60lb/15lb Halibut Limit - Let's Discuss
- Thread starter SerengetiGuide
- Start date
With the average spawning size of salmon being in the teens, that's almost a moot point. And the number of large (over 100 lb) hali taken on the coast is really a drop in the bucket.. Take a look at any dock, you will generally see loads of teenage salmon and loads of 15-25 pound hali, and the odd big one.
Again, it's not about the bragging picture. Most tourists and a number of locals release big ones anyways (if not deep hooked) - tourists have no use for such amount of meat and some locals either don't like big hali for eating or release them for personal reasons. So my point is that of the very few slabs caught by rec fishermen every year even fewer get actually killed. So there is very little gain here with this new max size rule BUT most of us lose the opportunity to try and trick and wrestle one of those big ones because who is going to target something that you can't keep anyway and has a real chance of being deep hooked? No ethical guide nor lodge, and me neither. Halibut fishing will never be a catch and release fishery - they just don't take a fly!
Fishing is a blood sport....no matter what method you use there will be some mortaliy rate that goes with it. That being said by using certain techniques and gear you can greatly minamize the impact. At the outpost we would target large fish knowing that they would be released, very very very few didnt make it. Its no different than catch and release of wild steelhead there is a mortality rate there and people still go out and fish for them, myself included. If it was actually the case that guides and fishermen would not angle for fish intednded for release then there would be no: marlin fishing, bluefin tuna fishing, goliath grouper fishing, shark fishing, steelhead fishing, salmon fishing.........and the list goes on. What does the fishing techniques used for catch and release of these large palegic species all have in common.......most of them are fished with live or chunk bait on a big circle hook!
trophywife
Crew Member
not really at all bs... I got 4 days last year to fish halibut for myself... Skunked two days... Got one that was forty and luckily on closing day i got a 70... Just sayin really if i caught a 100 -150lb i would not have been so concerned with food fish.
Why I called bs on that was your family is not going to starve if you don't get a halibut, we are lucky to be able to live in an area where we can harvest some fish. Not one sports fishermen on this forum can say that they will go without food if they don't get a halibut. If you have the cash for a boat/fuel/gear/licences then you have enough to buy food. Sport fishing is for fun, thats why it is a sport.......We are lucky enough to be able to take some home for the freezer as well. I am talking about sport fishing here......not guiding or lodges where the regulation change will have a monetary impact with reduced clientel and shorter season. This all really sucks becasue at the end of the day not every user group will get what they want.
uuuuughhh it all comes down two points for sport fishers/guides
1. WE NEED A HIGHER % OF THE TAC
2. WE SHOULD RELEASE THE LARGER SPAWNERS
uuuuughhh it all comes down two points for sport fishers/guides
1. WE NEED A HIGHER % OF THE TAC
2. WE SHOULD RELEASE THE LARGER SPAWNERS
Last chance the really big springs (in my opinion) have different genetics then the teeners everyone catches. IMO the docks are filled with teeners because the BIG fish have been so depleted by commercial, first nation and sport fishermen.
Do you have log books going back to the 90's? Are there more or less big fish now then there was. If the answer is less then maybe I'm correct that if those big fish made it to spawn instead of into somebody's smoker they would still be here in better numbers.
I know sport fishing is a drop in the bucket but if all sectors practiced selective harvest on the average fish instead of selective harvest on the biggest fish then I think there would be more big guys around today.
I read an article about herring they used to get the size of a pink salmon! Commercially they were so overfished they adapted and now spawn a year of two earlier then they used to. I believe the reason herring don't get that big anymore is because humans scoop up the biggest ones and leave only medium sized fish to spawn losing the genetics of those large fish. Just an opinion but how to big fish generics get passed on if they are not able to spawn?
Do you have log books going back to the 90's? Are there more or less big fish now then there was. If the answer is less then maybe I'm correct that if those big fish made it to spawn instead of into somebody's smoker they would still be here in better numbers.
I know sport fishing is a drop in the bucket but if all sectors practiced selective harvest on the average fish instead of selective harvest on the biggest fish then I think there would be more big guys around today.
I read an article about herring they used to get the size of a pink salmon! Commercially they were so overfished they adapted and now spawn a year of two earlier then they used to. I believe the reason herring don't get that big anymore is because humans scoop up the biggest ones and leave only medium sized fish to spawn losing the genetics of those large fish. Just an opinion but how to big fish generics get passed on if they are not able to spawn?
winter chrome
Member
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8nVrq7F0O0
An instructional vid on "how to" release large halibut. Enjoy the swim!
