Captain PartyMarty
Crew Member
After having a nice 40lber slip off gaff right as I was lifting it into the boat last year I am going to make sure I use my harpoon on anything I don't want to lose this year.
Halibut and Harpoons
- Thread starter Tailwalker
- Start date
Tailwalker
Active Member
What size buoy would you have on hand?
spring fever
Well-Known Member
I have a Scotsman hanging off the rail on my boat which is about 15 inches across but a decent size boat fender will do. Remember there is lots of give when the harpoon is attached to a float-not likely to pull out-little or no give to a boat cleat and it wouldn't be the first cleat to be pulled right off a boat!!
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wolf
Well-Known Member
Mine fits inside of a 2 1/2 gallon commercial marg or pie fill bucket about 15 ft from the float to poon head then another 15 ft to cleat. and you can lay all the rope inside of it to keep it clean and neat and tucked away.
In current I mostly poon them all most do not take the float but 40 lb plus if they want it i let them they tire out sooooo easily . Do you remember as a kid in the lake trying to push a beach ball under water damn near impossible, same thing safety first....
Good luck Wolf
In current I mostly poon them all most do not take the float but 40 lb plus if they want it i let them they tire out sooooo easily . Do you remember as a kid in the lake trying to push a beach ball under water damn near impossible, same thing safety first....
Good luck Wolf
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Tailwalker
Active Member
Thanks Spring Fever and Wolf. Agreed, better to be safe!
A little story,
Many years ago on North island I put my harpoon thru a monster, 30 ft of braided rope was tied to port side stern cleat, when she dove my 17.6 DE was on its side, that's when I cut the dam rope. Scared the sh,,,t out of me. I did harpoon 2 a 210lb and 186lb the week before and she was way bigger. If using a harpoon let the ball work for you. With todays regs I will always have a ball on the harpoon, even though I have not harpooned one in a few years. Last year I watched a FN long line hooked monster jump out of the ocean with a dam big hali on the end, they were whooping. Be safe first. My .02
HM
Many years ago on North island I put my harpoon thru a monster, 30 ft of braided rope was tied to port side stern cleat, when she dove my 17.6 DE was on its side, that's when I cut the dam rope. Scared the sh,,,t out of me. I did harpoon 2 a 210lb and 186lb the week before and she was way bigger. If using a harpoon let the ball work for you. With todays regs I will always have a ball on the harpoon, even though I have not harpooned one in a few years. Last year I watched a FN long line hooked monster jump out of the ocean with a dam big hali on the end, they were whooping. Be safe first. My .02
HM
Tailwalker
Active Member
My conclusion from all the remarks is that harpooning the fish adds a measure of safety in fighting and keeping the fish. That it would be safest to put a buoy about 15 ft in line behind the harpoon head and if I were to tie it to the boat, I should attach it to the bow cleat (I can grab the line later with the boat hook). Thanks again everyone!
wolf
Well-Known Member
Yes you can tie it off you will be fine a big fish will pull it down and down but it will stay up remember the movie "JAWS" after a while even that thing couldnt hold it down just make sure its all set ready to go cause when a big hali takes off it can rip pretty darn fast.. hence all my rope is laid into a bucket.
Good luck Wolf
Good luck Wolf
spring fever
Well-Known Member
This comment brings up one of my fav hali stories-about 10 years ago off winter harbour my partner and I tagged into a hali that was about 120 lbs-harpooned it and the rope was attached to the gunnel cleat-the hali sounded and the rope went off like a 12 gauge shotgun blast-we did everything wrong but landed the beast. I then bought a hali book by JJ Beath and vowed to learn from it. Set up a Scotsman on my hali harpoon. Told all the crew-rehearsed what we would do if we ever got another "big One" A few trips later we trolled up one about 80 lbs on salmon gear-took quite a while so lots of time to think and plan- I would do the harpooning and it would be easy! Scotsman was ready-I harpooned it-fish sounded "NOW" fishing line broke, Scotsman came off that boat like a shot from a cannon-and damn near took my head off. It all went like clockwork after that-but I had a pretty substantial bruise on the side of my face-and took quite a merciless bunch of kidding for the rest of the trip!!
Fish Assassin
Crew Member
Remember some of our boats aren't as tough as the boat next to us.
If you feel you are going to tie to a cleat, please make sure it not some old casted chrome cleat with out any backing besides the 1/8 inch of apoxy and fibre glass. Which will snap first? Cleat or Fibreglass
Safety First........
Last things I want to see is some guy in in a tiny or boat as seaworthy as Fugly was with a halibut harpooned to the side of it.
I don't think we are necessarily talking about off-shore boats or guide boats only here. I have seen many guys in cartoppers and POS boats on the ECVI trying for halibut.
I attach my bumpers, which are two allongated 15-16" long white bumpers to about 15-20 ft of line from harpoon. They don't both have to be at the end.....
Poon the fish, over the bumpers go and the guy with the rod releases the drag a bit. I release the drag as not to break it off while the fish freaks out. I don't want the hooks to pull or the line to break. The rod becomes my insurance if the poon pops out.
Have none of you ever seen a old cleat snap and go flying? or a poon tip come ripping out and go fling thru the air. Personally I don't want either slingshoting towards me or a guest.
If you feel you are going to tie to a cleat, please make sure it not some old casted chrome cleat with out any backing besides the 1/8 inch of apoxy and fibre glass. Which will snap first? Cleat or Fibreglass
Safety First........
Last things I want to see is some guy in in a tiny or boat as seaworthy as Fugly was with a halibut harpooned to the side of it.
I don't think we are necessarily talking about off-shore boats or guide boats only here. I have seen many guys in cartoppers and POS boats on the ECVI trying for halibut.
