Beautiful day on the water. One 21-3/4" Halibut (released). One huge Sculpin (released) 6 to 8 octopi (released) multitude of lizard fish. (released) one barracuda (released).....Sunset, Priceless.
Love the sunset photo
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Thanks for the report. I was wondering how you did today
What a great day on the water Croaker - that evening shot is nice, very good looking water.
I think the Cali's limit is 22 inches - can you guys down there fish the Hali year round?
Cali hali is open year round. :)
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The drift was bad today because there was zero wind and no water movement. We just kind of sat still and the boat would spin and tangle our lines.
Funny, but I only target Halibut as a last resort... In the eighties, I fished for Halibut in the winter. You would drift and drift and drift all day long and you might only catch one undersized fish because there were gill nets strung all over the Halibut grounds. Without the Gillnets, the Halibut can grow and reproduce.
Now, you drift all day, you might catch a 30 or 40 pounder.....makes it a little more rewarding. :biggrin:
Croaker, do you ever try trolling for halibut? It's a good way to cover ground if you don't have a good drift. I got these two trolling
(http://www.arimaowners.com/gallery/10/9220-050118230454-106031032.png)
I haven't tried that. I have a couple of rigs with hooches and flashers. But I don't think my motor will go slow enough ??
How fast do you troll ? What rig are you using ? How heavy is your sinker ?
In the 1950's, they used "bone jigs" for Halibut.. :jester:
We bounce 1 or 2 lb balls on the bottom with a flasher short leader straight bait or whatever pretty thing you can put on. We also troll in 25 to 50 foot of water near the bottom and you can pick up salmon or Hali. I think the most productive though, if your in the right area is to drift with live bait.
Quote from: Croaker Stroker on February 01, 2018, 12:32:09 PM
I haven't tried that. I have a couple of rigs with hooches and flashers. But I don't think my motor will go slow enough ??
How fast do you troll ? What rig are you using ? How heavy is your sinker ?
In the 1950's, they used "bone jigs" for Halibut.. :jester:
Troll speed about 1.5- 3 mph depending on current
Weight size will vary depending on water depth and current speed, you want enough weight to tap bottom every 20-30 seconds with about a 45 degree angle where your line goes into the water. If line is more or less than about a 45 degree angle, add or drop weight size.
I run mostly a green label herring about 12-14 inches behind a dodger. The dodgers swing side to side and do not spin like some flashers. A short leader is needed to the bait to relay the correct action to the herring. Drop it down along side the boat first while in gear and see if the bait had a good movement to it.
Before the dodger I run about a 30 inch line.
On the main line put a 3-way swivel and a dropper line of about 24 inches to a snap swivel to make changing weight easy.
Use a single hook about 6 inches away from a treble hook. Single hook through the nose, and sink one point of the treble hook in the side by the tail. Secure it with a small rubber band.
Works best 60 ft water or under. Any deeper takes too much weight to get to bottom.
It works very well, halibut will smash that herring. If no herring you can also substitute a white hoochie skirt rigged the same way.
This rig has out fished my buddies that only drift the last few years although I will do both drift and troll. Give it a try, especially on those days like yesterday with a minimal drift
The same trolling rig with a white hoochie skirt works great for rockfish and lings too
(http://www.arimaowners.com/gallery/10/9220-050118230656-106051654.png)
Correct Fisherdv, a dodger not a flasher :doh: If I am into just hali's I tend to slow my trolling down to 1.5 max, but when we are searching for salmon/hali we will troll faster. Your rig you describe is pretty much what most of us use from what I see. I personally like to troll, but the guy's I know that continually hammer them drift - but they also have their honey holes......I keep taking notes on their locations.
Nice catches CS! Did you use the lizard fish to catch your halibut :biggrin:
Great way to spend a summer day, I mean winter day, then fishing our local water. :jester:
I need a net that doesn't damage the tails on the small ones. Any suggestions. ?
Quote from: Croaker Stroker on February 01, 2018, 08:46:52 PM
I need a net that doesn't damage the tails on the small ones. Any suggestions. ?
Carefully grab the line and shake em off the hook with the pliers. Avoids damage from them flopping in the boat too
Quote from: Rokefin on February 01, 2018, 03:07:44 PM
Correct Fisherdv, a dodger not a flasher :doh: If I am into just hali's I tend to slow my trolling down to 1.5 max, but when we are searching for salmon/hali we will troll faster. Your rig you describe is pretty much what most of us use from what I see. I personally like to troll, but the guy's I know that continually hammer them drift - but they also have their honey holes......I keep taking notes on their locations.
