Releasing large halibut

I was wondering if anyone has ever released a large halibut they caught by kayak? I'm not interested in keeping anything over 100 and not that the situation will arise anytime soon, I wanted to bring the conversation up. At that point would you cut the leader close to the hook? Using a dehooker or pulling a hook out on that big of a fish that close to your kayak doesn't seem safe at all. Does anyone have any ideas that seem safe?

Also the Soldotna Fred Meyers has some marine stuff on clearance in the back garden section outside. There's two medium orange buoys and some of those white fenders for cheap.

I haven't had to make that decision yet, but I believe I'd just cut off as close as I could. Trying to manually extract a hook on a fish that big from a kayak is just going to end badly. If the fish is still fresh, you could damage its mouth, get a hook in your hand, capsize the boat, take a weight to the head, etc. Or, you could play the fish out until it's docile enough to release easily, which would take a long time on a fish that big and would put a lot of unnecessary stress on the fish.


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I'd second cutting close to the hook.  The big boys do not play nice at the surface and you don't want to create a situation where you could become attached to that fish.

-Mark-

it's amazing how docile a big halibut can be, and if the hook was just right, I might try it....uhh...maybe not.  I've seen spots 65 pound halibut take an A2 buoy down for 15 seconds or more...that's 70 plus pounds of flotation and drag. 

So another vote for cutting the leader. 

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I'd say if you're really concerned with the welfare of the fish, go with a barbless hook. Once slack is introduced the hook should slip out. Keep the line cutting option as backup. You're likely to lose more fish than with a barbed hook if that bothers you. Also you'll probably have to truss bait to the hook.

You might have missed this quote from the new WA halibut-in-a-kayak record holder.

“Between my drag being locked down and the buoy rope getting tangled in the harpoon, I flipped right out of the kayak and found my myself below the surface and my kayak overhead."

http://www.kayakfishmag.com/featured-catch/washington-angler-breaks-kayak-halibut-record/

I bet that happened REAL fast, take heed, I wouldn't worry about saving the last few inches of line. 

Yep, don't even get close if it's big, just reach down and cut the line

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I haven't had the opportunity to do this in the kayak, but have released a number of large halibut when I chartered. (I was one of the strange ones that encouraged clients to release big halibut.)

I support the idea of cutting the leader as close to the hook as possible. I think you do less damage to the fish if you cut the leader and leave the hook than you would do wrestling with the fish trying to get the hook back. Sometimes you can get jigs out pretty easily.

As Rudy pointed out, even a 60 or 65 pounder can cause a huge ruckus. Cutting the leader as close as possible to the the hook is the only safe way I can see. As much as I don't like killing those big fish...I sure don't want to give them extra chances to kill me.

I agree with cutting the leader hooks don't last long in saltwater so I wouldn't feel bad about leaving one in a fish