haven't had ling in years. Used to ice fish for them in Wy - Bull Lake and Dinwoody for the most part. Did find a few in the ditch while irrigating too. fry em up in flour or cornmeal and yum, yum.....
They are better eating than the ocean lingcod. Used to catch them in the Yellowstone near Terry close to where I grew up. Had an uncle who thought it was a snake first time he caught one. It wrapped around his arm and scared hell out of him.
Most people use minnows to catch them. We used nightcrawlers and did pretty good. This was before you could buy worms/nightcrawlers at any Walmart so would keep them in a plastic bucket in the cellar so they wouldn't freeze.