Dodgers are great for slow trolling. Most folks up here have moved to inline fish flash instead and forgotten about the trusty ol' dodger, which impart a lot more movement to the bait on a slow troll. A great trick I learned from some old timers was to add a salmon spoon at the top of a dodger to attract bedded halibut and lings by adding noise/clatter to the dodgers flash and movement.
Being lazy, I generally stick to slow trolling lead head jigs tipped with bait for BF, but I'll throw the kitchen sink at them if I have to. So I still keep a couple beat up spoons with snap swivels sans hook around just in case. ;)
FWIW.
(http://www.arimaowners.com/gallery/10/9416-010218204856.jpeg)
You'd be surprised at how many times the halibut will actually bite the dodger. Mine have teeth marks on them
I would have kept the He'e (octo's) if in season, great eating!
I would have kept them too. Except only one is not enough. So, the first one, I let go. Then I caught another. I said "dang, I should have kept the first one", so I let that one go. And so on...and so on. :jester:
Hahaha been there!
So, I went digging in the garage I found a couple of these in one of my tackleboxes. Pretty sure I had them rigged wrong back in the eighties because I never caught anything on them. :shrug9:
I looked on YouTube and studied up on the rigging and what you guys have said. I ordered three-way swivels from Amazon so I am getting ready to rig these, but one of them is only "spooned" from one end. which end goes toward the rod ??
Quote from: Croaker Stroker on February 04, 2018, 10:12:02 AM
which end goes toward the rod ??
Left side on both. Leaders off the right. Twist swivel on top dodger allows quick exchange of leaders of various lengths with a standard swivel on end of leader. Hope that helps. Ps. Leader lengths can make difference to success. Good luck.
Bounce ball setups for hailbut flat out work.
Tons of commercial halibut fisherman do it that way from one end of Cali to the next .
Remember to go slow !!!!!!!
I bounce ball at 0.5 knots
Quote from: Tj805 on February 04, 2018, 11:01:00 AM
Remember to go slow !!!!!!!
I bounce ball at 0.5 knots
I think my idle speed is more than that. But I am going to give it a try.
Croaker, the dodger on top in the pic you posted is the exact one I use. When it comes to trolling speed there is no set GPS speed. It's judged by the action of the dodger and bait. Drop the rig down at the side of the boat and watch the dodger and bait. You want the dodger swaying back and forth kinda slowly, with a good side to side action being transferred to the herring. This is how to fish it rather than a set speed. The tide and direction your traveling makes it impossible to go by a set speed. If the dodger is spinning, you or the current is too fast then you need to slow down. I would start off with the exact leader lengths I post earlier. Remember, the leader on the end of the dodger to the herring must be short enough to transfer the action of the dodger to the herring 12-15 inches is best, but again adjust by looking at the action of the herring. I like to use 40 pound seguar blue label leader material because if you use too light of a leader the action will not transfer properly to the herring. Remember about a 45 degree angle where the line goes into the water. More or less adjust weight accordingly. It's better to bounce the bottom more often than not enough. I think the bouncing of the bottom gets the halibut interested even more. Give it a shot and let me know how it works for you. Best in the shallower areas. It is however kind of a lot of work to keep everything running correctly. More active type fishing rather than legs up kicking back.
I use a slider on the main line and attach my 24 inch dropper line to it instead of a 3- way swivel
Quote from: Croaker Stroker on February 04, 2018, 11:37:45 AM
Quote from: Tj805 on February 04, 2018, 11:01:00 AM
Remember to go slow !!!!!!!
I bounce ball at 0.5 knots
I think my idle speed is more than that. But I am going to give it a try.
Throw out a bucket to slow you down
Works like a charm.
Quote from: Tj805 on February 04, 2018, 01:58:26 PM
Quote from: Croaker Stroker on February 04, 2018, 11:37:45 AM
Quote from: Tj805 on February 04, 2018, 11:01:00 AM
Remember to go slow !!!!!!!
I bounce ball at 0.5 knots
I think my idle speed is more than that. But I am going to give it a try.
Throw out a bucket to slow you down
Works like a charm.
Good idea. I like that. :beerchug:
Quote from: Fisherdv on February 04, 2018, 12:56:33 PM
Croaker, the dodger on top in the pic you posted is the exact one I use.
What is it? It is unmarked. Where do I buy another one if I loose it ?
Croaker, PM sent