Central Coast Fishing: Area lingcod competitions coming to a close

They are long and ugly with exceptionally sharp teeth. They are the type of fish that win jackpots at least nine out of 10 times on sportfishing boats locally and all along the West Coast.

And currently, there are a trio of lingcod competitions that are roaring toward completion on the Central Coast.

Last weekend, Virg’s Landing completed the qualification process that has spanned 35 weeks and has ushered 36 anglers into its Dec. 10 fish-off. This will be the culmination of the third-annual competition.

One extra angler qualified this year because way back on May 14, the first day of a two-day weekend trip, Dennis Turner of Bakersfield and Albert Hernandez from Upland each caught a 17.5-pound lingcod. Their catches were the heaviest of that week and qualified the pair for the 2016 fish-off.

The heaviest winning weight, 32.5 pounds, was registered by Bakersfield’s Matt Kennedy in Week 30.

On the opposite end of the spectrum was Atascadero’s John Fedorowicz, the Week 32 winner with a 4.5-pound ling.

Ten Central Coast residents have earned berths: Jim Webb and Jason Anderson of Cambria, Cody Glynn and Aaron Bravo of Santa Maria, Fedorowicz and Mike Blackstone of Atascadero, Mark Brown of Morro Bay, Robert Aguiniga of Lompoc, Jose Camacho of Orcutt and Don Vinson of Los Osos.

In the meantime, Virg’s manager, Bruce Harwood, will be monitoring sea conditions and weather hoping there is not a repeat of last December when weather forced postponement of the fish-off until May of this year.

Patriot Sportfishing is in the final two month segment of its 12th-annual Lingcod competition. The format for their contest is divided into four two-month segments with pay offs of gift certificates worth $300, $200 and $100 for first, second and third place in each round.

Results thus far:

▪ Round 1 (May and June) — 1. Robert Sorenson, 19.0; 2. Mike Kikkawa, 18.1; 3. Aracely Burgos, 16.0.

▪ Round 2 (July and August) — 1. Sal Perales, 25.3; 2. Jesse Gillespie, 18.9; 3. Steven Irish and Keith Hopkins (tie) 18.0.

▪ Round 3 (September and October) — 1. Rudy Didrickson, 21.0; 2. Isiaha Contreras, 19.0; 3. Eric Pirman, 17.5.

▪ Round 4 (November and December) — In progress.

The grand prize will be determined after Dec. 31.

Major awards are up for grabs in the Lingcod Contest sponsored by Morro Bay Landing: $5,000 for first place, $3,000 for second and $2,000 for third.

Competition will continue through Dec. 31.

Bakersfield angler Gary Lynch is the current leader with a 32.3-pound ling. In second place with a 31.6-pound ling is Bill Gerderding. Ken Davis is in third with a ling weighing 26.1 pounds.

All three lings were caught in November. Lynch’s leader was landed Nov. 23.

This story was originally published December 2, 2016 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Central Coast Fishing: Area lingcod competitions coming to a close."