shallower, nearshore waters.

[Hardy Boy]

We just tried a spot I picked out that was further off shore and deeper than where he caught some juveniles earlier in the year. It was a large "hump" that came up to 600 feet from the surrounding area which was 800 or so. It was a gradual rise. Bottom was soft and I assume muddy. Fish were caught on bottom with a spreader bar, double J hooks in a salmon bellies that were salted so they were nice and tuff. The bites were very light and at first we assumed they were just small trash fish but I was pleasantly surprised when the first sable fish came up; as Lee stated they will not win the hardest fighting fish award. The only other fish caught were two red banded rockfish and a turbot. Next time we will try deeper out towards the continental drop off and try the edge in 800 and 900 feet.  To try that my my buddy needs to have his reels full of line !!


Cheers:


Todd

[Gfish]

Commercially Sablefish were a thing on the Pac. Coast back in the 80's. Most of seemed to be shipped to Japan.