I attach my bumpers, which are two allongated 15-16" long white bumpers to about 15-20 ft of line from harpoon. They don't both have to be at the end.....
Poon the fish, over the bumpers go and the guy with the rod releases the drag a bit. I release the drag as not to break it off while the fish freaks out. I don't want the hooks to pull or the line to break. The rod becomes my insurance if the poon pops out.
Have none of you ever seen a old cleat snap and go flying? or a poon tip come ripping out and go fling thru the air. Personally I don't want either slingshoting towards me or a guest.
Fixit
Well-Known Member
I've pooned a few Hali. Small ones were exhausted by time I cranked them up with a monster reel (will lift 15 lbs)
And a few 55lb ones on smaller tackle. The bigger one went ballistic when I stuck him , hook popped out line and float disapeared for 2 mins then popped back up
Motored over to the float and hauled him in
For 20/30 lb Hali I'll gaff them. Any bigger amd I'll stick them. Either way it's fun to harpoon something
And a few 55lb ones on smaller tackle. The bigger one went ballistic when I stuck him , hook popped out line and float disapeared for 2 mins then popped back up
Motored over to the float and hauled him in
For 20/30 lb Hali I'll gaff them. Any bigger amd I'll stick them. Either way it's fun to harpoon something
Dogbreath
Well-Known Member
I fought 100 plus Hali on swift sure about 10 years ago and got it to the side of the boat and all we had was a was 3 foot hand gaff. As luck would have it a friendly sea lion came by and the chase was on the fish headed to the bottom but did not make it and the fight was on. Well the sea lion won after fighting him and dealing in with my buddy tellin me to cut the line and the fish for 45 minutes. The sealion chewed through the Hali I ended up with the head and a little bit of the body. I was wishing that I was part of the First Nation so I could have harvest both of them. Just glad I was following Canadian rule and did not have my shotgun on board. Always have a large gaff on board.
searun
Well-Known Member
My preference is to cleat the harpoon off. The scotsman thing works, just make sure the ball is large enough to support the weight of the hali dragging it down. A hard plastic one works better than soft ones, which if you use the small ball a good size fish can pull it down and if they get any depth on you the ball can collapse.
wolf
Well-Known Member
Been using the same soft ball for about 15 plus years and never had one collapse??? but then again im not getting 400 lb halibut that will go back to bottom. IMO
like I said earlier I the ball is about the size of a basketball and have got hali well over the 100 lbs plus on it and keeps working. they cant keep the ball down long just like "JAWS" keeps coming back up and up .....
like I said earlier I the ball is about the size of a basketball and have got hali well over the 100 lbs plus on it and keeps working. they cant keep the ball down long just like "JAWS" keeps coming back up and up .....
spring fever
Well-Known Member
I agree with Wolf-100% Never had a problem with the size ball he says especially with todays size halibut we are allowed to keep. By the way I find a tailer helpful as well!
the fog ducker
Well-Known Member
by no means am I a seasoned pro as a few on here , but ,
weve ben lucky enuff ta put a few large on the deck every year ...
I was fortunate to be shown the ropes from a good friend out west some years ago now....and , have yet to need a Scotsman attached to my Harpoon line , anything under 40 typically just comes over the rail and into the pail lol , Marciano style , other wise its a poon gut shot ,most times the rope is in my hands , never makes it to the cleat , but always tied off ,typically a major artery is hit , the sharp knife rip to the gill plates , when still in the water , finishes her off ,,
, again , pooned fish today are under 75lbs ,
most grown men should not have to much difficulty
......
, never have i lost a fish this way , if its a large , quick hog tie to the bow , a good bleed out,
bring em in when were all done , i have landed ALOT of fish this way , no issues , EVER...
i guess , at the end of the day , whatever your comfortable with....
there was a great video of one of SFBC members that new what he was doin recently , watch and learn ,
( perhaps someone can find and post , Rupert area i think it was )
i have no prob with pooning a 70-75 lb fish , and just letting her do her thing ,yank her in by the harpoon rope ,
tail rope , over the side , game over
, get the gear back fishing asap
m2b
just finished the last of the hali already ,
cant wait ta get the bellies down ,
gd lk , stay safe out there
fd
weve ben lucky enuff ta put a few large on the deck every year ...
I was fortunate to be shown the ropes from a good friend out west some years ago now....and , have yet to need a Scotsman attached to my Harpoon line , anything under 40 typically just comes over the rail and into the pail lol , Marciano style , other wise its a poon gut shot ,most times the rope is in my hands , never makes it to the cleat , but always tied off ,typically a major artery is hit , the sharp knife rip to the gill plates , when still in the water , finishes her off ,,
, again , pooned fish today are under 75lbs ,
most grown men should not have to much difficulty
......, never have i lost a fish this way , if its a large , quick hog tie to the bow , a good bleed out,
bring em in when were all done , i have landed ALOT of fish this way , no issues , EVER...
i guess , at the end of the day , whatever your comfortable with....
there was a great video of one of SFBC members that new what he was doin recently , watch and learn ,
( perhaps someone can find and post , Rupert area i think it was )
i have no prob with pooning a 70-75 lb fish , and just letting her do her thing ,yank her in by the harpoon rope ,
tail rope , over the side , game over
, get the gear back fishing asap
m2b
just finished the last of the hali already ,
cant wait ta get the bellies down ,
gd lk , stay safe out there
fd
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scott craven
Well-Known Member
Yup, thats the way we handle it F.D.
Island Fish Lifter
Well-Known Member
I don't use a ball and I tie off to a cleat. Ive caught my fair share of halis and was taught that if you keep its head above the surface, there is no way he can sound. 9 times out of 10 theyre docile by the time they get to the surface anyway. I tail it and let it bleed beside the boat. Works for me anyway.
