Baits and Rigs for Halibut and Salmon (Kings in Saltwater)

Hello all,

The preps continue and aside from yesterday's snow, I can see light at the end of the tunnel as far as winter is concerned. That being said, the urge to fish is reaching a fever pitch!

So more in the long series of ignorant questions, this time about baits and rigs for halibut and salmon. "Salmon" assumes Kings still in saltwater - that's the early target, right?

Halibut - what is your go-to bottom rig and bait?

I'm guessing there isn't one rig or bait that does everything - at this point, seems like my first opportunity will be in early May out of Whiskey Gulch, so something appropriate to the depth and conditions there would be great - hook size, weight range, line test, etc.

I've fished with guides that used rigs with some kind of twist mechanism that allowed them to easily change weights - seemed like a huge time saver and definitely something I'd like to replicate.

Salmon - Kings in saltwater - same question.

Caveat: I've been comparing the merits of trolling vs mooching. My concern about trolling is endurance and mooching seems very familiar, similar to drift fishing. but haven't read of anyone mooching from a kayak here in AK.

Regardless of technique, it's bizarre to me how the herrings are prepped to make them spin - that's the last thing you want your bait to do in the Gulf or Atlantic!

So where do you buy herrings and how do you prep them? Noticed the WalMart in Kenai had several different sizes - are these any good? Are you guys brining the herring prior to use? Is the dual 45 degree cut with double hooks pretty much the standard rig?

Please be as technical as you'd like and/or refer to any links you think would be informative.

Thanks,

Royal

My recommendation, which I am going to regret when you hook that 200 pounder, is the following.

Run a trolling/banana sinker in the 6oz to 12oz range depending on your rod.  Heavier is better.  6inches to 8 inches or so behind that run a flasher.  I recommend a fish flash.  Others on this forum have had success with the konezone flashers.  The point is to use a low drag inline flasher.  I'd guess 30 inches to 48 inches behind the flasher run your bait or lure.  The overall length has to be short enough that when your sinker is at the tip of your rod, the fish better be within netting range.  I'd go slightly shorter than your rod to start. 

Do you know how to tie an egg snell knot?  If not, you have to.  Get 40 to 50 pound flourocarbon leader.  I recommend the 50 lbs to start.  The rationale is that its strong enough for 99% of the halibut you will catch in Cook Inlet.  It doesn't hurt the trolling.  Not so much with the in-line flashers but with dodgers and standard flashers, the stiffer leader imparts more action.

The standard method is to snell the two hooks one bait length apart.  I tie them about 18 inches apart.  The second hook I leave to trail a foot behind the bait.  BUT if you know you are fishing for halibut, two hooks one bait length apart works much better as the fish is more likely to take both hooks and it doesn''t tangle as much when drifting.  I would buy one of those helmet thingies that spin the herring.  I rig mine without but the helmets work great.

Use high quality swivels on all connections, have all connections end in a clip so you can easily swap out things.   

Mooching is SUPER effective...unfortunately for only halibut and not kings.  I have spent hours fishing for halibut and not hooked a king.  However, I have caught a number of halibut trolling for salmon.  So I recommend that you use the above rig and troll around till you get bored.  YOu want to be fishing the lower half of the water column anyway unless your sonar says otherwise.

When you want a break just stop paddling when you are headed in the direction you are most likely going to drift.   Be careful to not tangle your gear up.  but then just drift along with your rig 5 feet above the bottom or so. In mid may, almost guaranteed you will get hammered by something in the first few minutes...cod, irish lord, shark, halibut.  If you find yourself tangling, just take the flasher off.

I know it goes against common sense, but halibut are not necessarily bottom feeders.  You can youtube videos of them feeding on the surface.  Don't drag your stuff on the bottom.  It's not worth snagging up on.  Oh yeah...until you get used to it, I would also consider adding a section of 30 pound mono max somewhere so when you snag up on bottom, you can break it off.  More than once I have cut off over 100 feet of line when I couldn't break off.

ok.    Here are a few links:

Terminal tackle stuff
https://sites.google.com/site/kayakfishingalaska/techniques-information/terminal-tackle

King page
https://sites.google.com/site/kayakfishingalaska/the-prey/king-chinook-salmon

Cook Inlet Page
https://sites.google.com/site/kayakfishingalaska/locations/cook-inlet

I am sure I do not have the monopoly on good ideas. Others should chime in.

Dang Kard, that's a ton of info!

I'm alot less, umm, technical.

Penn 113h reel, penn jigging rod (sensitive with alot of backbone) and 80 lb braid.  16-24oz cannon ball and a circle hook, add any chunk of disgusting crap u can find for bait.  Drop to the bottom, crank up 10' and drift. 

I only get up to K's level when I'm looking for salmon, but the. This is how I fished from my pb.

"Halibut - what is your go-to bottom rig and bait? " I go to a standard spreader bar and 2 lb weight with a 12 inch leader off the bait end of the spreader bar to a whole herring. I would ignore this advice tho, and listen to what Kardinal says because  although I "go to" this rig, so far the halibut havent!   For salmon I have had good success with a gold and green flasher, a 5 or 6 ft leader to a anchovy in a chrome or green, yellow and chrome anchovy  head.
T2

What these guy said for halibut.  My suggestion is specifically for that area where you have a shot at both in fairly shallow water.

