Best way to land kayak halibut

[KamWalsh]

Kayak fishing lends some challenges when landing Halibut compared to boat fishing. When in a boat, all you need to do is get the fish over the rail but in a kayak you need to keep the fish almost completely restrained until it's dead. If a Halibut goes apeshit on deck there's a great chance that it will end up back in the water with a broken leader trailing from it. I've had a pretty solid success rate landing halibut from the kayak, but have had a couple heartbreaks. One was a couple years ago when one that I was trying to net scooted backwards out of the net and shook loose the lure with a headshake, and the other (worse) one was recently, when one that I had gaffed went crazy and launched itself out of the kayak. What are your guys' favorite way of landing them from kayaks? Here are my opinions:

- Net: I feel like a better overall choice for kayak fishing since they can thrash around in the net without getting out of it. I'm sure a big one can rip out of a cheap net (have seen it happen), but it shouldn't happen with a high quality net designed for salmon fishing or similar. Back when I deckhanded in AK we'd sometimes use big salmon nets to land halibut up to 40lbs when we already had our limit for the day but wanted to get a picture of one. Of course, also the obvious choice when you can't tell if a fish is legal. I know the law requires all boats with halibut to have a net in possession, but I have personally never heard of this rule being enforced. Last fall I actually got checked by a warden by shelter island with a 36'' halibut on deck and no net, and no issue was raised about it. Of course, nets are cumbersome on kayaks, catching wind and hooks in equal measure. They also shred halibut tails. To be honest, I'm not sure how common true "fin rot" is. I've kept a lot of aquarium fish over the years, and I've found that damaged tails (even tails that were bitten down to the base by other fish in the tank) usually heal very quickly in healthy fish living in clean water. That being said, the water in the bay isn't exactly very clean. They do make nets with fine mesh that won't damage tails, but these are hard to move through the water and I've found that quickly scooping them up rather than holding the net in the water and trying to lead them towards it is much more effective.

- Gaff: gaffs are cooler than nets, take up less space, and there is theoretically no limit to the size that can be landed with a gaff. The biggest halibut I've caught from a kayak to date only fit about halfway in my net, and if it had gone crazy or things had gone any less perfectly I would still be losing sleep about it. A gaff would have been ideal, but sometimes gaffing a fish in the wrong area makes everything go haywire. I've learned that EVERYONE on the internet has a very strong opinion on where you need to gaff a halibut to prevent it from going crazy (some say gut shot, others say head, gills, some even say meat shot is worth damaging filets because of the extra hold that it provides, etc.), but I've yet to find a spot where they are guaranteed to go immobile. It seems like some fish just have more spirit than others; a couple days before losing the one I mentioned, I hooked a larger one from shore that allowed my buddy to grab its tail from the rocks without much of a struggle. Gills is probably the best bet, but in AK it seemed like some would go crazy no matter what you did. Either way, definitely a bad idea to take the gaff out of the fish before it's secured on a game clip or thick stringer. And of course, if you lose a fish after it's been gaffed it will almost certainly die.

That's my take on it. The obvious solution is to bring both, but if you lose a fish trying to land it one way you'll spend the rest of the day wishing you had used the other landing tool. Fish grippers have served their purpose in many an unexpected emergency, but likely not the best option for consistently landing them time after time again. I once lipped a 28 incher from my float tube and landed it, but I wouldn't recommend that. What do you guys think? I think the best way to get tips of how to land a fish is to look in the comments of a video someone posted of them farming a fish. You'll hear from all of the internet experts who have apparently never lost one in their lives.

[William Ritchie]

https://www.huntfishharvest.com/2020/05 ... r-a-kayak/ , Here is another possible alternative for fish that are for sure legal . I have used full sized harpoons in Alaska as you more than likely have . A scaled down unit might work well from a yak . Nice write up . WR

[KamWalsh]

To my knowledge harpoons in CA are illegal for use on halibut...but not for bat rays. Sure makes a ton of sense. I don't think most california halibut are big enough to really justify a harpoon, but at least once you 'poon one, they almost never come off.

[Swings are free]

If the halibut flares it's gills at the right time you can get a hand in there , I've done it twice. May not be the safest way but it is possible. Watch out for those teeth.

[Neuroshima]

- Net: They also shred halibut tails.

Are you using nylon landing nets or rubber? I would think rubber wouldn't harm them since they are the preferred material for landing those sissy trout.

[camobass]

Just because someone’s never been caught or checked for not having a net doesn’t grant breaking the rules. That’s obviously how society acts now days with anything. I’ve personally witnessed people gaffing short Seabass and halibut. It’s an absolute shame. Carry a net, it’s the law. Halibut are ready to land when they are ready. A lot of people panic and stick them early. Panic and excitement leads to many short fish gaffed. A legal isn’t huge

I would suggest getting a smaller net that will fit a legal. If your fish is way bigger than your net, leave the net where it’s at on your yak get the gaff out.

[camobass]

You can also get one of these and slide this through the mouth and hang the fish over the side until it’s done. Perfect for bleeding it too. That way, the fish isn’t thrashing your crotch

[KamWalsh]

- Net: They also shred halibut tails.

Are you using nylon landing nets or rubber? I would think rubber wouldn't harm them since they are the preferred material for landing those sissy trout.

I have two, one made out of rubber and the other is this bigger promar net I recently got that seems to be made out of some hybrid material that’s also knotless. Tested it out today and it worked great scooping up a small legal without shredding its fins very much. Anything smaller than that can just be leadered and scooped into the boat unless you’re using a lure you don’t wanna lose on light line. I like these nets because hooks don’t get caught in them as easily either. My old net would be a nightmare for netting anything with a jerkbait in its mouth.

[Gotfish?]

I fish from a float tube. Here is my procedure:

1. Take off sunglasses, put in pouches, zip up all pouches, it might get wet. Zip up rain jacket. Hopefully you have a smooth drag on the reel.
2. Bring halibut up to surface, that wasn't hard. Halibut will immediately zoom back down. Might splash. Repeat as needed.
3. When halibut not longer zooms back down when brought to the surface, poke the halibut with the net. Halibut zooms back down, had plenty of energy left after all. Repeat.
4. When halibut no longer zooms back down down when touched by the net, bring halibut around to just over the net. Lower rod, halibut swims into net head first.
5. Very quickly, lay rod down, lift net, grab halibut tail, raise and drop in your lap. If you did it right, halibut is wasted and doesn't thrash around. My net is undersized so I have to grab the tail to get him out of the water. I do use a rubber net, the other ones are horrible for hooks getting caught in plus worse for the fish.
6. Try to do this prematurely, then you can get soaked or worst case, even treble hooks where they don't belong if you got the halibut on a crankbait. That will hurt with a halibut thrashing around. Haven't been there, don't intend to either.
7. Have fishing buddy take pics.