Best Way To Start Halibut Fishing
- Thread starter Highliner
- Start date
victoriaboater
Active Member
Never hurts to learn from the best. Maybe take a charter and see how a pro does it. You could probably get one of the guides that frequent this forum to take you to Constance bank for a reasonable price.
There is some good info on this site:
http://www.halibut.net/
There is some good info on this site:
http://www.halibut.net/
Highliner
Well-Known Member
Hi fishinnut,
I'm in the process of getting a new boat. I want to consider my future needs when I do (salmon, halibut). I know that I should have something at least in the mid twenties for these beasts. Any suggestion as to what style or make of boat is best for halibut and salmon fishing. Keeping in mind that I will be salmon fishing more often.
Thanks.
I'm in the process of getting a new boat. I want to consider my future needs when I do (salmon, halibut). I know that I should have something at least in the mid twenties for these beasts. Any suggestion as to what style or make of boat is best for halibut and salmon fishing. Keeping in mind that I will be salmon fishing more often.
Thanks.
wolf
Well-Known Member
Ive seen guys in 12 ft tin boats out off of constance buy a boat which you think is good for you.
As for halibut we dont really start up for them till march,andd then us guides hit it every hali tide we can get out depending on weather of course. the tides this year are terrible very short windows of opertunities. look up in the archives on halibut there is tons of info and just start reading as this has been gone over and over lots
Good luck and happy reading Wolf
As for halibut we dont really start up for them till march,andd then us guides hit it every hali tide we can get out depending on weather of course. the tides this year are terrible very short windows of opertunities. look up in the archives on halibut there is tons of info and just start reading as this has been gone over and over lots
Good luck and happy reading Wolf
HALILLAMA
Active Member
Highliner, Try out the search (in rh upper corner)
there is 17 pages of info on...Halibut fishing[
]alone.
Please be careful out there,read current tables for the area and learn and practice proper anchoring techniques.I,ve pulled many people
from the water after poor choices with nothing left but their wet clothes.[xx(]
there is 17 pages of info on...Halibut fishing[
]alone.Please be careful out there,read current tables for the area and learn and practice proper anchoring techniques.I,ve pulled many people
from the water after poor choices with nothing left but their wet clothes.[xx(]
Get someone to show you how to anchor properly, then begin a frusterating curve of what bumps fish well on what tides. It is a real learning curve, but once you get into it, it is fun. You almost always have to anchor in Victoria. A good place to learn to anchor would be Jordan River, forgiving bottom and the tides are not as bad in the event you make a mistake. You can dump your boat very easily if you just chuck the anchor over the side/back and the tide comes up, or you are wrong about the tide/current. Another thing to do is to setup your anchor with the chain bolted to the flukes, then zip-tied up the shank. You get it stuck, when you pull it to your float, it will pop the zip-ties and pop out of whatever it gets stuck on.
Get the free Murray's tables from www.dive.bc.ca, they are invaluable, and you will also see that current speeds vs. what the tides are doing are usually very different from each other! It also makes getting right on the pinnacles easier because the tides do NOT all go just east-wet.
Otherwise, big stinky bait(Lots of room for experimentation here, herring is always a good bet), spreader bars(Long ones, not the little pieces of crap, I hate those, but some guys use 'em), stiff rods, good reels (Not the 320/340 Penn GT Crap that Outfitters is pushing), and 80-120lb Tuff Line. There are lots of tricks you can do with bait, skirts, rigging the bait, etc. And hooking the odd octopus is fun to boot!
Get the free Murray's tables from www.dive.bc.ca, they are invaluable, and you will also see that current speeds vs. what the tides are doing are usually very different from each other! It also makes getting right on the pinnacles easier because the tides do NOT all go just east-wet.
Otherwise, big stinky bait(Lots of room for experimentation here, herring is always a good bet), spreader bars(Long ones, not the little pieces of crap, I hate those, but some guys use 'em), stiff rods, good reels (Not the 320/340 Penn GT Crap that Outfitters is pushing), and 80-120lb Tuff Line. There are lots of tricks you can do with bait, skirts, rigging the bait, etc. And hooking the odd octopus is fun to boot!
D
dog
Guest
I have never tried for buts, but will in 07 here in the Strait. Zero knowledge about it. Anyone have advice on spreader size for me? I have a 12 inch out, 6 down. Is this too small, or worth a try.
I have a couple 36 inch steel leaders tied with #6 hooks. Is this worth a try to start? I am expecting to be plagued with dogfish. Thanks.
I have a couple 36 inch steel leaders tied with #6 hooks. Is this worth a try to start? I am expecting to be plagued with dogfish. Thanks.
Tailspin
Active Member
Just be sure to snip the silly snap clip off the leader end of the store bought spreader bars. Replace it with a solid "berkley clip" They will break when you least expect it!
