Biiiiiig Fish Story

D

Dreamer

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This morning's Peninsula Daily News had a wonderful story about a man from Edmonds, WA who was fascinated by stories and videos of folks catching fish, even Halibut, from Kayaks. He took lessons, bought a Kayak, practiced fishing in Lakes and May 14 he made his dreams come true. After a long ordeal which saw him in the water 5 miles off Macaw Bay, He pulled a 124 pound Halibut aboard his Hobie. Kayak and pedaled to shore!!

The Kayak was his only boating experience as he was born and raised in a land-locked state in Mexico.
 
Good story. I think our very own Starcraft Tom could do this too.

He has the kayak and he fishes lakes out of it (he took this pic on Tuesday from the kayak). He probably fishes sand dabs out of the kayak already.

IMG_4503.jpg
 
Kayak fishing is popular in Hawai'i too. They fish in the open Pacific for tuna, mahi mahi etc...even marlin. We used to use our kayaks to troll with spinner reels/rods, but only caught small papio aka amberjacks. This halibut catch is quite an accomplishment.
 
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As you can see, there was not much room left to pedal the boat!
 
A 124 # Halibut is good sized in any small boat--let alone a Kayak. I wonder how he killed the halibut before brining it aboard? Clubbing, the laws of physics tend to favor the halibut! Shooting--from a Kayak? Vodka into the gills?--again--difficult.

Kayak fishing is very common in Pensacola. We even see them in back of our house regularly. We have had large sharks, grouper, tuna--but a 124# halibut is probably larger than 99% of the "large fish"!
 
If you haul in a fish you cannot consume,
you are satisfying nothing but your ego.

Aye.

Grandma used to say, "Some fish should
not be caught."
 
Foggy":2opsru8m said:
If you haul in a fish you cannot consume,
you are satisfying nothing but your ego.

Aye.

Grandma used to say, "Some fish should
not be caught."
Click to expand...

We call that a good eating sized one in AK ;)
 
4 times in the last 15 years of sea kayak fishing up north myself (twice) or someone in my group (twice) has brought in lingcod between 40 and 50 inches and I really don't know what weight as we can't lift them while on the water. Three out of four catches were after hooking a smaller fish that was then bit by the larger lingcod and the lings hang on until you get them to break the surface or soon after. We have fought them up to 30 minutes if the gear is light, them pull them up to take a look gathering around to confirm the catch then plier/pull them loose and let them go. We just don't have a way to deal with those big fish when out on wilderness trips. Fun fighting and sometimes quite tough when close to rocks and in the swell!

Greg
 
Pretty cool stuff. Here's an article of as fella catching a Goliath Grouper (says 500 lbs, but I dunno).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/2 ... 68864.html

I was looking at going from some tarpon off Anna Maria Island in the kayak this year...maybe. It's pretty common now a days to see people kayaking offshore. Sailfish, marlin, Amberjack...all doable.

I like being at the top of the food chain though and sharks around here have gotten pretty "smart". They sit under your boat and then once the fish is tired then they thwack 'em.

For the first time in 10 years I lost one to a shark this year.

Here's a sample...skip to 1:40 if you want. This fella didn't free spool the poon and then drive the boat over the shark, but you get the idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI5UGaouMAY

Supposedly the shark numbers are up...some big boys out there at that. 12-14' Hammerheads. 8' Bullsharks are not unusual either.
 
If you catch a fish, keep it on your line as a
shark attacks and eats it, please explain how
this qualifies as sportsmanship.

Aye.

Grandma used to say, "The Roman Games entertained
only the Romans."
 
Foggy":1z9yzm4m said:
If you haul in a fish you cannot consume,
you are satisfying nothing but your ego.

Aye.

Grandma used to say, "Some fish should
not be caught."
Click to expand...

I would agree but this is a food fish and an edible size. I personally don't agree with killing anything for ego, sport or trophy etc. If one chooses to take an animal's life, it should be respected. I don't have a problem with taking an animal for food, however. There is also the issue of maintaining a species for the long haul. Hence, we don't take females or breeding stock. But I've seen people that don't give a rat's ass about the future. Totally stupid.
 
localboy":1ri7mi2m said:
Foggy":1ri7mi2m said:
If you haul in a fish you cannot consume,
you are satisfying nothing but your ego.

Aye.

Grandma used to say, "Some fish should
not be caught."
Click to expand...

I would agree but this is a food fish and an edible size. SNIP
Click to expand...

Granted, some appetites (and egos) are larger than others.

Aye.
 
Foggy:

After the fish was taken to Big Salmon to be weighed, it was returned to the campground, filleted, and a portion was cooked for the group’s dinner.

Vergara and his wife estimate that about 15 people also received halibut steaks as presents.
Click to expand...

Sounds like that halibut was appropriately disposed of! Halibut is my favorite seafood.

The story relates that the fisherman fell overboard, after the fish was harpooned by another angler. Then it was stabbed, and eventually a line put thru its gill. Apparently several hours went by during it was first brought to the surface.

Unrelated there is allways the Great White Shark! circling around the kayak!
 
All the chest pounding gum flapping descriptions of people
landing and eating big fish seems like you are not aware the
opposite can occur. And, it's not that rare.

Uh huh. Now that's sportsmanship.

Aye.

Grandpa used to say, "It's more than embarrassing when
the hunter becomes the hunted."
 
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