Hi, Dayto.
I second what Dr. Hook said regarding gear. I usually use my Hali gear with a 6 to 7 1/2 ft rod, Penn 330 gti level wind reel with 80 lb spectra. Maybe a little overkill for smaller lings, but there's lots of 10-20 lb Lings in the Gulf Islands. I usually use a spreader bar with as much weight as necessary to get to bottom in the current. Large 6- 8 inch Hoochies on about a one foot leader sweetened with bait can be used off the spreader bar. The most effective bait for Lings from the spreader bar is the biggest herring you can find. As mentioned live greenling will catch the largest lings, but I've never enjoyed using live greenling for bait. If you fish areas such as points with a steep drop off you shouldn't be too bothered by dogfish. You want to try areas with a strong tidal flow, but you want to hit it around the slack tide. Dogfish generally stay in areas with less current, so you should hopefully avoid them.
This gear may not seem too sporting for smaller fish. However, at 7-10 dollars for each jigging lure it gets pretty expensive prospecting reefs, especially with inexperienced bottom fishers. If you insist on using lighter rods with mono, I'd switch the treble hooks for singles. You will probably catch almost as many fish but you will loose a lot less gear to bottom snags. The rod, level wind reel and spectra line is a fairly sizable investment, but you will more than get it back in the savings on lost gear. Just make sure you use 40 - 50 lb mono for leader, and a dropper line for the weight, off the spreader bar. That way if either hangs up all you loose is a hook or weight. You don't want to break off a big chunk of expensive spectra on a bottom hangup.
That about sums up my experiences fishing for Ling in the Gulf Islands. I always found the southern end of Saltspring brutal for dogfish. It will cost a little more in fuel, but I'd concentrate on the reefs and passes around Galiano, Mayne and Pender if you want more success. Hope that helps, I can't get more specific for locations as you'll have to figure those out yourself. I'm heading out to Vancouver Island for a months fishing, so I will be unable to reply. No internet for a month, that's gonna kill me. Maybe some awesome fishing will make up for it, I guess I'll just have to tough it.
) is to buy a very fast action rod (7-8')and pair it up with a levelwind reel loaded with 30-50 lb braid. I'm just north of you and fish the Chemainus to Porlier areas and have done well this year so there is lots out there.
