Oregon Pacific halibut Season

Oregon Pacific halibut Season opens May 1st...Need to get one this year..

Who wants to go, and when? I got some intel on the where..

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/news/2009/april/042209d.asp

Alright CBY look forward to that.

For anyone planning to go after any halibut, one thing you've got to do if your going to fish for them is have a plan. Halibut are very hard to land in a kayak because they save a lot of energy until the end, they also have huge teeth, and sometimes they'll barely fight but when their head hits the air, it's a whole different story. They have a way of coming back to life well after they're dead and can wreak real havoc. They typically can give you a lapdance that you'll never forget slapping the crap out of everything in your yak and most likely get a few in on your face. And I'm only talking about your average 25# California halibut. Pacific Halibut are known to grow to 500#'s and take extreme care.

Here's some good tips on how to land a Cali Halibut from Todd Groessl.

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE ANY HALIBUT, they are toothy creatures made of pure muscle! While a good knife and a billy club will certainly help, a sharp gaff and a stringer/tether is a must! A dive clip like spear fisherman use will work well to tether your fish.

The most important part of gaffing is to place the gaff accurately just behind the head and hit them hard. It does not matter if you get them on the belly or shoulder side just long as you get them just behind the collar and get the gaff to penetrate all the way through,. When gaffed well in this area, halibut will lay completely paralyzed giving you the time needed to pull the fish NEXT to the kayak.

Now get a stringer through its mouth and out its gills ASAP! This process can be tricky with only one hand, but that is all you will have available since the other will be holding the fish on the gaff NEXT to the kayak. Try to be smooth in your actions and not ruff up the fish or damage its gills too much or it may just wake up! Your fish is not caught until it is tied securely to the kayak in some way.

If it is a big fish, use two stringers if you have them, I do, as well as two gaffs for the trophies. The next job is to dispatch the fish BEFORE you bring it onto the kayak. The best way to do this is to cut the gills while it is still in the water and on both the gaff and the stringer. After they have stopped bleeding, and before you bring them aboard, give the big ones a few good thumps on the head. Bring them on board carefully; they still might come alive with a vengeance. Do not rush, be safe, and take care of that precious meat! Good luck, I hope you find your trophy.

Now one thing he didn't cover and is pretty important for Pac Hali's is how to hog tie them. If you've got a large one you're going to want to make sure it doesn't come back to life and go nuts on you. So the best way to do that is to hog tie it. An easy way to do it is have about 20' of rope with a BIG sharp hook tied to one end. Once your hali is clipped and bled put the hook all the way through the upper jaw and make sure it's set well in there. Then take that rope back to it's tail and wrap it tightly so the hali's body is in a U shape. If you do it right, even if the hali comes back to life, it'll be jumping around but not smacking and destroying things.

Z

Great advice! I wanna go.

Great advice Z, I have heard about hog tying them from Revoroy.

definetly a two person job for a Hali newbie. I'm looking forward to it. Gonna have to pedaddle out at least 2 miles, so keep this in mind if you want to go...

Thanks for the sanity check Zee! 

I can't wait to put that information to use!!!!

Speaking of handling/landing big fish, here's why a smartly laid out deck is important. The paddle and FF took one for the team!

Z

I still haven't figured out how that slightly oversized sturgeon manged to break that paddle.  As far as I can tell, he was in a few inches of water which might have been a factor.

I still haven't figured out how that slightly oversized sturgeon manged to break that paddle.  As far as I can tell, he was in a few inches of water which might have been a factor.

No kidding. It must have been resting on the side of the yak leaving it for the dino to straight karate chop the buggah! Haaah CHO!!!

Z

This may be a worthy trip to get my tail down to Oregon.  Sounds like one heck of a thrill, not mention a challenge.  Give us some advance notice (and a weekend date after May) and I'll be down.

Much of an advanced notice is pretty difficult for the ocean. Keep your eye on the extended forecasts and pull the trigger, I'll go anytime , any day the conditions are acceptable.

Maybe some weekend in late june/ early july and do Hali one day and ocean Coho the other day. I don't think the season for Coho has been set yet, but it has been proposed for a june 20 start. The guy at Englund Marine said it was set, but i don't read anything about on the ODFW site.. I'll check some more and give more specifics.