I'm not sure how this will turn out, but here goes;
Year's ago, frustrated by halibut slime in the boat, dead-blood stink for weeks, if not months and the general "at which point can I call this fish mine?" feeling, I came up with "The Stick" (for lack of a better name). I'm not implying I invented it, but I've never seen anything like it either.
Basically, it's a stick that enables you to run a rope into a halibut's mouth and out the gills in one swift jab. When done correctly it allows you to immediately call a fish yours, keep the fish in the water to bleed out and die (makes the bestest meat), eliminates slime and blood in the boat.
Here goes the procedure;
Here's "The Stick" with three ropes. You'll usually only need one or two ropes, but I've seen times, like last week, when I needed to get my fish handled fast cuz my buddy's 60#+ was almost at the surface.
Here's a close-up of the tip of The Stick. It's notched to accept your rope. It's important that this notch be no bigger than needed to lightly pinch the rope into. If your notch is too big, you could hang up on the gills.
Here's what she looks like when loaded. The rope is pulled tight into the notch, with just enough excess to hold onto. Note the main rope is gripped in the palm of my hand along with the stick. I put a loop on the long end of the rope to facilitate attaching it to rails, cleats, anything that's relatively strong. The loose end is between my index and middle finger for a quick release. I have a wrist strap at the butt end. You'll want one too! (note: I didn' sling it around my wrist for the pic cuz all the ropes gets confusing).
I didn't have an extra halibut prop, so I had to make one out of a plastic jug. I think you'll get the jist. Typically, as a halibut has been pooned and pulled alongside the boat, they will lay there with their mouth wide open. This is your chance. In one swift motion, jam the stick into it's mouth at an angle that will drive it right on through the gills. A slight twisting motion will help prevent you from hanging up on the gills. This is fast and furious, so don't be passive about it. Drive that stick home!
As quickly as the stick comes out from behind the gills, grab the loose end with your free hand.
As soon as you get ahold of the loose end, release your grip on the stick and pull the stick out, relying on the wrist strap to keep from losing the stick. You want the long end of the rope free so you can pull on the loose end. You will find that once the fish 'bottoms' out on the rope, you can easily absorb any pull the fish gives as one end of the rope is firmly attached to the boat, the other in your hand(s). I can tell you from first-hand experience, halibut do not like you sticking this rope through their gills. Expect to get a tad wet. Once you've done this a few times, you'll find it's done in one swift motion. On occasion, the fish won't open it's mouth. When this happens, go in through the gills. I've only had to do this once, and oddly enough, as soon as the stick got through the gills, the butt opened his mouth and let the stick come right out.
Now, as soon as the fish calms a bit, I like to tie a double slip knot with the loose end just above the butt's mouth. This will cinch the rope up tight on the fish's mouth. I like to remove a lot of the slack in the line when I do this as it keeps the fish close to the boat and easy to handle. I cut the gills completely and just leave the fish there to bleed out. Some people ring the tail too to let gravity bleed out the 'other' end of the fish. I've tried it, but don't see any benefit in it, and it kinda ruins your pictures later. I prefer the halibut to bleed out on it's own accord. No pummelling it's head, risking bruised cheeks. Once the fish has passed on to hali-heaven, it can go in a cooler, fish box, whatever. One thing that works well is a large burlap sack. Dump the sack in the sea to wet it, slip the fish in and put it wherever. The evaporation chills the fish nicely(occasionally splash some water on the bag to keep it wet)and the burlap breathes nicely to keep the fish fresh. Warning, this bag will stink forever. If they ever start allowing baiting bear, this bag is all you need.
I have a release on my poon cable, which allows me to remove the cable end and simply pull the cable through the fish. I don't like trying to un-poon back through a fish.
Perhaps one day I'll get some pictures of it in action. To date, I've never had time to mess with a camera when there's a hali nearing the boat.
Hope we get a chance to get out this week!
M-Y
Mello-Yello
The Stick
Much easier to build than the one I had. Thank you 
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