I promised myself I would spend a few hours soaking whole pinks or other oversized bait.  I think others have used them with success but I have not had success with circle hooks off a kayak. I think there is not enough resistance to insure a good hook set unless you use premium sharp hooks or sharpen the standard hooks. 

 you just can't pull as hard from a kayak, you aren't going to straighten a 7/0 gamakatsu octopus hook like you can from a powerboat.    I'd stick with sticky sharp octopus or j hooks and heavy leader for teeth abrasion.   But understand it is a liability for that fish of a lifetime. 

I also use braid for all applications off a kayak except for when specifically targeting salmon.  So mid may in whiskey gulch I run a shimano trevala jig stick heavy or med heavy,  avet sx with 65 lbs power pro.  I consider saltwater kings "meat" fishing.  Way too much food value.  Add possible big halibut and its hard to be over geared. 


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I like the circle hook just because ya don't have to set it.  Just let the fish chew on it a while before u start reeling and then collect your fish. Just my personal preference for halibut, but then again, I'm not there for fun, I'm there to fill the freezer.

Dang Kard, that's a ton of info!.

   Very well said Rudy...

   My hat's off to you sir.

I was pretty lucky with the halibut last year on a very simple set up -- I use a Penn Defiance reel loaded with 65# braid on a Tiger Lite Uglystick. I've got the braid tied off to a heavy duty corkscrew swivel, and that lets me just twist on whatever weight and leader the conditions call for. Off Deep Creek, I use a 8 to 10 oz banana weight behind a 100# mono leader that I've crimped around a 10/0 or 12/0 circle hook. The leader runs about 40" below the weight.  I use herring that I've sweetened up with some herring gel for extra stink, and I caught my largest fish while mooching along after setting it about three cranks above the bottom.

I cannot comment on rigs for kings in saltwater until I manage to actually catch one from the kayak. It's on my list for this year.

I love circle hooks in a boat setting. But in my yak, I  had twice a halibut come up and open its mouth and spit the hook out. I've thought since then that on a kayak the resistance wasn't enough to consistently engage the circle hook. Especially on those monster thick metal ones. I rarely miss with the gamakatsu octopus rigs.  But maybe I'll give it a try again.

I haven't found them on shelves  but the charter out of Seward had thinner but plenty thick chemically sharpened circle hooks. I'd use those.


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I can't imagine who better to ask halibut questions than Alaskan anglers, so hoping to bend your ear with another quick question.

I notice that most pre rigged halibut leaders utilize very heavy mono leaders.   Those I have come across such as in the photo below utilize anywhere from 100 up to 300 lbs mono.    I was going to attach one of these to a spreader bar which would mean the weak link in the chain would be my main line that would be 65 lbs braid.     While I was going to use some lighter test mono to attach my weight to the spreader so if it snags up,  I would still get my spreader bar and hook back.  If my hook snags up,  I can only hope my main line brakes down at the knot.   

Are their teeth that likely to damage line that such heavy of a leader is needed or is that extra heavy mono to help suspend the bait away from the spreader bar ?    Ideally I would like to use a leader slightly lighter than my main line so if I happen to hang up the hook,   I will still get my spreader bar and lead back. 

This is turning into one of the most informative threads that I have seen in a while. 



 

You could use a rope and the halibut won't care. I like the heavy line. It makes it easier to handle even the small ones. Teeth plus rocks can lead to wear and tear. Stiffness means less tangles.

I feel pretty confident I can land a 100 pound halibut on 50 lbs leader but if that was what I was hunting, I'd scale up big time. 90% plus of the halibut I catch will be under 50 pounds in this area.


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Y'all do it different up there, we use the spreader bars down here, but having caught one mooching I've been thinking bout that, you use a flasher too eh. 

Y'all do it different up there, we use the spreader bars down here, but having caught one mooching I've been thinking bout that, you use a flasher too eh.

Do you have any pictures of the rig you've been using?

-Spot-

Y'all do it different up there, we use the spreader bars down here, but having caught one mooching I've been thinking bout that, you use a flasher too eh.

This area is different than most halibut fisheries even Alaska. 3 miles offshore you are still in less than 80ft of water.  For "normal" halibut fishing I would use set ups like the others have described though for some reason spreader bars aren't used much up here.

The kings can be found from directly off the beach out to 100 ft of water.  It's more consistent closer to shore. Just the opposite for halibut.  So my suggestions above are meant to maximize the fish opportunities for this single location, Whiskey Gulch,  and time of year, mid may. 

I think the flashers attract halibut better than salmon.  I like to power mooch for halibut.  Lower your trolling gear to the bottom.  A couple of cranks to get it off the bottom.  Take a few peddles, stop & let the gear back to near vertical.  Then take a few more peddles, stop.  Interestingly, even though it seems like trolling, I've never hooked a king doing this.  But I guess I have less than 10 from the saltwater In this area.  Halibut should be plentiful but they will be a lot more 10 pounders than anything else. 




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Just get a sharp j hook with something stinky on it a drop it down.  You'll get a fish.  If you make it to whiskey gulch I'll show you an easy setup