I make my own Spreaders with stainless welding rods about 18-20" x 8"
Most steel leaders are to short! 60# - 80# Mono, Jenkai Commercial suites me, any name brands will work.
Lots of places to try on Constance to learn the ropes of Anchoring, the method has been discussed under the search tool! Well worth the Dough to get a safe lesson on anchoring and proper setup from Wolf, myself or any of the other diehard halibut guys on the Forum. You must know your current speeds that vary greatly by area! and many other things about safety! Be warned, once you start your addiction will not stop...[8D]
Good Luck!
I make my own Spreaders with stainless welding rods about 18-20" x 8"
Most steel leaders are to short! 60# - 80# Mono, Jenkai Commercial suites me, any name brands will work.
Lots of places to try on Constance to learn the ropes of Anchoring, the method has been discussed under the search tool! Well worth the Dough to get a safe lesson on anchoring and proper setup from Wolf, myself or any of the other diehard halibut guys on the Forum. You must know your current speeds that vary greatly by area! and many other things about safety! Be warned, once you start your addiction will not stop...[8D]
Good Luck!
There are a variety of ways to halibut fish, depending on where. Until two years ago, all of our quality U.S. halibut fishing here in Washington State was done mainly in the ocean. They would not let us fish the straits during the most productive months-Feb-April. (Our ocean seasons are now down to days, thanks to the derby style openers we have now.) This is for the inner Strait of Juan de Fuca. The outer straits can be in season with the ocean with many halibut there. For some reason Vancouver Island can really put out a ton of bigger fish than we do in comparison.
The first early opener two years ago, we were listening to the Halibut Derby going on, I believe in Sooke or Victoria, and it was killing us. They were weighing in some monsters. Last year was better. There were quite a few from 70-110 pounds caught down here. I ran out the first day of the opener and got a twenty-five pounder. Next day I ran out and got a 50 and a 30 pounder.
I learned to fish a little different in the straits than the ocean. I canned the wire leaders as a lot of the areas I was fishing was 120' deep. We have had the straits closed to us in the ocean I normally fish 300-600 feet deep. The deeper water lets me fish with less line angle. The shallower water of the straits we fish in, creates more line angle and faster drifting. Jigging my gear in rocky bottoms caused some kinks in my wire leaders. I broke off a couple of fish due to this. Also a lot of the fish in the straits are bigger and can break a kinked wire. Make sure if you run them, replace them if you have a kink. You might be fine with wire leader and a spreader bar. But I was running a tuna cord sliding weight set up and have the leader on the end of it. This works better in deeper water with 100-pound test as it drags on the bottom. I have never anchor fished for halibut but think I am going to try and tie a chum line on my anchor rope. Listen to these guys about anchor fishing safety. From what I understand guys flip boats at Race Rocks by the anchor line getting caught in the prop and pulling them under.
I don't tell many people this. Since this is mainly a BC website and it won't get read as much down here, but last year I gutted my straits halibut and they were full of coonstripe shrimp and spot prawns. I told a couple of friends that were going out and told them to switch up their bait oils from squid to shrimp. They caught a ton of 60 pound and bigger halibut. I told them where to fish and they listened. Fish the shrimp beds.
I am keeping my spots a little more tight lipped now. I found a hump two years ago that yielded a lot of halibut and told five friends and told them not to tell anyone, to keep it to ourselves. Last year there were 38 boats on it on opening morning.
The commercials longlined the straits last year right before our opener and all of the major banks were dead. I opted to fish small no-named humps and we pulled fish off of many of them. Even the big fishing stars in the area were getting skunked.
For drift fishing, I like to find a hump on my chartplotter. I go over it and check the drift. Then I start a drift before the bottom of it and fully drift up and over it and all of the way down the other side. Its amazing where you might catch fish. I study my own charts and do quite well.
If you are fishing the straits you might be okay with a smaller boat but I think you should listen to the guys in your area on what to buy to fish. To fish the ocean down here we run out 25-35 miles to get our halibut. Great fun and huge lings can be a bonus. I pulled a 41 pound ling up last year halibut fishing and a halibut fust shy of 90 pounds.
I run a 20' Trophy walkaround and have fished as far out as 40 miles on the coast. It is a very seaworthy boat. I just bought an older 25' Trophy walkaround with twin 175s. It has the 9'6 beam. I can't wait to take it out. I have not mounted my big-screened Lowrances yet. I fish big kings in the ocean and bottomfish. This is the best of both worlds. Go fish with people in your own area or charters before you buy a boat to learn what you want. I did this and was glad. I fished with my buddies center console in the winter and got soaked and froze many times. Another friend I went with, had an aluminum 19’ Starcraft with a fairly flat bottom. It was very light weight. If the weather kicked up, you got the crap beat out of you, which it always did. Remember one thing, the Strait of Juan de Fuca's weather can change for the worst in no time. They taught us this in a boating safety class we took a long time ago, it can change as fast or faster than any place in the world. Make sure you buy enough boat and take a boater safety course. I have followed guys in, in way to small of a boat, where they jumped in right behind a 30’ plus boat to get them in. We stayed right behind them to pick them up if their boat went down. Three huge guys in an aluminum 14’ lake boat. They were 15 miles out and we were in 3-4’ wind chop. I used to see these guys all over until that day.
