how to deal with large catch?

[taggermike]

That's a simple technique for bleeding a halibut. But I don't use knives on a kayak. Not a fan of using my legs as a cutting board.
Ripping a gill always works. Except halibut have sharp gill rakers.

But since I've been using braid I've been bringing scissors. A quick clean safe snip is my go to now. Mike

[taggermike]

Gonna get a bit philosophical.
"Contemplate one's mortality". Not a popular or easy thing to do.
But every thing dies. That is the great unifying trait of all life. The Buddhist "law of impermanence" or the Onion's ironic headline "world's death rate holding steady at 100%".
Its all the same.

I kill. Every step, breath, and bite kills. My immune system is constantly killing. I tilled my garden and ended the lives of billions. Life=death.

I don't believe being mindful of this is morbid. It helps me respect and appreciate life.

I've found 2 bodies while kayaking. 1 in the SD River and 1 in La Jolla. My family thought I should be traumatized. My niece said I could come to her church if I needed help dealing.
But I wasn't and didn't. I called the police and life guards, waited for them to arrive, and returned to fishing.
Actually less fishing and more contemplating mortality and appreciating life. All life.

Don't get me wrong, these were unpleasant experience. But what could I have done. I didn't kill them and couldn't save them.
I helped return them to their families so those that loved them could have closure.

I'm an atheist and don't believe in any life after death or heaven. These 2 people weren't alive for billions of years, they lived a short time, and won't live again.
They inhaled water which caused the chemical reactions that sustained their lives to stop due to lack of oxygen.

OK, let's go fishing.

[Mr. NiceGuy]

Originally Posted by taggermike

OK, let's go fishing.

Life is sweet

[fourtogo]

Originally Posted by jbl_91762

Thanks guys for the tips, especially sheephead for the super details! I do have a game clip and watched a few vids. My first kayak was 33" wide and very stable and now I have the Outback so its a little smaller but I'll manage. Yeah I didn't think of getting the game clip on when I landed a legal hali so when I tried to use my jaw pliers it freaked and shook hook off. Off to Bass Pro to get a Gaff! Thanks again

Hobie Outback 33" in width?

[fourtogo]

Originally Posted by taggermike

Its a relief to hear I'm not the only one that contemplates their mortality while watching a fellow creature die. Mike

Life long Fisherman 60yrs old . I never learned to like too eat fish . Wife loves fish but only Sword-fish & Salmon and shell fish . I do like shrimp and fish tacos << strange Bahaha . I haven't killed a fish in many years , I do think it's fine to take fish to eat though . Going to chunk down the dollars this week coming , for a Hobie Outback . It will fit In My Van and be with in my weight limits for my bad back .