An instructional vid on "how to" release large halibut. Enjoy the swim!
winter chrome
Member
SerengetiGuide
Well-Known Member
Commies don't release big ones. That's 85% boom...don't try to pull the conservation card...drop in bucket
I will dissagree with you there, talked to a number of long liners on the west side charlottes and they will in fact release big fish......they dont get the same price for the big ones as the best eating sized ones from 30-100#. Real great attitude to have on releasing of big fish for someone who looks like they make their living off the resource. Remember lots of small drops will quickly fill a bucket. Look at the poundage that comes outa winter harbour and hardy....almost comercial.... Whats the big deal with pushing guests to release big halibut, tips.....I know the bigger the fish the bigger the tips and clients which will rebook for next year. I was a little concerned about how not killing big fish would effect my tips when we changed our policy at the oupost.........crazy thing is it didn't. Guys were just a jacked to see a hog swim away and even happier to eat a 50# instead of a 150#. If you pitch it the right way people will understand. As sport fishermen we should be an ambassador for our resource and even more so as guides....just a thought.
Releasing the few big halis the sporties catch will do absolutely nothing to the resource. Zip, zero zilch
But leaving this decision to each person individually is the right thing and I congratulate everyone who successfully releases a big mama. But dont force others to do what your personal preference is because there is absolutely no justification for it and you have no right to demand this. Just like you cant demand everyone to become a vegetarian. So spare us your guilt lectures. You are welcome to suggest but that's all.
But leaving this decision to each person individually is the right thing and I congratulate everyone who successfully releases a big mama. But dont force others to do what your personal preference is because there is absolutely no justification for it and you have no right to demand this. Just like you cant demand everyone to become a vegetarian. So spare us your guilt lectures. You are welcome to suggest but that's all.
Ok well here is some science:
REPRODUCTION
Halibut migrate long distances from shallow summer feeding grounds to deeper winter spawning grounds. The number of eggs they lay depends on the female’s size. A 50-pound female can produce about 500,000 eggs, while a female over 250 pounds can produce four million eggs. The eggs float freely and drift in deep ocean currents. They hatch after 12-15 days, and the larvae drift to shallow waters on the continental shelf. Larvae begin life in an upright position with eyes on both sides of their head. When they are about an inch long, the left eye migrates over the snout to the right side of the head, and the color of the left side fades. When the young fish are about six months old, they settle to the sea floor, where the protective coloring on their “eyed” side effectively camouflages them. Female halibut mature at around 12 years, while males mature at around 8 years. Adult fish tend to remain in the same area year after year, except for their migration to deepwater spawning grounds. The oldest halibut on record was 55 years old.
REPRODUCTION
Halibut migrate long distances from shallow summer feeding grounds to deeper winter spawning grounds. The number of eggs they lay depends on the female’s size. A 50-pound female can produce about 500,000 eggs, while a female over 250 pounds can produce four million eggs. The eggs float freely and drift in deep ocean currents. They hatch after 12-15 days, and the larvae drift to shallow waters on the continental shelf. Larvae begin life in an upright position with eyes on both sides of their head. When they are about an inch long, the left eye migrates over the snout to the right side of the head, and the color of the left side fades. When the young fish are about six months old, they settle to the sea floor, where the protective coloring on their “eyed” side effectively camouflages them. Female halibut mature at around 12 years, while males mature at around 8 years. Adult fish tend to remain in the same area year after year, except for their migration to deepwater spawning grounds. The oldest halibut on record was 55 years old.
So releasing big halibut just makes sends. If we released 200 halibut over 100#. Lets say on average they have 1 million eggs so over 2 years we released fish capable of spawing 200,000,000 eggs so at 2% survival thats 4,000,000 fish...........Yup drop in the bucket from a 12 guest lodge operating 70 days a year.
And the commercial longliner next to you is laughing his guts out and caught 150 super big ones! Congrats! Sorry your logic does not make sense. But keep releasing the monsters, please, there is certainy no harm in it for the hali stocks if released indeed unharmed. Maybe you did enjoy the same hali multiple times in your 200 count. Very real possibility. So in that case you got multiple good fights out of one fish. But don't expect that you made a noticeable difference in the hali stocks in the north pacific.
Well i didn't say it was going to change the world.....but hey at least we tried which is better than most. I have talked to a number long liners on the west side and yes the do release the xlarge variety. I do agree that the currnet allocation of the tac should be more like 30%. That would solve a ton of problems.
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