Photo: Vsevolod, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Molva molva
Deep wrecks, reefs and rough ground, typically 100 ft and deeper.
Large fish baits hard to the structure; heavy jigs, pirks and big shads.
Half cod, half eel in appearance and wholly predatory by nature, the ling is the deep-wreck specialist's fish. Long-bodied, mottled bronze with a fringe dorsal fin running half its length and a mouthful of genuine teeth, it lies in and around deep structure waiting for something edible to swim past - which, to a ling, is most things.
Almost all UK ling fishing happens afloat, over wrecks and rough ground in 150 ft of water or more. They take big baits and large jigs and shads meant for pollock, and a good ling pulls hard and straight down with the kind of weight that makes you check the rod isn't snagged.
Double-figure fish are routine on the deeper marks and twenty-pounders no great surprise. The flesh is firm, white and excellent - salted ling was a staple food around Britain's coasts for centuries.
The UK boat record is around 59 lb 8 oz - caught, naturally, over a deep wreck.
21 trips are currently targeting ling.
