Spearfishing Stats

Taxonomy

Rarity

The lingcod is the signature reef predator of the Pacific Northwest coast, common enough that a diver on the rocky shore off Oregon or northern Washington through the summer stands a fair chance of seeing one on most dives. Populations were not always this healthy. The Pacific fishery was declared overfished in 1999, closed and heavily restricted through the early 2000s, and formally declared rebuilt in 2005. The most recent NOAA stock assessments, in 2021, found both the Northern and Southern Pacific stocks not overfished and not subject to overfishing. The species has not been formally assessed by the IUCN Red List. The current picture is a rebuilt fishery, held in place by size limits, bag limits, and area closures that keep the population producing.

Regulations

CDFW rules verified 2026-08-15

Seasonality

Edibility

Location

Lingcod live along the west coast of North America, from the Shumagin Islands in the western Gulf of Alaska south to Ensenada in Baja California. They hold on rocky bottom, both nearshore and offshore, from the surface down to about 1,500 feet, though the fish a diver actually meets are almost all inside 100 feet on ledges, boulders, and crevices with some current running past. Juveniles use sandy and muddy bay bottoms until they grow into the reef. Both migratory and non-migratory populations exist. The species prefers cold water, in the range of 40 to 47 degrees Fahrenheit, which places its center of abundance in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia rather than warmer Southern California. Adults are solitary ambush predators that claim a spot on the reef, a specific ledge or crevice or boulder, and hold that territory. Site fidelity is strong. A lingcod removed from a good spot is often replaced within a season by another taking over the same crack.

Spearfishing Brief

The lingcod is the fish that teaches Pacific Northwest divers to hunt. It is a large, cooperative target for a diver who has learned to read rocky-reef structure. Finding one is the harder half of the hunt, and it rates a 3 on the 1-to-5 scale. Lingcod trust their camouflage. They sit motionless against dark rock, dorsal fin flat, with a mottled gray and brown pattern that dissolves into the bottom. A diver can pass within 6 feet of one and see nothing. The way to find them is to search structure closely rather than to cover wide ground, focusing on ledges, undercuts, and the mouths of caves, especially where current is running and delivering food. A small dive light helps, because the fish often sits back inside a crevice with only its head or tail visible. Once the outline resolves, the fish is unmistakable: a long body, a huge head with a mouth full of canine teeth, and eyes that stay fixed on the diver.

The shot is the easier half, and rates a 2. Unlike a yellowtail or a white seabass, a lingcod almost never flees. It holds its spot, sometimes flaring its gills at a diver, sometimes turning slowly to face the spear tip. The hunt is close, at 4 to 8 feet, and the shot goes broadside behind the head, through the spine where the gill plate ends. A shot taken head-on can deflect off the heavy skull. Once hit, the fish thrashes violently and will drive for a crevice to wedge itself, so a diver needs to be ready to hold the shaft tight and pull it into open water immediately.

The weapon matches the range. A 90 to 110 centimeter speargun with a single or double band is standard. A larger open-water gun is heavier to swing in tight rocky terrain and offers no advantage when every shot comes this close. The fish is popular with rod-and-reel anglers as well, taken on heavy jigs and swimbaits worked slowly along the same rocky bottoms, so a spearo is not the only threat a lingcod faces.

Deep Dive

Despite the fishmarket name, the lingcod is the largest member of the greenling family, a Pacific-only group of rocky-bottom fishes that includes the kelp greenling and the rock greenling. The name is a fishmarket coincidence with the Atlantic cod, driven by a similar white fillet. Growth is slow and life is long. The maximum confirmed weight is 86 pounds and the maximum length is about 60 inches. Males typically live to 14 years and females to 20, with some fish exceeding 20 years. Females grow larger than males on average and account for most of the biggest fish taken.

Adults are top-tier reef predators. Their diet is dominated by other fish, including rockfish, other bottom-dwelling species, and smaller lingcod. Cannibalism is documented and routine. A lingcod will also take squid, octopus, and crab. Its jaws are built for this: a large mouth extends past the eye, and 18 large canine-like teeth line the jaws in a way no other Pacific reef fish matches. Adults have few predators once they reach size. Documented predators of lingcod include seals, sea lions, and larger lingcod themselves.

The reproductive biology is what shaped the modern fishery. Spawning runs from December through March, with the exact timing varying by latitude. Males move to shallow rocky areas in late fall, become territorial, and defend potential nest sites. A female arrives, lays a mass of eggs in a rocky crevice, and departs. The male stays. For 6 to 10 weeks, depending on temperature, the male guards the eggs against predators, fanning them and driving off anything that approaches. NOAA's assessment is blunt: without the male, the eggs are eaten and the nest fails. This is why the winter and early-spring closures across California management areas exist. A speared or hooked guarding male is a lost nest.

About 1 in 5 lingcod carries flesh that runs pale blue to turquoise, a trait that surprises divers on their first cleaning. The color comes from biliverdin, the same green bile pigment found in most animals, deposited into the muscle rather than filtered out by the liver. A 2021 range-wide study found the frequency ranges from 4 to 25 percent depending on region, and that blue-fleshed fish are far more likely to be female, smaller, and caught in shallower water. Cooking drives the color out. The meat turns opaque white on the pan and tastes identical to a white-fleshed lingcod: mild, firm, and slightly sweet. The species is a first-tier table fish in the region, and it holds its texture well in a pan, on a grill, in a batter, and in a chowder. It is one of the reasons the rocky Pacific Northwest coast is worth diving.

Where to Find Them

Beaches whose habitats match this species

Matched by habitat: a beach is listed when its biome tags overlap this species' biomes.