Oh My God, It’s A Sea Monster!

I have caught a wide variety of fish. I have caught literally thousands of various Trout and Bass. I have also landed Tuna, Mackerel, Barracuda, Salmon, Steelhead, Halibut, Sturgeon and a number of sharks. But the ugliest fish I have caught is a Lingcod.

I will never forget the first time I encountered one. I was fishing on a “party boat” out of San Diego, California. We had caught some very tasty Sand and Calico Bass on the trip. A friend and I decided to drop out baits down to the bottom to see what we could pull up. It didn’t take long until he had a nice fish on. His rod had a deep bend in it, so we knew it was a sizeable fish. I looked on with anticipation, but I was horrified when I first saw the Lingcod. “Oh my God! What is that?” I almost cut his line. I knew it must be some sort of Sea Monster! It was ugly with a set of chompers that could really put the hurt on a fellow. I am sure my eyes were the size of coffee mugs. My friend was also bewildered as to what he should do with the creature.

We yelled for the deckhand, “Gaff, Gaff”. I am sure I said, “And bring a gun!” By this time others were gathering around to see what my friend had caught. You see, it’s seldom, that someone asks for a gun on a fishing trip.

The deckhand said, “It’s a Lingcod”. As he grabbed a gaff, I thought, “He isn’t going to bring that thing on board is he?” The deckhand gaffed the monster and it lied on the deck flopping around. I am sure I heard it say, “Come here big guy. I am going to eat you!” It took all of the self-control that I could muster to not jump overboard. I didn’t want to be any where near that vampire fish.

I was glad to see the deckhand take a club and bash it’s head in. I asked him to hit it a couple more times, because I was sure it could come back to life with a chainsaw in it’s fin!

We were later informed that Lingcod is very good to eat. But wasn’t convinced. I was also freaked out when I saw, that the meat has a greenish tint to it. I was sure that this fish was nothing, in which a great and wise God had created.

“I know. It’s an Alien from another planet!”

I have since learned that these are a real treat to eat and they can be found around rock piles and jetties. I am planning to take a trip to get some of these monsters soon. I will be fishing with, Captains Reel Deep Sea Fishing out of Newport, Oregon. Here is the link to the website: http://captainsreel.com/. Contact me if you are interested in coming along.

By: Ken Bear Cole
Fishing with Bear LLC