We went waaaaaay off the beaten path out of Kodiak Alaska, and found a small ridgeline that's probably never been fished before. Ever. Hooked up to some HUGE Lingcod, then decided to drop down some cameras to see what the deal was, and gathered this incredible footage.
The smallest fish we caught here was 25lbs, and the average size was around 40lbs. We kept one that was at least 50lbs, and released at least twenty huge fish, with the biggest one being easily 70 POUNDS!!!
Why they were all piled up on this ridge in a school like that, I don't know for sure, but I do have a theory: The area these fish are in gets some pretty extreme tidal currents, that regularly blow through at least twice a day. Now, Lingcod don't typically like to swim in currents; they prefer to tuck under rock ledges, hide in reefs, and let the water flow over the top of them until the tide shifts and slows down.
But here, as you can see in the beginning part of the video, there's a lot of very fine silt that comes up when the camera hits the bottom. That sort of silt should have blown away into the current a long time ago, but it's still there.... I'm taking that as evidence that, for whatever reason, there's some sort of eddy/protection/shelter from the current in this small spot, that's unique in the area, and that these Lingcod are here to exploit it.
I hope to someday make it back out there again, and get some more footage of these giants!!