Halibut or ling fishing in the sound?

It's absolutely true that the PP line can easily slice litterally right to the bone with no trouble.  To break off PP at ANY poundage, I'll always wrap it around my fish bonker.

And the rest of that info that Kallitype gives is good stuff too.  The uncertainty of the straight is part of the reason that I like fishing off the tip of the spit... if it starts to turn nasty out there, you can duck into what is usually a lot calmer water behind the spit itself.  If it should catch you totally off guard, you can hug the shore of the spit all the way back to the parking area.  That said, I've still never gone out there solo and probably never will.

And back to the rest of your question on gear and technique:  First, almost everybody uses a spreader bar when looking for halibut.  It's set up so that you can hang your weight from a leader on one end and that weight is hanging a little lower than your bait on the other end.  This is so you can work your weight along the bottom while your bait is just ABOVE the bottom.  These guys are laying right ON the bottom, looking upwards for an opportunity and so I try to keep my bait anywhere from 1' to 5' off the bottom while feeling for the bottom with the weight, pretty much bouncing gently as I drift but trying not to drag bottom so as to minimize hangups.

For bait, they seem to mostly be interested in scent so make it smelly if you can.  But they will also bite on unscented lures for sure, but I don't think it's NEARLY as effective.  Their teeth aren't quite like a ling cods, but they're still plenty nasty so I'd use at least a heavy mono leader to the bait and maybe even a steel leader.  They're not leader shy, so no worries there.  For hooks, I love the circle hooks for halibuts.  When you feel a bite down there, you want to give him a chance to litterally eat that thing, so count to ten before trying to set the hook.  And then to set the hook, you just start to reel in to retrieve line.  You don't want to yank like he's a largemouth bass, especially with the circle hooks.  Just reel in and the circle hook will usually do its job.

I'm really confident in this method of looking for them and of hooking them, but getting them into the kayak is another story.  I'm gonna leave that one open and see what some of the other members have to say.  One thing that I DO know for sure is that you'd really be better suited if you can get his head and those nasty teeth (you'll see!) facing to the front of your yak, AWAY from your general groin area when you first bring him onboard.  They seem to have a way of springing back to life a long time after you think they're finally totally dead and they are stronger pound for pound that ANY fish that I know.  At 20# and up, they are just HELL for strong.

Fishin-T

One thing that I DO know for sure is that you'd really be better suited if you can get his head and those nasty teeth (you'll see!) facing to the front of your yak, AWAY from your general groin area when you first bring him onboard.

Either a mouth full of teeth facing your groin, or a big, solid tail that can slap with a lot of force.  The choice is yours! 

(the best choice IMO is hawg-tying the beast at least until a good chunk of the life is out of it)

Don't try to boat a butt unless you've got some experience---they can break bones!!  Tow them into shore, takoing care not to break the surface with their head, they go ballistic when they're exposed to the air.

   Here's some tide currents at the Hook:

Ediz Hook Light, 5.3 miles ENE of, Washington Current
48.1833° N, 123.2833° W

2011-05-12 12:47 AM PDT -0.00 knots Slack, Ebb Begins
2011-05-12 4:27 AM PDT -2.22 knots Max Ebb
2011-05-12 5:37 AM PDT Sunrise
2011-05-12 9:23 AM PDT 0.00 knots Slack, Flood Begins
2011-05-12 11:12 AM PDT 0.64 knots Max Flood
2011-05-12 1:15 PM PDT -0.00 knots Slack, Ebb Begins
2011-05-12 4:35 PM PDT -1.55 knots Max Ebb
2011-05-12 8:41 PM PDT Sunset
2011-05-12 8:41 PM PDT 0.00 knots Slack, Flood Begins
2011-05-12 11:07 PM PDT 1.02 knots Max Flood
2011-05-13 1:30 AM PDT -0.00 knots Slack, Ebb Begins
2011-05-13 5:18 AM PDT -2.55 knots Max Ebb
2011-05-13 5:36 AM PDT Sunrise
2011-05-13 10:05 AM PDT 0.00 knots Slack, Flood Begins
2011-05-13 12:16 PM PDT 1.00 knots Max Flood
2011-05-13 2:45 PM PDT -0.00 knots Slack, Ebb Begins
2011-05-13 5:47 PM PDT -1.58 knots Max Ebb
2011-05-13 8:43 PM PDT Sunset
2011-05-13 9:49 PM PDT 0.00 knots Slack, Flood Begins
2011-05-14 12:03 AM PDT 0.95 knots Max Flood
2011-05-14 2:12 AM PDT -0.00 knots Slack, Ebb Begins
2011-05-14 5:35 AM PDT Sunrise
2011-05-14 6:06 AM PDT -2.87 knots Max Ebb
2011-05-14 10:47 AM PDT 0.00 knots Slack, Flood Begins
2011-05-14 1:13 PM PDT 1.37 knots Max Flood
2011-05-14 3:59 PM PDT -0.00 knots Slack, Ebb Begins
2011-05-14 6:52 PM PDT -1.67 knots Max Ebb
2011-05-14 8:44 PM PDT Sunset
2011-05-14 10:54 PM PDT 0.00 knots Slack, Flood Begins

Have any of you fished ling (or even halibut) out of your kayak in the sound? I've only had my kayak out in the sound a few times the last couple summers for salmon, but would be interested in a ling/halibut adventure this spring if there was a group I could get pointers from and tag along with.

