Tony's Big Butt Again!!! (Picture)

[Ty]

Since he coming home from Alaska this week though I would post this one more time fer all of u that missed it the first time.

Link here:
http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/fis...+bitt...&.dnm=

[ 01-14-2004, 08:22 PM: Message edited by: Ty ]

[Kentucky Hog Hunter]

That is incredible...

I got one last summer that was 165# and know what it was like bringing it out of 150 feet of water....

Wowza...that is one awesome halibut...

My goal...break 200# sometime in the next few summers if the waters are cooperative & the Lord willing...

[Sublime]

dang! now THAT'S a big butt!

[Sublime]

dang! now THAT'S a big butt!

[Sublime]

How ironic...it's my 420th post, for a

420 lbs halibut! heehee

[gottafish]

I can't believe anyone would keep a 400+ lb female butt!! That guid should have tagged that fish and sent it swimming. When they are that big they are not worth eating. that is one big dead fish factory.

[Ty]

Well yes and no gotta fish. So few fish of this size are caught, let alone kept in Alaska and Canada. Really, if you want to get mad and know where the real big fish numbers numbers are with the commercial longliners. They are the real reapers and the state does a magnificent job of managing it halibiut fisheries. There are only a few areas such as Cook Inlet where long liners should not be out competing the sport charters.

You do have a great point, this ia a big hen, one of the older factories, however, to each his own and Tony's right to keep it. Bet u don't release to many chrome bright 40+ chinook, especially since his big butt has his one of a kind prototype jig!!! hens. [img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img] :shocked: [img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img]

[ 01-15-2004, 12:12 AM: Message edited by: Ty ]

[Tacklebuster]

Nice fish! My personal best was 234 pounds out of Deep Creek. I lived and fished in Alaska for almost five seasons while I was stationed in the Army. Man I miss that place [img]graemlins/hearton.gif[/img]

Millions of eggs per year lost and poor eating.
Release anything over 60 lbs.

[edsr]

What Keta said!!!
edsr

[Reef Diver]

Awesome Butt :shocked:
We caught a 275 #er and a 60 #er out of Juno 3 years ago and man what fun!!
The 275 # tasted just as good as the 60 #er!
The king Crab we ate along side it topped off the meal. The beer was a good chaser!
Yummmm Yummmm!

[Phil Layer]

That's the first time I've heard that a big hali tastes as good as a small one, Reef Diver. I've never caught a huge one so I'll take your word on it. But, just to play it safe, I'll release anything over 100.

As to: "especially since his big butt has his one of a kind prototype jig!!!", I'll give him that. Killing a beaut like that to market a jig is probably unethical to some, but I'll give him that if he doesn't kill others now that he has his marketing tool.

As to: "Bet u don't release to many chrome bright 40+ chinook, hens.", there is no deterioration in meat quality in a large salmon versus a small one that I know of. Yes, it would be nice to release 40+ pound hogs but I'm guessing those who keep them eat em.

I guess to make a long story short, I and obviously others here follow the simple rule, "If you ain't gonna eat it, don't be a killin' it."

Big halibut have high concentrations of mercury as well as other toxins, the flakes on the meat are too large, they are full of worms and they are hens (our future catch). 30-50 pounds is perfect for eating.

[Ty]

Well Tony's eating it and yes there is serious meat deterioration in all female salmonids that are remotely close to spawning even if they are chrome brite. Tony didn't keep this fish for a marketing tool, it just worked out that way, I would love to see one of you kids try and remove your prize fighting lures from this behimiths mouth with out killing it, especially since it inhaled it. [img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img]

Cut equivelent male and female salmonids of equivelent sizes and females almost always teh meat is washed out. So, it is ironic to me htat u all say that the meat is not good, when I know darn tootin that over 50% of this board will keep a hen fer the eggs even though they know the meat is marginal and the flesh a "smoker". [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img]

[willametteriveroutlaw]

Ty
People would keep oversize sturgeon if they could still doesn't make it right though. Its part of the whole AK mentality that happens with a lot of tourists up there (don't know if hes a tourist or not, frankly don't care) Its big, Kill it. Thats why the average size of fish in cook inlet is decreasing and that charters are running farther and farther to find fish of decent size. Thats also why the average size of king on the kenai is getting smaller because of the constant overharvest of large fish (theres no discrimination between dark and bright fish either in many cases). Alaska does very well handling 99% of their fisheries, the Kenai IMHO is one of their poor spots.

