Where are all the ling! - Page 4 - NJFishing.com Your Best Online Source for Fishing Information in New Jersey

jmurr711 · #31 01-23-2017, 06:01 PM

Vacuum packed correctly I ate some 2 weeks ago I caught in july & they were delicious. Key is to toss in freezer for a few hours to firm them up & then vacuum them & the reports were right on this site all summer I even got hate mail about it. We only had 500 & 24 flounder on my ling trip this past kuly

#32 01-23-2017, 06:05 PM

Ling are delicious when fresh but do not freeze well at all. Vacuum packing helps, but they don't last long in the freezer. I've never in my life seen ling sold in the market so I'm not even sure where the commercially caught fish end up. Years ago they were almost viewed as trash fish, think they were called smelly belly's or something along those lines. For whatever reason I think they were frowned on because of their soft meat. If you didn't eat them soon after catching them and keep them on ice their meat would get mushy. If handled properly, they are very good to eat but again don't have a long shelf life.

SaltLife1980 · #33 01-23-2017, 06:29 PM

Sh!t Baggers!

jmurr711 · #34 01-23-2017, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dakota560

Ling are delicious when fresh but do not freeze well at all. Vacuum packing helps, but they don't last long in the freezer. I've never in my life seen ling sold in the market so I'm not even sure where the commercially caught fish end up. Years ago they were almost viewed as trash fish, think they were called smelly belly's or something along those lines. For whatever reason I think they were frowned on because of their soft meat. If you didn't eat them soon after catching them and keep them on ice their meat would get mushy. If handled properly, they are very good to eat but again don't have a long shelf life.

Every seafood market in Philadelphia has ling for sale.marketed as mountain trout, red hake, or ling. Try what I said above makes em freeze much better

Reel Class · #35 01-24-2017, 05:06 AM

Ling fishing was decent last June-early september in the deep stuff. We did probably 8 or 10 trips out there to the hole and even deeper and caught ling cod and flounder every trip. We averaged probably 150 ling for 6 guys with at least 5-10 flounder and a few cod every trip. Some trips were better.

It's funny last summer I fished mostly the North end of the hole, and we did the same the summer before as I never ventured off to the real deep stuff to our east (because every time we had a trip scheduled some wacky weather prevented us from going to the east) and we caught them everywhere. But with a few party boats, and some charter boats hitting the bigger pieces in the hole, they got picked over pretty fast, but we still caught them - only had to make a few extra moves per trip to really get it together.

I've heard of ling being caught on the headboats recently - that's a good thing because last year they were completely absent (if memory serves me right) all winter long.

And I am in the camp of seeing ling as being extremely cyclical - some years are feast, followed by a couple years of "famine" type fishing.

Finally, in regards to the "on the beach" ling and whiting fishing - we haven't had that since the early 90's and that fishery was wiped out by draggers and our burgeoning spiny dogfish population - however the ling population on the inshore reefs (Axel/sea Girt specifically) in the spring is always pretty good as we catch plenty of them while seabass fishing there in the spring whenever seabass opens.

frugalfisherman · #36 01-24-2017, 09:48 AM

Best way to freeze ling is to cook them first. Deep fry then freeze separated by wax or parchment paper. You can reheat in a very hot oven or refry but DON'T USE THE MICROWAVE!

jmurr711 · #37 01-24-2017, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frugalfisherman

Best way to freeze ling is to cook them first. Deep fry then freeze separated by wax or parchment paper. You can reheat in a very hot oven or refry but DON'T USE THE MICROWAVE!

very true as well!

courbeco · #38 01-24-2017, 02:57 PM

Individually "sock" the ling fillets and place in freezer for about an hour so, then remove and quickly dip into clean cold water, vacuum seal and freeze. This method provides a glaze to the fillet and the flesh is as near perfect as when first filleted. Not mushy at all.

Reelron · #39 01-25-2017, 07:18 AM

Before the days of Vacuum sealers my dad would cut the top 1/4 off a halfgallon milk carton put some fillets in it the fill it with water. Then move the containers around so that there were no air pockets before freezing. I guess the water helped keep the fish better?

I don't freeze any fish as I have friends and family that are very appreciative of getting fresh fish!