Help with Halibut

[finclipped]

Well I am going to give Halibut a try if the weather cooperates on August 2nd. I have several friends who want to do a little “but” fishing, and I need to get my ducks in a row before I commit.

Looking through the archives I was trying to find one of those really goods posts that Pilar or someone else put together that was kind of a soup to nuts breakdown of halibut fishing, but I wasn’t able to locate it.

I am planning on using Penn 320’s and 330’s with 300 yards of 80-pound tough line along with “meat stick” rods, which I have used for oversize sturgeon. I am assuming this is enough line to find the bottom?

My planned destination is Newport and if I remember correctly there are two places to find halibut, the Chicken Ranch and the Rock Pile. I don’t know where either of these two places are at, as I have never fished Newport. How deep are these two places? Any input on which place to go, and GPS coordinates would be appreciated, however I intend on following the “fleet” out.

Rigging up is also something I need to figure out. I think the standard set up is a slider with 48 ounces of lead, a 2-3 foot liter, with a 6/0 or 7/0 barbless circle hook. (This is all from memory so it’s likely I am missing something.) I plan on using herring for bait, does this sound right?

I assume I will need a gaff harpoon to get them in the boat? Is there something else to use? Where do most store their halibut once they get them on board? I can’t imagine they would fit in a cooler. Do you bleed them immediately or does it matter?

It seems as though you drift (?) across the halibut hole, then motor up and do it again. Is this the process?

Over the years, I have probably spent 40-60 days on the salt fishing for salmon and feel I have a good handle on what are acceptable Ocean conditions, and when it is time to head in. Most of those days, I was the captain. Being this far off the coast is going to be a little stressing, but I have all the safety gear with backups. I will be fishing in my 20’ NR.

If anyone can help with these questions or give me a link to the topics discussed before, I would appreciate it.

[Pilar]

http://www.ifish.net/ubb/ultimatebb....=001188#000000

That will get you started, Bro. The wire rig is my standard set up for deep water. It wont foul, no matter how fast you drop it and that is good in 600 ft of water. It rarely breaks.

I have seen and learned some other methods from fellow Ifishers since then. A mooching rig using gamakatsu circle hooks in 8/0 works in 200 ft of water like at the rockpile. Just use a mooching sinker in 16 or 12 oz.

Another recently learned rigging(Thanks, Blubeast) is a sliding sinker and J hook set up like you would use for Sturgeon.

Above is only one of many threads on this subject, try searching member #270 and the 2002, 2001 and 2000 archives.

Happy hunting.

[ 07-23-2003, 01:58 PM: Message edited by: Pilar ]

[finclipped]

Thanks Pilar!

[finclipped]

Okay I have quite a bit of info to go over. Found just about everything I needed. Can someone make a recommendation Chicken Ranch or Rock Pile?

[Pilar]

August ... Rockpile.

The weather is going to be better in August so you could go anywhere you want, including the Chicken Ranch.

Experience tells me that the rockpile will be hard to beat in August. You can drift mooch or down rig. In any case the catch is a mixed bag of lunker Kings, Halibut and the occasional Ling cod.

Try the North end and east of it a little in about 200 to 250 ft of water. Downrig to 110 or deeper during the day and much shallower at first and last light for salmon. One day last August we caught several nice Halibut while doing the downrig thing for Kings.

Halibut on a downrigger with huge flasher and a whole herring at 110 feet in 250 ft of water. :shocked: :shocked: [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

[ 07-23-2003, 04:06 PM: Message edited by: Pilar ]

[finclipped]

Great, then Rockpile it is. I still haven't read or seen what I do with the catch. Should we just tie them on a rope overboard or throw it on the deck and not worry about it? Or do my best to stuff them in a cooler?

I would assume its worth going this time of year?

[finclipped]

TTT Anyone?

[tailchaser]

Typically three to four fish will fit in a 150 qrt. cooler so we bring them inside the boat. Make sure when they hit the deck they're facing white side up. They won't flop nearly as much this way. Also, give them a couple of love taps with the club during this time. I then cut a gill and throw them in the cooler.

If the instance comes that you land a lunker (100+) then you can do a couple of different things. One is shooting it with a gun (I don't advise as much), or two pushing a stick through the gills and out the mouth with a rope attached and tie it off to a cleat and let him hang outside the boat until ready to run home. Typically what we do on very large fish is tie them in a horseshoe shape with the rope going out the mouth and then making a couple of loops around the tail nice and tight. This will keep him from flopping around a lot. However, this time of year you should be careful that a blue doesn't come for a free bite on your fish. Might end up like the old man and the sea if you're not careful. Anyhow, that's the jist of it.

tc

[finclipped]

Thanks TC! I have a 150 qt cooler, so I should be okay.

[Pilar]

Finclipped, I have an underdeck fishbox. We give em the wood shampoo and cut the gill arch to bleed. Sometimes I also cut the wrist of the tail near the backbone to get the vein there.

Then they go to their 'room'. Under the deck they are packed in ice and out of the way. Like any other fish, cold halibut are easier to dress and filet. My box will easily hold a limit for 3 fishers.

Bleeding is very important on halibut. Some people rope them to the boat and bleed them in the water. I skip this step because of the Makos and Blues we have out here in the summer. Just make sure your cuts bleed hard.

[ 07-24-2003, 09:32 AM: Message edited by: Pilar ]