[Ty]

Outlaw, I am a fisheries biologist and there is no evidence that the keeping large chinook in the Kenai is what has led to the loss of the larger fish. There is good evidence that the population as a hole is being over harvested both in the Keani and in the Deep Creek/ Ninilchik near shore fishery.

That is not to meantion that there is strong evedince that the Drift Netters and Set Netters catch and kill many that fall out of the small gear. U think the Columbia Gillnet fishery is bad, take a look at all the set nets and drift nets in the mouth and near shore waters of the Kenai. Those kings have a guanlet to run through. Just run the numbers and use you common sence, commercial harvests are always way more that sport.

[ 01-15-2004, 10:58 AM: Message edited by: Ty ]

[Tacklebuster]

Don't you just [img]graemlins/hearton.gif[/img] what a pic post can turn into [img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img]

This is one of the reasons I do not post pics. Nice halibut and I hope you bud enjoys every last bite of it

[draggin bottom]

Personally, I think that trophy should be mounted and hung on his office wall.

[Thumper]

Ty --- As a fisheries biologist, would you have kept that halibut?

[SHOUGALNITE]

[Ty]

I am not sure if I would have kept this fish, though I have a feelin' that I would have and then I would have been sorry. [img]graemlins/idea.gif[/img]

[ZaQ]

""What Tacklebuster said.

[Tilla]

Yep!

[RichH]

I'll ditto that Tacklebuster comment. [img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img]

TY,
I've realeased many halibut in the 65-200 pound range with no problems. Just cut the leader close to the fishes jaw without pulling the head out of the water.

As for salmon, once a fall salmon starts to turn dark the table quality declines, I prefer saltwater caught fish.

Commercial halibut harvest in Alaska is highly regulated with quotas. The charter catch is almost as many fish as the commercial catch, at least in SE. I halibut fished for in the Ketchikan area for years before the explosive growth of the charter fleet and had no problems catching halibut. The charter boat numbers in the Ketchikan area went from around 20 to almost 300 in 5 years and the fishing got tough. The charter fleet wiped out the red snapper and rock cod fast and the close-in halibut were soon to follow. I made several proposals to the Board of Fish for bracket limits on halibut but was shot down by the charter industry people.

Commercial salmon is a whole different story.

PS: I only smoke my best quality fish.

[ 01-15-2004, 12:45 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

[willametteriveroutlaw]

I have to agree with you on the netting issue in cook inlet.. The commercials get an unfair share of the fish (espicially considering the value to the economy) But the 10 years ago there always were 85+ pound fish in the paper that sports anglers had caught, now its lucky to see one a season for the whole system. The drifters "supposedly" do not catch as many chinook as the setnetters. When I worked as a skiff tender that seemed to be the case, but many of those fish could have fallen out of the net as you stated. My expiriences with setnetters is that they do harvest alot of large late strain kings bound for the kenai and kasilof systems. (Worked dean osmars site south of the kasilof river 96, and worked in clam gulch off an on in years since) Unforunately most of these large chinooks are sold under the table so that they don't show up in cannery counts . In 96 I actually held a 94lb king in late july @ the CIP cannery docks.. There are 1000's of kings taken out of the river guides and sports fishermen though and the larger fish are harvested at a much higher rate than the smaller fish which are subsequently released.

Pictures like this only cause more big hens to be killed. It's like killing wild steelhead or over size sturgeon. It WILL do harm to the resource and in the long run kill the fishery.

30-50 pound halibut are the ones that should be harvested. The locals in SE rairly target or kill big fish, the charters and lower 48 fishermen do and the fish numbers are declining.

I will not comment on pictures of large "Pre Smoked" Keni slugs but I will with large hen halibut. We need to realise that the big fish are the future.

[ 01-16-2004, 10:02 AM: Message edited by: Keta ]