(on soapbox)
"Yes I could have released that fish and thus not had a chance at a record I have been chasing for more than 20 years."

This is BS. By this reasoning, it is fine to take a Wild Steelhead if may be a record, and it is legal to keep.
(off soapbox)

Any way, nice fish!

Jim: Add one more qualifier and I would agree with you. If they were so abundant that six of you you could catch one every time your lines hit the water for two solid days, over a ten mile area

I think the amazing abundance of the fish in that area is a factor that is valid to consider.

Mr. Vedder,

I appreciate your response and your honest candor on the topic.

You are right about just one fish. I think we have all made this decision at one time or another. I am just as guilty as the next guy.

I know the tremendous bounty Alaska has to offer, I have spent 11 years in the many different fisheries up there and find myself wondering why I don't live there. I can't help but wonder if way back Washington wasn't as good (hence the ardor behind the post.) You can't deny that keeping the big ones is how Washington got where it is today...

I guess I was put off by the two facets I have observed and I felt the need to express it. I know you are a sportsman and have the best interests of fish in mind. But we all have to make those decisions and as a writer you are held under closer scrutiny then your average bubba (slight underhanded jab at those who feel the need to disavow other peoples opinions.)

Congratulations on your catch, it truly is one for the memories. We can disgree, we are humans after all. If we don't have emotions on this matter then we will never succeed in preserving what we have left.

The internet will never take the place of decent conversation anyway.

Ling

PissingRookie- You can't compare keeping a huge lingasaurus to bonking a wild steelhead. The lings are in season. and the steelies you have to release, no choice about it. Dip-A$$!!

Anyways, Great fish Dave, congrats! These rookies must suffer from small worm syndrome!

Later

Elkman

How far out were you? We went a few weeks ago for hali but the seas kept the captain in the bay....not very many ling in the bay - none caught, no rockfish, only baby butts and lots of razor flounder, skate, and dogfish.

Last year we caught some mongo cod in Valdez...they sure tasted good, we ate 3 fish over 50 pounds, couldn't tell them from the halibut.

Any one of those fish he caught could have someday reproduced. What's the difference. This fish has put a lot back into the system already. You people are something else. Why do you even come out of your shell? Doesn't the bright light bother you?

The regulations allowed him to keep the fish. I think you all would have done the same exact thing. Especially if the skipper is telling you that you have a new record fish. You're nose is growing if you say otherwise.

Kris

Dave
Good job on the big ling. We went out to Afognak Island last year and got into some
monsters also we got 2 over 60lbs and 1 at 70
we were only in 80 ft of water what a blast!!
We went to the same spot the next day and we couldn't get through the big halibut to get the lings!! My friend got 3 back to back 150,137and 175 and they all out weighed him!! If you want any info on this trip let me know!! All I can say is Blue fox Bay is GREAT!!!

FTR, my post was not directed at you, Ling. It was another poster's two bit sarcasm that galled me. Sorry for the confusion.

Ling Diver is making it sound like every fish that he catches is thrown back. I bet he is one of the guys that goes to the indian res to by wild steelhead

Ling Diver:

Thanks for your polite and well reasoned response.

I think we are in general agreement, but I do want to get in my .02 regarding your belief that Washington's lingcod were wiped out, at least in part by folks taking one tropny.

While I suspect the sportsman has had some effect, I am dead certain the commercial lingcod fishermen were the primary cause of the decline. The numbers they took were so much bigger than the few we got there is no comparison.

When I was a kid, waaaay too many years ago, sport fishermen seldom tarjeted lingcod and seldom kept them. They were considered scrapfish and there was no glory in keeping one. My mom worked in a butcher shop where they sold it for .29 a pound.

Like so many other things, there is no one answer, but I beleive the commercials can take the vast bulk of blame for our lingcod collapse. Both for the ones they killed and because of the collapse of the rockfish which lings love to munch on.

The good news is they can come back fairly quickly if we give them a chance.

I completely agree on the commercial comments.

There is a picture from the Peninsula Gateway a few years back that shows what the Gig Harbor commercial rowers used to catch off Pt. Defiance/Salmon Beach.

They were BIG Lings and furthermore the article talks about their secret bait which was "trout." They used blackmouth and caught them first as bait.

As a former commercial fisherman I can attest to the gross misuse of the resources, thats why I don't head to Alaska anymore to work.

Whats up with the attacks with the stupid accusations? If your gonna slam someone do it intelligently, not by showing your ignorance.

And no I wouldn't let a captain talk me into keeping that Ling so don't speak for me.

Ling Diver

Check out the following link to the Alaska Fish and Game website on Lings.

http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/fish/lingcod.php

Some interesting info here, does state that that lings mature at a 2-5 years (realtively fast compared to some rockfish and especially dogfish), and that fecundity does increase with size and age.

Also under management, it says "Management: Lingcod are highly susceptible to overfishing. In some areas along the Pacific Northwest coast (including Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia, and near Resurrection Bay) lingcod have been overharvested. Once overharvested, lingcod require long periods to recover."

I haven't been in Seward in a couple years, but it use to be a pretty good haul to get out of Resurrection Bay to the decent ling grounds.

Hey Dave V, did AF&G come down and check out the ling also? They'll do this on pigs over 60#...they take a tooth and a official length and weight and send you an Alaskan Cetrificate of Trophy fish. My wife has a couple of lings over 60#'s from Kodiak, and like a prior post said not far from Afognak in really shallow water. A blast catching them big bad girls, especially when they're "hitch hiking" on a 10#+ black bass!!!!

NIce fishey Dave If I still have some energy left by next Sunday (mandated day off), we'll be making one of our trips over to chase some of the toothy critters.

Corey's favorite place to fish ... never know for sure what you might find on the other end!

I think a few should take a chill pill ... either you do, or I'll make you

Gahooba! I've seen a few of those sized toads while scuba diving. I swear they look at you as "food" as you swim by!

Nice fish, Big D!

Nice fish Dave

We should go do one of them upper Sky trips soon here!!!

Woo Hoo!~

Nice fishy Dave! Must have been fun too, on 16 lb. mono..Yikes!

As far as the CnR stuff...open fishery, legal fish, you CnR'd dozens that day..no reason NOT to keep one for camp meat..

Mike

I'm going to have to support Dave on this one. Nice fish!

Thats a nice ling. Its just really sad it will never get a chance to reproduce. Record or no record I would have released it.

Nice fish Dave. Damn thing looks like it could swallow your head in one bite.
For all those giving him crap you need to follow Bob's advice and take a chill pill. I could see some of the feelings if that ling was caught by Dave out in the Sound and kept, but not where he was fishing. What's wrong with keeping a trophy fish from time to time if the resource will allow it. In this case it sounds like the resource is in fine shape.