Halibut rigging?

It's been years since I fished halibut (think Alaska '94) and I was hoping some of the experienced halibut yak fishers here may share a pic or two of their PNW halibut rigging. I was curious if it was much different from the set-ups we used in Alaska..spreader, 100' lb leader, circle hook.

Thanks ahead of time.

T.C.

That sounds right in line with what I have used. Granted I've yet to catch one but I was using the same set up as ndogg with slightly different bait when he caught his.

I just tied some of those up this morning, threecreeks. Barrel swivel, 18" of 100 lb mono, and a circle hook with a couple of crimps.

Fred "True" Trujillo

I add a 6 inch hoochie to my rigs, so there there will still be action even if my bait falls off of gets stolen. 

Spreader bar, 150# mono, 2 J hooks sized 10/0. 

I add a 6 inch hoochie to my rigs, so there there will still be action even if my bait falls off of gets stolen.

Yup, add something in case you get stripped.  Also the larger profile even with herring seems to keep the little ones off and seems to have raised my average size a bit. 

If specifically targeting halibut, I'd think 100 lbs test is awful light.  I catch most of my halibut on 40 to 50lbs fluoro because they are caught as incidental bycatch to my king salmon so it can be done.  But when targeting them specifically, I like 200lbs minimum up to 300 lbs.  More for the ease of handling near the kayak and to prevent break offs on rocks, buoy line, etc. 

Not to hijack this thread, but with the limited exposure I have, I am going to agree with Lee and say J-hooks.  About 1/3 of the time, I can feel the circle hook and bait being pulled out of the fishes mouth without hooking up.  Virtually never the case with J-hooks.  If my rod tip buries, and I yank back, 95% of the time, there is a fish.  I do like them for beginners becasue once you do hook up, they seem to stick.  I say "seem" becaue I have had three times now where a circle "hooked" halibut has come up.  I look at it, can't see the hook.  huh?  Then it opens its mouth and the fish is gone.  I just don't think a kayak has enough resistance sometimes to properly bury the hook the circle.  But I am still experimenting with it because the one downside to j-hooks is they are often swallowed making releasing fish a lot harder.  I am now using a singlegamakatsu Big bend river hooks.  So far they have been flawless from what I can tell.   

Rudy, those big game river hooks from Gamakatsu is the one I use too.  Looked at thousands of hooks at the big outdoors stores and those definitely looked the best.

me?  a 12/0 circle(sharpened) on 14in of 200lb leader.  crimped both ends, attached to a swivel with a ball.

i get the commerical hooks cheap down here at the local store.  and then when the fish takes the bait(got to wait for it, its nibble, nibble, then when the rod starts going down) reel!  to set the circle leave to rod in the rod holder(or arcoss your legs) and just start cranking hard.  rarely does it not set the hook.  the big thing is patience, you have to let the butt take the hook.

I use banana weights with 50-100 lb leader with 2 8/0 circle hooks snelled on.  Caught many many halibut on it in AK.  Seems like more aggressive bites too.  I think it's cu they can't see the hooks and can chomp on it easily

I use banana weights with 50-100 lb leader with 2 8/0 circle hooks snelled on.  Caught many many halibut on it in AK.  Seems like more aggressive bites too.  I think it's cu they can't see the hooks and can chomp on it easily

Both circle hooks inline? Or snelled on two different leaders. I've seen the charters run the latter for bigger baits.  I tend toward the smaller 8/0 circle when I use them.  I've just about come to the conclusion that unless I plan to release a half dozen halibut, I'm going to stick to the j-hooks.  I'll also use them for rookies to give them a better shot at landing the fish once (if) they hook it.  Too many failures given my style of fishing. Mileage may vary for others. 

Too many missed hits with the circle hooks.  I try to feed them line after the strike but mostly once I get whacked, they just sit there.  It could be that the circle hooks don't work as well if the bait is moving faster than a drift like when I troll. 

Or maybe you just don't know my magic trick.....

Or maybe you just don't know my magic trick.....

Nope. Have not implemented magic yet.

I've been playing with inline hooks at different angles. 90 deg and 180 deg to each other. Haven't hooked enough to figure it out. Also attaching bait behind the circle hook. Once again, sample size is limited.