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Posted by Iceman on 21:28:25 03/13/03
I took this off a PBer board. I think I have heard all this stuff from different sources, but never all together. This guy knows his stuff. He is always posting nice 'buts and posts under the name "Halibut Howie"
Halibut 101
The three hardest things about catching halibut is (1) hooking them, (2) getting them to the boat and (3) landing them. Each is very tricky. The first thing I do at the beginning of the day is to devote the day's strategy to finding and catching halibut. I assume all bites are a halibut. If it turns out to be something else, so be it, but I assume its a halibut biting. Since I do not know how to use artificials, I only use live bait. Halibut seem to bite on anchovies and sardines and not at the same time, so I get both. They do not seem to bite on the small 4" sardines only the larger lively ones. I use the two tackle options, egg sinker with 24" leader and torpedo sinker outlined above. Since I usually fish by myself I put 4 poles around the boat with each reel in freespool with the clicker on. At the littlest bite run to the reel, take clicker off, thumb on spool and hold line in hand. Tug line lightly to see if fish is still on. Pan out line so you do not pull bait out of her mouth. Keep tugging it just enough to peak her interest. You will feel her pull back as a tug-of-war. If she drops it, let line out, tugging once in a while to make bait dance. Usually she'll take it again. Once she takes off, let her go and count to 20 for a small anchovy and up to 200 for a large sardine. She could start and stop a few times. Then set hook hard. If she is not there start over. Its time consuming but what are you there for but to catch halibut. The big halibut once hooked will take off like a shot so make sure to preset the drag to loose. Take your time getting her in because you do not want to break the line and you want to tire her out. When you see her loosen your drag even more because when she sees the boat no matter how easy it was to bring her in she'll take off and snap your line in a heart beat. Let her go until she stops then slowly bring her in again. When she easily floats parallel to the boat get ready for the explosion. Give the gaff to the best gaffer because you usually only have one shot. Gaff the halibut ANYPLACE and in one motion get her on board quickly. Pounce on her and beat the sh.t out of her or put her in a below deck fish hold. She will not like the gaff and will tell you that. I use quality 20-30 lb P-line and 1/0 Owner circle hooks. The circle hooks lock into the corner of the mouth and prevent her or other fish from swallowing the bait.
The halibut should be here for a month or two so get out there and get them. Happy hunting.
HH
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