Your best bet for ling fishing is around the San Juans, because of all the structure.  It's ling heaven.  Plus, we don't have any real swell and the islands tend to do a nice job buffering winds. Unfortunately the ling season is painfully short.  Specific spots are discussed in the Washington Fishing Reports board.

Only place I've *ever* heard of halibut being caught in the sound/san juans is west hein bank (strait of juan de fuca) and north of alden bank (strait of georgia).  And that was in the "good old days".  I don't think halibut fishing in the sound/san juans would be fruitful.  The time would be better spent fishing for halibut on the coast.

I think we should organize a trip for the ling opener! 

Those are some nice tides for Halibut.  For the last couple years Ediz hook has been one of the better spots for puttin Butts in Boats.  If the weather cooperates it is a good option for kayaks.  A nice boat launch and a short paddle North and your fishing. Best depths are between 180 to 240 feet.  Lots of places to explore for Kayak friendly Halibut spots along the straights.  Pick any river that empties its gravel into the Straights and you can find Halibut, in some spots you can get them in as little as 60 feet of water.

Scott

Those are some nice tides for Halibut.  For the last couple years Ediz hook has been one of the better spots for puttin Butts in Boats.  If the weather cooperates it is a good option for kayaks.  A nice boat launch and a short paddle North and your fishing. Best depths are between 180 to 240 feet.  Lots of places to explore for Kayak friendly Halibut spots along the straights.  Pick any river that empties its gravel into the Straights and you can find Halibut, in some spots you can get them in as little as 60 feet of water.

Scott

You know my phone # Scott.   

Ditto the shallow water butts---I hooked one (from my Arima) a few years back that spooled me and broke off cleated 80# line, between the Twin Rivers E of Pillar Point, in 80 FOW.

bout this time last year, Zee, Kalli, polepole and someone else had a great discussion going about how to bring a butt onboard, included hog tieing instructions... personally have not ever caught a halibut, but someday i'm gonna go back and reference that thread cause i darn sure wanna keep it, and me, intact all the way back to the beach!

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,4414.msg45225.html#msg45225

Thanx, Dick, for the help. plagarising it now.......

"Saltwater Fishing Journal" by John Martinis, Evergreen Pacific Press, has lots of info with Marine maps, techniques, and instruction  for the San Juans, the Sound and the Strait. 
Covers salmon, shrimp, halibut and crab.   Invaluable.  Along with heritage threads here and on the Salmon University, enough info to get anyone started in the right direction.
There's a page or 2 on Browns pont and Point defiance, but basically Martinis is a north-Sound guy.  Excellent info on Whidbey Island halibut----Mutiny Bay and Admiralty bay are close-in fishing. Quite well protected, too.

Here's another one on landing butts. yakmonkey had some great incite in this thread. After last summer he should know better than most of us.

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,4965.msg51998.html#msg51998

With any species that we chase, it's always a thrill once you feel that bite and then set the hook to get a "FISH ON!", and that's surely the same with the halibuts.  But with the halibuts, that adrenaline rush at least doubles when you finally get it to the surface and the REAL rodeo gets started and you finally remember that some how you've got to get it subdued enough to take it from merely "caught" all the way to "harvested".  It'll test you for sure.  Imho, it's THE highest level of excitement available to kayak anglers in our Washington area waters and it makes for the BEST kayak angling initiation you're likely to see around here too.

Fishin-T

Thanks guys. This is great info. I have a lot of respect and caution for both fishing in the salt as well as the power of a halibut. That was a main reason for posting on here, to see if there were meet-ups where I could tag along.

Given that it sounds like most of the halibut are 25 pounds or under, is it possible to buy one combo that could double up for lings and still fish reasonably well for "light" halibut duty?

I notice Cabelas has their fish eagle II rods on sale for $50. What about a 7'6" heavy action rod, rated up to 3 ounces or so,  paired with a larger Abu Garcia reel?

Seems about right for lings...is it foolish to even think about fishing for smaller halibuts with this? That said, given my inexperience fishing the salt and for halibut, I don't mind only being able to fish/land more reasonable sized fish. Not really looking to gear up for anything bigger, given it seems like it could be trouble for me even if I was lucky enough to hook up.

Thanks...

NMIF,

For my own self, it turned out that the stiffness of my halibut rod was not a matter of how well it would play a large up-and-down yanking halibut but more how well I was able to play my bait along the bottom.  A lot of halibuts get caught in water as shallow as maybe 60', but I have found that I wind up doing most of my halibut searching in waters up to 300'.  In water that deep you will need a lot more than a mere 3 oz. to stay on the bottom, especially if there is a .5+ knot current (and there is almost ALWAYS a .5 knot or more current).

SO here's what I'd recommend if you are determined to pick up a rod suitable to looking for halibuts:  When you are down at the store, simply attach a short line to the end of that rod with a maximum anticipated weight on the end of that string.  That weight will need to be at least 8 oz. and 16 will probably be a lot more reasonable.  I've been on charter boats out of Neah Bay where they were using a full 2# to get down to 300'.  Now imagine that you are bouncing that weight along the bottom of the sound, which is to say that you want to see how the rod feels as you bounce the weight along the floor of the store.  That simple execise should give you some idea how that rod will work when you get it out on the water.

Fishin-T