I believe Hindsight Charters out of Jordon River is a good one as some of my friends have gone out with him. I used to converse with him on a regular basis. You have a lot of great fishing areas on the bottom of Vancouver Island. Maybe join a fishing club to get started. I am the president of the Puget Sound Anglers Sno-King Chapter. We have many guest speakers that are charter operators or professional fishermen. They give free presentations on how to catch fish of every kind. I would think you have something like that in your area. Support an organization like this. We have to battle with the state and federal government down here on a daily basis so we don’t lose what little we have. Washington State always favors commercial fishing. Most of the commercials for Alaska are out of Seattle. So there is so much money in the fisheries down here. They have over a hundred years of building themselves into our fisheries programs. They have really protected themselves well. I know you guys (BC) have your problems too. I hope you never have the problems we have.
The first early opener two years ago, we were listening to the Halibut Derby going on, I believe in Sooke or Victoria, and it was killing us. They were weighing in some monsters. Last year was better. There were quite a few from 70-110 pounds caught down here. I ran out the first day of the opener and got a twenty-five pounder. Next day I ran out and got a 50 and a 30 pounder.
I learned to fish a little different in the straits than the ocean. I canned the wire leaders as a lot of the areas I was fishing was 120' deep. We have had the straits closed to us in the ocean I normally fish 300-600 feet deep. The deeper water lets me fish with less line angle. The shallower water of the straits we fish in, creates more line angle and faster drifting. Jigging my gear in rocky bottoms caused some kinks in my wire leaders. I broke off a couple of fish due to this. Also a lot of the fish in the straits are bigger and can break a kinked wire. Make sure if you run them, replace them if you have a kink. You might be fine with wire leader and a spreader bar. But I was running a tuna cord sliding weight set up and have the leader on the end of it. This works better in deeper water with 100-pound test as it drags on the bottom. I have never anchor fished for halibut but think I am going to try and tie a chum line on my anchor rope. Listen to these guys about anchor fishing safety. From what I understand guys flip boats at Race Rocks by the anchor line getting caught in the prop and pulling them under.
I don't tell many people this. Since this is mainly a BC website and it won't get read as much down here, but last year I gutted my straits halibut and they were full of coonstripe shrimp and spot prawns. I told a couple of friends that were going out and told them to switch up their bait oils from squid to shrimp. They caught a ton of 60 pound and bigger halibut. I told them where to fish and they listened. Fish the shrimp beds.
I am keeping my spots a little more tight lipped now. I found a hump two years ago that yielded a lot of halibut and told five friends and told them not to tell anyone, to keep it to ourselves. Last year there were 38 boats on it on opening morning.
The commercials longlined the straits last year right before our opener and all of the major banks were dead. I opted to fish small no-named humps and we pulled fish off of many of them. Even the big fishing stars in the area were getting skunked.
For drift fishing, I like to find a hump on my chartplotter. I go over it and check the drift. Then I start a drift before the bottom of it and fully drift up and over it and all of the way down the other side. Its amazing where you might catch fish. I study my own charts and do quite well.
If you are fishing the straits you might be okay with a smaller boat but I think you should listen to the guys in your area on what to buy to fish. To fish the ocean down here we run out 25-35 miles to get our halibut. Great fun and huge lings can be a bonus. I pulled a 41 pound ling up last year halibut fishing and a halibut fust shy of 90 pounds.
I run a 20' Trophy walkaround and have fished as far out as 40 miles on the coast. It is a very seaworthy boat. I just bought an older 25' Trophy walkaround with twin 175s. It has the 9'6 beam. I can't wait to take it out. I have not mounted my big-screened Lowrances yet. I fish big kings in the ocean and bottomfish. This is the best of both worlds. Go fish with people in your own area or charters before you buy a boat to learn what you want. I did this and was glad. I fished with my buddies center console in the winter and got soaked and froze many times. Another friend I went with, had an aluminum 19’ Starcraft with a fairly flat bottom. It was very light weight. If the weather kicked up, you got the crap beat out of you, which it always did. Remember one thing, the Strait of Juan de Fuca's weather can change for the worst in no time. They taught us this in a boating safety class we took a long time ago, it can change as fast or faster than any place in the world. Make sure you buy enough boat and take a boater safety course. I have followed guys in, in way to small of a boat, where they jumped in right behind a 30’ plus boat to get them in. We stayed right behind them to pick them up if their boat went down. Three huge guys in an aluminum 14’ lake boat. They were 15 miles out and we were in 3-4’ wind chop. I used to see these guys all over until that day.
