Best Way To Land a Halibut?

[Mr. NiceGuy]

Greg Andrew, thank you so much for taking to time to recap all this valuable information for us.

And yes, a kayak sized Kage Gaff is another good name for what I'm trying to describe.

Originally Posted by Dave Legacy

This might be a dumb question, but could one just scoop up a halibut in a net? I bought a collapsing net to be legal in the water, but the most economic route was a 24"x24". If I can net my 3-year-old with it I ought to be able to net at least the business end of a huge halibut, right?

I think a basic legal size or net size halibut would not be too much trouble. With nets, you run the risk of splitting the tail of fish you let go. They can become infected with tail rot and the fish dies. Some nets work better than others. For halibut that are shorter than 22" I have been able to reach down with my pliers and grab the hook. A small shake from the fish or me usually sets him free.

I prefer to use one hook, so the release is easier. I was trying 2nd trap hooks for awhile, but I felt bad about other fish I was not targeting getting the 2nd hook lodged deeply in the throat, meaning they usually got torn up pretty bad by the time I got it out. I try to avoid collateral damage to fish I don't want to catch.

My question is about the larger size halibut we see some of the pros around here catch consistently. The power and difficulty of landing a larger halibut from a kayak goes up exponentially with the size of the fish. The fish I lost was suitable for framed photos on the wall. I want to be prepared so I don't make mistakes again when the next opportunity presents itself.

If you can net and lift your daughter, maybe your net will work well for you

I seriously want to catch and land a large halibut from my kayak, with finesse and aplomb. This thread is my homework assignment.

Opportunities like this capture my interest more than I can describe in words:

http://www.kayakfishmag.com/features...kayak-halibut/

What a great catch. I would love to hear him describe how he got that halibut into his kayak.