Halibut mainline, topshot, leader?

I've been gearing up for some Washington halibut and digging through the history here on what has worked, and what has not.

It's kind of all over the place, so I figured I would start this thread and get some thoughts flowing on what is currently in play for those that have targeted halibut up to 100# via kayak.

What's your goto line combo, and maybe some thoughts on why you run what you run?

50# braid directly to a 100-300# mono. Three foot leader to either circle hooks, j - hooks or trebles. 

50 or 65lbs braid.  Spreader Bar most of the time.  50 pound fluoro leader if I am fishing for salmon in same location.  For halibut specific gear, I use 100 to 200 pound mono.  I bought a ton of the gagnon line (600lbs test) and I know it works but I can't get myself to use something so opaque.

A word of warning, I cannot break this off when I got snagged up on the bottom.  Its only happened once in Cook Inlet, but I went through at least 100 yards of braid in one trip to Kodiak where snags were more frequent.   I NEVER feel good about leaving braid in the water.  That is some nasty stuff on motor seals and such.   

To break 50# braid on a Hobie just wrap the line around your fish club and peddle away. I see no reason to use 65.

Never caught one over 50# here in WA, but had decent luck with:
50# braid, pre-packaged 300# mono spreader with green hoochie covering a scent tube, circle hook.  Big herring & bloody tuna scent. 
Tied cannonball weight on bottom of spreader with very short length of light mono so I have a chance of only losing the weight if it hangs up.

So, I'm looking to spooling up with 50# braid as my mainline. 

I also picked up a leader crimping tool with assortment of aluminum crimps to make up some 200# spreaders and other leaders. 

I like the idea of breakaway weight in the event it snags up, as I really don't want to have to break off 50# braid and leave it down there for critters to get tangled up in. 

15-20# mono should be sufficient, correct? 

 

i had the same thinking as you lsat year, insayn, and used 30lb mono as my breakaway line, with no problems intentionally breaking away when snagged.  i think any lighter and you run the chance of your weight breaking off from abrasion and/or shock.

edit - i also was able to recover weights with the 30lb breakaway line that would have certainly snapped had i tied up with 15-20lb instead

i had the same thinking as you lsat year, insayn, and used 30lb mono as my breakaway line, with no problems intentionally breaking away when snagged.  i think any lighter and you run the chance of your weight breaking off from abrasion and/or shock.

edit - i also was able to recover weights with the 30lb breakaway line that would have certainly snapped had i tied up with 15-20lb instead

I think to keep my lead loss on the cheap, I will go ahead and make some pipe jigs w/o hooks and use them as my banging bottom weight.  If it snags, it snags.  I have a crap load of lead sitting here from my anchor pouring days, and I can stack tubes in the kayak's hold better than round balls will.   It's just an idea at this point. 

Couple of pointers.
Crimping tools take some practice and a good bit of force. Try making some loops and then strength testing them. I pulled out some of my early crimps on snags.
Spreader bars are a love/hate thing. Some guys love them. Some guys hate them. Personally I don't like all the extra gear and we aren't fishing deep enough or in strong enough current to worry about lines getting tangled.

Couple of pointers.
Crimping tools take some practice and a good bit of force. Try making some loops and then strength testing them. I pulled out some of my early crimps on snags.
Spreader bars are a love/hate thing. Some guys love them. Some guys hate them. Personally I don't like all the extra gear and we aren't fishing deep enough or in strong enough current to worry about lines getting tangled.

+1

There was a time decade or so ago that I was going to make all my crimped stuff myself. I have had multiple failures on my own and commercial crimp that I no longer use them.  I'm sure if you know what your are doing they work fine.

I only use spreader bars when there is a lot of current. I don't anchor. I start and stop.  I change water levels. And because I don't anchor I try and minimize any time the bait is out of the water.  Having gear tangled even once can kill an hour of real fishing if it's down there tangled and you don't know it.  I hate checking bait while halibut fishing. A spreader bar reduces the chance especially with strong wind and current   

If you are not using a spreader whether made of heavy mono, or metal, where along the line do you run your weight at? 

Do you run a slider above your hook rigging?

Hey Craig, if you go into Hogg's  they can make you some halibut leaders for less than what the crimping tool would cost. They can also vary the length and hooks to your preference. I know you like to build your own stuff but might be worth it given how many halibut days most of us get in.

Hey Craig, if you go into Hogg's  they can make you some halibut leaders for less than what the crimping tool would cost. They can also vary the length and hooks to your preference. I know you like to build your own stuff but might be worth it given how many halibut days most of us get in.

You obviously missed the part above where I mentioned that I had already picked up the crimping tool yesterday.
Been wanting a crimping setup for a while.  Done! 

I stopped in to Hoggs today and talked with Joe about the construction of said spreaders.   

Sliding sinker on 65# braid mainline to a corkscrew swivel. 3'-4' of 300#mono to a few 9/0 Owner gorilla hooks. It's pretty simple to use as long as there's some current or wind. And in WA WA salt there's pretty much always current or wind pushing you around.

Sliding sinker on 65# braid mainline to a corkscrew swivel. 3'-4' of 300#mono to a few 9/0 Owner gorilla hooks. It's pretty simple to use as long as there's some current or wind. And in WA WA salt there's pretty much always current or wind pushing you around.

Zee, are you rigging these gorilla hooks mooching style, or other? 

If I have this correct, circle hooks are best used on anchor, or very little drift, but still usable via kayak regardless?

J hooks and possibly the gorrila hooks are best used on the drift. 

Looks like I should make up some varieties to play with.