Alaska Halibut Fishing Gear

H

hammerhead

New member
:smiled Hello To all you Brats, I am looking from some advice from our northern friends on Halibut gear. I have a friend with a 26' Osprey in Homer Alaska. We fished there last year and the year before. It seems by the time i got up there in August last year he pretty much burned the drags out of all his penn reels.

Don't get me wrong he landed 250 and 175 lb Halies. after boating those anything over 100 is always released. he would have anywhere from 4 to 6 guests up a week and send everyone home happy with Halibut and some Salmon.

My son and I are heading up this year on June 30th returning July 9th, What I would like to do Is buy a couple good boat rods and reels loaded with the best line and leaving them there for him and his guests. Ron has stated he likes a 6' rod over a 5 1/2' as its better for keeping fish out of the outdrive. And I know allot of the charters use Peen Reels and Ugly sticks. Have any of you seen The new Seeker Halibut series Rods? I did write Chris fischer on The Go Fisch of Offshore Adventures on ESPN. He was kind enough to reply and recommend his sponsors 2 speed accurate reels ( $1000 - $1200 ea ). Fine lookin reels, however I was hopin to maybe have a little money left for bait ;)

So guys and gals lets hear what works best for you. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank You,
Doug Carroll aka Hammerhead[/img]
 
I have a couple custom rods that a friend hand tied for me. They are 7' and are really nice for the size of fish that I target. I like more action in a rod for jigging which is mainly what the poles are for. I used ugly sticks for several years when I was charter fishing they work and are low budget. It might help to find out what type of gear your friend frequently uses, how much weight for example may determine how stiff a rod you need. I think there are a few C-Brats over in Homer that might be able to chime in on whats worked for them. Penn makes some good reels that are easy to maintain, with the new lines available spool size for line capacity is really not a consideration anymore in my opinion. Duel speed is a luxury, heh if you really want to make it easy you can get electric reels. :) Generally speaking most all manufactures of reels have some benefits, I chose mine just for the feel on the rod for my personal tastes I think its a shamano with spider wire for line.
Shaun
 
Our rods are medium action Sturdy Stiks with Penn 330 GTI's filled with 80lb Tuffline and a ball bearing snap swivel. The 320 would work just as well for you. I really like the Penn graphite reels. Great value and tough as nails. They last forever if you rinse thorougly after each use like we do. We've used ours for three years and they are still like new. I think you can go crazy paying through the nose for very expensive gear, but after a certain price it's all the name, anyway, I think. The most important thing is to buy good quality and take care of them. I, too, don't really like the "broomstick" rods that are very short. I think it is much more fun to play the fish on a longer, lighter rod. We won't ever keep anything over a hundred pounds again anyway...too much work to cut up...plus, all the ones that size and larger are females...our breeding stock. Have a ball and then turn 'em loose to go make more!

Check out the "Halibut" thread in the fishing forum on this site.
 
OH man.. for a couple of nice Halibut rods I would love to take you out fishin in Homer. Hey you could go out in a C Dory too :teeth :teeth. Hmm lets see. A couple 5ft G Loomis deep sea rods fitted with Penn International 2 speed reels would be way nice. :lol:
 
I can honestly say I have never worn out a halibut reel just fishing for myself. In our charter operation, we burn through a lot of reels every year. If it makes a season, it is a good reel, but for the most part they are being fished every day. I generally take the hand me downs after they are rebuilt. A two speed reel is nice, but the real consideration is the type of water you are fishing and the weight involved. I have fished in 500 feet of water (never again) and caught a lot of large fish, and I have fished in 100 feet. I prefer fishing in the lower part of the Cook Inlet (Seldovia and points west and south) since the effects of the tides are not as great. We do most of our charter fishing to the north of that, and you are generally limited to fishing around slack tides, unless you want to abuse yourself with 4 and 5 lb weights when you have a 20 plus foot tide swing.

For rods, I also like them a little longer with more flex in the tip for using jigs with j-hooks. Without the flex it is hard to keep constant tension on the line resulting in the jig falling out of the halibut's mount. I do like jigs on halibut with a small piece of herring. When the halibut are on the move, they really will tear it up and it makes for a lot of fun.
 
Been there done that last year. Will shoot for the slack tide.
Beat ourselves to death fishing 400' + drifting to get to the bottom in the ripping tide, but we got our fish every time. Just need to learn how to get them without working so hard.

Taking my son up this year and I want to try and to it up right, we did struggle last couple of trips and your advice will prove
invaluable.


Thank You All,
Doug
 
Careful guys when you mention prices of your toys , you might offend some C-Brats $1000 to 1200 for a Hali reels, naughty , naughty, naughty......! Love fishing for the big butts , me heading there next friday! Ain't telling you where and what kind of ?? Iam using.

Gary SEARAM
 
Hello Hammerhead

I am a big fan of Avet 2 speed reels.

http://www.avetreels.com/avet_ex4.html

I have (2) Avet EX 4/0 2 speed reels on 7 foot Seeker Black Steel rods rated 40-60#.
I have 600 yards of 80 pound Power Pro and 50 yard top shot of 50 pound on these reels. The 2 speed reels work so well for fishing heavy weights down deep.Last year I used them to catch 30 pound Humbolt squid 1200 feet down. I use them for trolling for Albacore tuna also-kind of overkill for the albies.
The Avet reels are a big bang for the buck.The reels are around $300.00 each.The Seeker rods go for about $225.00 each.Plan on paying another $70.00 for the Power Pro spectra.
The Avets are a great deal for the dollar all aluminum frame,no plastic frame on these to break.
 
I bought an Avet 2 speed last year for Halibut. Not sure what model but it is anodized blue. I love it. Going to get another one this summer for my girlfriend.
 
Thanx guys, I think I will get my Bro One of them Avet 2 speed reels with the seeker Black Steel that Steve listed. Now let me explain why I would do this for my friend.

He invites us (Myself, Wife, Son, Friends) to Alaska every year, I have to fight for the bill to even pay for dinner. He has a Cabin on the Kenia river with 2 small boats docked right on the deck. He flys his 185 skywagon to Ancorage and picks us up and flys us back for our return.

He flys from Soldotna to Homer where he keeps a truck at each airport and shuttles to his Osprey docked in Homer Harbor.
Takes us out for all the fishin we can handle, be it Halibut, Salmon, Fly in to see bears or hunting if we like.

He is a true friend and a great guy, even though he can afford all the toys I can only dream of, I think handing him a Mack Daddy Halibut Rig would be a nice gesture.

Smooth seas and tight lines to you all and thanx for the info 8)
 
From the sounds of it, Doug, you have a great friend who is sure to be happy with such a great gift. I love people who do things for other folks just because they enjoy it. Here's to a great time with the big flatties! :beer

Also, glad to hear you'll soon be back in business with your boat. Hopefully that will be your "one incident" and from here on out it will be smooth sailing for many years to come...

Rick
 
Doug,

Sounds like you have a true friend there.

I did a similar thing (albeit on a less expensive scale) when I visited my friend in Memphis shortly after 9/11. I had a rod/reel combo drop shipped from Cabela's at his house and then left it with him when I came home. They got there the day I arrived and I fished with it almost every day for the week I was there. I would do it again in a heartbeat! Even with a rig like what you are talking about. Just so I would have a nice rig to fish with the next time I visit :)
 
Doug
I will bring in one the Avet / Seeker combos for you to to look at to work this week.I think you will like this combo.
I will also have the boat at the shop later this week also to show you the electric down rigger and the pot puller.
You will probably want to visit with your truck anyways.
Do want me to email photos of your damaged truck to you or do you want to remember it in one piece?
 
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