Halibut - landing

Here's a great rundown from "Lamb" down in SD I read many moons ago.

Z


*Make sure your drag is not tight. If the things go wrong, you want to make sure the fish can have a smooth and controlled run if/when it freaks out. This will also help bring barely hooked fish to the surface.

*Have your game clip ready – open and secured to your kayak with a rope, ready to be deployed. I do it on the beach before I launch so I don't forget later.

*Don’t panic when you see the big brown below. Keep control, keep the line tight with no slack…

*Don’t get their head out of the water – let them hang and linger by the boat, a foot or so under the surface. Keep them hanging upward, with their head above their tail; keep the constant tension in your line. They’re usually pretty calm. If the fish decides to make another run down, let it.

*Identify their lower jaw. Their belly is right below their head on that side.

*Gaff ‘em though the belly. It is their softest spot, yet strong enough to be lifted on board by your gaff. You don't have to hit them hard - just slide your gaff underneath their belly, and gently yet firmly pull up - sharp gaff ought to pierce right through. In my experience, 9 out of 10 times, they won’t freak out when you gaff them though the belly. They stay calm… like a lamb.  It almost stuns them.

*Don’t gaff them in the head – it is their most boney part. It is hard to pierce though, your head gaff attempt is likely to be followed by a freak out…

*Attempting to gaff them though the thick meat on their shoulder is very likely to cause them to start thrashing. On a bigger halibut, it is likely you won’t run a gaff though them – they’ll freak out and probably yank your gaff out of your hand, or the fish will fall of the gaff.

*As you run the gaff through the belly, keep the fish in the water, don’t lift her up on board. Reach for your game clip and run it through the gills. I find it easier to enter through their gills, and come out with the clip through their mouth.

*Secure the clip, lock it. The game is over, destination dinner table is almost certain now.

*Put the rod in the rodholder and unlock the spool. The fish is on the leash, tied to your boat, all is good. It may save your rod.

*At that point, I cut their gills to bleed them. Some people smack them over their head; that works too, but I haven’t been doing it. You ought to do something, as they may stay alive for a while…

*Be ready for a post mortum freak out - they frequently do that. Move and secure your reels and anything else they may kick in the water if/when they start flopping on your deck.

It is up to you to choose whtehr you'll turn the fish so you have their toothy jaw between your legs, or their mighty tail while doing the happy paddle back in…

Lamb knows his halibut. He won the BWE tourney back in 2006 with a beauty of a Calibut at the last second. Good peeps!

Yeah, he's got a point with the gaff through the belly - less bones and a softer part of the body. I think I'm hesitant to use my game clip with something over thirty or so pounds. It doesn't seem like its built well enough for that big of a fish. I could be wrong though.

The idea of bringing a large halibut has also been my motivation to completely redesign my cockpit so that everything can be removed and stowed. I don't want to risk having mounted equipment busted from a lap dance.

I'm guessing that a day of halibut fishing would be to just target halibut, or at least after targeting rockfish.  And, what are the regs on halibut fishing and lingcod fishing Oregon waters, one or the other, but not both on the stringer?

Great article on Hali fishing including tactics, gear, and tackle rigging.
http://kayak4fish.com/press/Halibut0405.shtml

he suggested the equipment i needed torium 20 reel

That's a $190 reel.. You sure he doesn't own a tackle shop?  The Trevala on the other hand is awesome and fairly priced.

Z

I've never caught a REALLY BIG one, my largest halibut was 29". I used my large salmon net, once I had it in the net, I used a slap gaff down thru the head. I would never use a hooked gaff, they're to hard to gaff that way. Cut the gills, get ready for the death rattle. Then I pull him into the tank well. I learned to NOT bring that flapping ba$^@rd on my lap, it sucker punched me in the family jewels!

Sturgeon- use a tail snare. It's the only wasy to go. But your Columbia River fish are way bigger than our White Sturgeon in the Delta. Those 10' Greenies, I would just pee all over myself and hang on.

I have an antique Hardy Salmon tail snare, but Charkbait.com sells these:



They are only like $30

or you can make your own.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?page=14

Thanks Zee,  that was a VERY informative article. The reel is nice. Should last me many years. I ended up getting it on ebay. I am sure i could have gotten away with something less but that is what tax refunds are for   . John was actually extremely helpful and took a lot of time on the phone with me. If i get lucky and catch a BIG one and live through it, I am saving one NWKA sticker to go on the fish in the photo. doug

Thanks Zee,  that was a VERY informative article. The reel is nice. Should last me many years. I ended up getting it on ebay. I am sure i could have gotten away with something less but that is what tax refunds are for .

JK, Just giving you a hard time.

In the case that we do get some newbs w/ a halibut here's a nice demo on how to clean them. http://www.tillamookbayboathouse.com/halibut.htm

Z

The legend

Now, it's my understanding that Howard actually *landed* his big halibut on the beach...

Hali's, though, have been the only fish here in OR where I've thought a Californian tail snare might be useful.  However, I've seen plenty of fish where the snare might slip (I work in seafood so I see a lot of halibut)

Now, it's my understanding that Howard actually *landed* his big halibut on the beach...

I'm sure someone out there wants to discredit Howard. He actually hooked this fish got this fish to the yak a few times and popped it's gills. With nowhere to put it he towed it dead to shore. That fits landing the Hali on th yak to me.

Z

Now, it's my understanding that Howard actually *landed* his big halibut on the beach...

I'm sure someone out there wants to discredit Howard. He actually hooked this fish got this fish to the yak a few times and popped it's gills. With nowhere to put it he towed it dead to shore. That fits landing the Hali on th yak to me.

Z

No, not really.  He towed it to shore alive and jumped it in the shallows.  But this was after like 8 hours fighting the damn fish.  I think it was the smartest thing to do.  Dealing with that large of a fish, alone on a kayak, would not be a good thing.  Shoot, I turned and started paddling to shore with a 50 pound butt once, then decided it was too much work.  So I stabbed her in the gills, which was an experience in itself.

-Allen

Well I think no matter how he "landed" it...you gotta be pretty amazed at the fact he got it at all...IMO it doesn't matter if he paddled the yak to shore or landed it directly on to the yak...I still consider it a yak caught fish regardless...

and if I were in that position I would do whatever I had to do in order to get the fish...

What are you all using these days to slit the gilz?  Is it the same U or V shaped blade we use to split open a salmon for spawning?  Seems the easiest.

Enjoyed the "Lamb" story Z.  Lots of insight and I think I'll build a slapstick (with a protector of course).

G

I know you know Howard personally Pole so I take your word for it. Thanks for the mythbusting.

I'll end my portion of the threadjack by saying once the fish get big enough there's really no way to "land" a fish on the kayak in the traditional sense of he word.

Z

What are you all using these days to slit the gilz?  Is it the same U or V shaped blade we use to split open a salmon for spawning?  Seems the easiest.

I just use my safety knife.  Slip it under a gill flap, turn serrated edge down, and hold on.

-Allen

Biggest Butt I've caught in the yak was #30 Cali Hali*(a chicken by northern standards) and it went into an oversized bag on my folding net just fine,,,then it went berserk for the wood shampoo. That was fine, but I'm probably just dumb and lucky.

Frankly, Butt's scare me more than pretty much anything that we deal with. It's basically one angry big azz muscle with teeth on one end. I have been thumped by a "dead" #20 Butt's in a boat and that hurt!











*I don't know if it was a California Halibut or not, but I did catch it in California.