I believe Hindsight Charters out of Jordon River is a good one as some of my friends have gone out with him. I used to converse with him on a regular basis. You have a lot of great fishing areas on the bottom of Vancouver Island. Maybe join a fishing club to get started. I am the president of the Puget Sound Anglers Sno-King Chapter. We have many guest speakers that are charter operators or professional fishermen. They give free presentations on how to catch fish of every kind. I would think you have something like that in your area. Support an organization like this. We have to battle with the state and federal government down here on a daily basis so we don’t lose what little we have. Washington State always favors commercial fishing. Most of the commercials for Alaska are out of Seattle. So there is so much money in the fisheries down here. They have over a hundred years of building themselves into our fisheries programs. They have really protected themselves well. I know you guys (BC) have your problems too. I hope you never have the problems we have.
One thing I didn't think of is down here for ocean fishing, our seasons are just days long and if you do not go out, when the weather is terrible or not, you still lose opportunity. The count the Department of Fish and Wildlife comes up with seems to still have a huge chunk of the quota taken whether a ton of boats go out or not. This forces us to fish in bad condidtions in May. Up there you do not have to go out if the weather is bad. You can wait. Here we have three days of the week to fish. Tuesday, Thursday,a dn Saturday. We tow 4 hours to the coast. It has to be really bad for us not to go. Sometimes we are in 12'15' seas with 2-3' windchop. Way less than ideal, but the fiheries force us to go or lose out.
I have quite a few fishing pictures on line. You can see how well my 20' trophy has worked, but you might want a bigger boat and make sure it has high sides.
Here are some pics online. Cut and paste it to your browser. I have pics of 30-50 pound kings that we have caught in there too.
http://community.webshots.com/user/fishnut1
I have quite a few fishing pictures on line. You can see how well my 20' trophy has worked, but you might want a bigger boat and make sure it has high sides.
Here are some pics online. Cut and paste it to your browser. I have pics of 30-50 pound kings that we have caught in there too.
http://community.webshots.com/user/fishnut1
S
salmon9
Guest
Thanks for sharing this information Fishinnut, I really enjoyed the read.
By the way, my favorite fishing rig in the straits is a fresh squid. It is about 10-11" long with a purple or black label herring stuffed up inside of it. I squirt the inside of the squid with a bunch of either squid or shrimp oil. Then I slip the big herring into the squid and push its nose all of the way to the top of the squid. Next I put the top big hook through the top of the squid and head of the herring and back out the other side. The trailing hook I put down as far as it will go. I put it into the bait like you would a herring for salmon and make it so that the point is sticking out. If a fish tears your squid tentacles off, put on a new one. The bite seems to die quickly when the flailing tentacles are gone.
If you buy the two packs of frozen and usually freezer burnt squid, they are expensive and not in good shape. I go to Asian markets for the fresh squid. I think I was buying them 16 for ten dollars, compared to two for five dollars in the bait shop. When you jig, a little oil gets released as these herring are a tight fit in the squid. We have to fish the straits with barbless hooks now. I run 11/0 hooks with the barbs crimped. I let them hit it and eat it. I don't set the hook until they load the rod up and start pulling it down. Since its bait they don't stop eating. I run a 36” tuna cord with a sliding weight on it and the leader gets tied on the bottom of it. So the weight is above the leader. This works better in deeper water.
If you are fishing the straits and its one of those days that there is no wind or current. Fire up your trolling motor and cover some ground. I have had to do this more than once. Or use your trolling motor to slow you down. On my sliding weight I use a lightweight duo- clip to fasten my weight to and usually use a 16-24 oz weight. The duo clip is light weight and you can break your weight off if you get hung up and get the rest of your gear back. It’s a weak link.
If you buy the two packs of frozen and usually freezer burnt squid, they are expensive and not in good shape. I go to Asian markets for the fresh squid. I think I was buying them 16 for ten dollars, compared to two for five dollars in the bait shop. When you jig, a little oil gets released as these herring are a tight fit in the squid. We have to fish the straits with barbless hooks now. I run 11/0 hooks with the barbs crimped. I let them hit it and eat it. I don't set the hook until they load the rod up and start pulling it down. Since its bait they don't stop eating. I run a 36” tuna cord with a sliding weight on it and the leader gets tied on the bottom of it. So the weight is above the leader. This works better in deeper water.
If you are fishing the straits and its one of those days that there is no wind or current. Fire up your trolling motor and cover some ground. I have had to do this more than once. Or use your trolling motor to slow you down. On my sliding weight I use a lightweight duo- clip to fasten my weight to and usually use a 16-24 oz weight. The duo clip is light weight and you can break your weight off if you get hung up and get the rest of your gear back. It’s a weak link.
