starcrafttom
Active member
Very nice report. Looks like you will be eating well for a while.
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Halibut 2018
- Thread starter kaelc
- Start date
It's funny, but I've never even owned a harpoon. I've boated several 100+ lb halibut with my good old gaff. I kill them over the water, while they are on the gaff (even the big ones), so don't really have to deal with a lot of thrashing once I bring them on board.
There are people I know who go at anything over 20lbs with harpoons and shotguns, and there are people I know who just keep a harpoon around for the occasional monster.
I guess a harpoon-free boat makes good sense for me because I release 90% of the big fish I get (60+ lbs), and really only keep them if they are badly gut hooked or gilled, or if someone visiting from out of state catches a big one.
I used a bow rod for awhile, but had issues getting fish on the boat from the bow (I don't walk the rods back to the cockpit when I'm by myself) so I started keeping the bow rod back in the cockpit and running the line up to a downrigger clip on my bow rail. That was a lot more manageable.
There are people I know who go at anything over 20lbs with harpoons and shotguns, and there are people I know who just keep a harpoon around for the occasional monster.
I guess a harpoon-free boat makes good sense for me because I release 90% of the big fish I get (60+ lbs), and really only keep them if they are badly gut hooked or gilled, or if someone visiting from out of state catches a big one.
I used a bow rod for awhile, but had issues getting fish on the boat from the bow (I don't walk the rods back to the cockpit when I'm by myself) so I started keeping the bow rod back in the cockpit and running the line up to a downrigger clip on my bow rail. That was a lot more manageable.
Interesting on using the downrigger clip for the bow rod. Any trouble getting the lines tangled when you have a doubleheader?
Love the gaff but from time to time my glancing swing or my effort to bring a 70 pounder thrasher over the side has resulted in having to haul an angry fish back up from 240 feet!
Love the gaff but from time to time my glancing swing or my effort to bring a 70 pounder thrasher over the side has resulted in having to haul an angry fish back up from 240 feet!
It's nice. I'm going to add a spring line this year so it's a little less sharp a pull for the fish. I've tangled lines plenty, and no doubleheader needed. Because I have a subsistence card I regularly fish 4 lines all by myself. I often get tangled. I also put chum out on a manual downrigger. But, I usually get it all sorted and land my fish. Or at least, in terms of cost/benefit, the 3 off the cockpit and 1 off the bow with a downrigger out has produced far more fish than it's lost. The biggest trouble I have is actually with the anchor line and the bow line. I've been thinking about maybe putting a poly buoy on another downrigger clip and using that to get it away from the boat a bit.
Kushtaka":9tde403c said:It's nice. I'm going to add a spring line this year so it's a little less sharp a pull for the fish. I've tangled lines plenty, and no doubleheader needed. Because I have a subsistence card I regularly fish 4 lines all by myself. I often get tangled. I also put chum out on a manual downrigger. But, I usually get it all sorted and land my fish. Or at least, in terms of cost/benefit, the 3 off the cockpit and 1 off the bow with a downrigger out has produced far more fish than it's lost. The biggest trouble I have is actually with the anchor line and the bow line. I've been thinking about maybe putting a poly buoy on another downrigger clip and using that to get it away from the boat a bit.
How does the spring line work? Any luck with the poly buoy is that for the middle one off the cockpit? I can't imagine fishing 3 off the cockpit! Nice work.