BajaNomad

What a surprise....20 kg Halibut caught today in Asuncion!

shari - 10-22-2011 at 09:16 PM

Both boats today got their limits of nice size yellowtail in the 18-26 lb range on a wide open bite...but the big surprise of the day...actually the surprise of the year was when one angler who thought he had caught the bottom finally brought in a 20 kg. halibut while jigging for yellowtail over rocks!!!! I personally have never seen one so big here.
Here is Nomad Howard holding that baby up.




ElCap - 10-22-2011 at 10:14 PM

That's one fatty flatty! Always exciting to see something different on your hook sometimes, after all those boring yellowtail. Wish I was there

Iflyfish - 10-22-2011 at 11:11 PM

I thought you were in Mexico, not Alaska! Good one!

Iflyfish

Skipjack Joe - 10-23-2011 at 03:46 AM

Nice butt.

No. Not yours.

Pompano - 10-23-2011 at 07:06 AM

Asuncion...no fluke, it's a halibut town.

Here's a few we 'should' have caught off my seawall at Coyote Bay. ;)



[Edited on 10-26-2011 by Pompano]

1. a bunch of halibut Seward....jpg - 49kB

Howard - 10-23-2011 at 08:05 AM

For my next vacation, I am going to Alaska to do some yellowtail fishing!

Santiago - 10-23-2011 at 09:08 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Pompano

[Edited on 10-23-2011 by Pompano]


Major Hi-jack follows:
The reason these guys in the photo are smiling is that they know that this item can be checked off their personal bucket lists and that they will NEVER have to do it again. Here's the drill:
You will go way out in the middle of the ocean and DROP ANCHOR. For the next 4 or 5 hours you will either gently bob up and down or not so gently, depending on the swell that day. You takes your chances.
Your rig will be a 5' rod, made out of some kind of hardwood, the tip being a minimum of 3/4" in diameter and the handle just small enough so your thumb and fingers touch whilst gripping it. The guides are large rollers. The reels are 6/0 Senators (old style, not the "Specials") which have been modified by replacing the stack of drag washers with a few fat metal washers that are solidly brazed to the entire mechanism; spooled with something around 500# Dacron. Terminal gear is a circle hook that looks like it should be on a gaff, on which a rotted carcass of some poor fishy thing is impaled and a ball of lead that you can barely lift over the rail. All of this is dropped to the bottom in 2 or 3 hundred feet of water and placed in a rod holder that is welded from thick steel plate and welded to the iron gunnels. For the next few hours you will be going up and down surrounded by buckets of rotting bait – soon the only folks on the boat who are not queasy are the captain and deck hand. Should you be so unlucky as to actually get a fish on you are faced with the daunting task of winching the whole mess in. The reason there is a two-fish limit on these things is not to protect the fishery but to protect the angler. I am convinced there is no man who can do three in one day. To add insult to injury, you will end up with 100# of mediocre steaks while the best parts, the cheeks, are kept by the crew that cleans and packs your catch.
On a typical three day 6-pack charter the first day is salmon fishing, the second day is halibut and the third day is customer’s choice. In 20 years our outfitter said he can’t recall a single group ever going halibut fishing on the third day. Gee, no kidding…..

capt. mike - 10-23-2011 at 09:28 AM

Pompano - anyone - what is the diff from halibut and flounder?

Howard - 10-23-2011 at 10:33 AM

Flounder was in the movie Animal House. Halibut was not. :biggrin:

AmoPescar - 10-23-2011 at 11:45 AM

WHAT A BEAUTY!

That's going to make a lot of good eating...yummy!!



Miguelamo :yes: :spingrin: :yes: :biggrin: :yes: :bounce:

Skeet/Loreto - 10-23-2011 at 11:58 AM

Excellent Fish:

I started going to San Jannico many years ago. Most everytime I would fish out at the start of the Inlet and catch a lot of Halibut. They are sure good eating.

The Bones that I have displayed at my Home came from a Whale which died and washed up just on the South side of the inlet. That Inlet is where i coached up and Fed Dolphin from my Hand. Also a great place for Lobster

Skeet/Loreto

Old Age ain't no Place for Sisses.

Iflyfish - 10-23-2011 at 12:06 PM

Santiago, you nailed it! Keep your tip up! I'll limit my halibut fishing to Asuncion where one this size is rare.

Iflyfish

Cypress - 10-23-2011 at 12:24 PM

capt. mike, Flounder are much smaller, less than 10 lbs., look just like a tiny halibut, lots of 'em in the Atlantic. Halibut can be huge, lots of 'em in the Pacific, the further north you go, the bigger they get.

baitcast - 10-23-2011 at 12:38 PM

West side beach Butts

Skipjack Joe - 10-23-2011 at 02:02 PM

Where is the challenge of spearing a halibut. They don't even have a rock to hide behind.

Santiago - 10-23-2011 at 05:37 PM

And just to be honest, my lone experience is Sitka, which I am led to understand that more than a few Alaskans don't really consider part of Alaska; more like BC.

Bajaboy - 10-23-2011 at 06:28 PM

Back in July of 1997, I spent a week in Asuncion with a buddy. At the time, many of the boats were moored in front of the Coop in town. We had noticed the beach was thick with halibut. We asked our new friend, Pulga, if we could fish from one of the boats. He said no worries. We pretty much could site cast and pick which halibut we wanted to catch. It was a blast to say the least. We were surprised how little interest the locals had with halibut at the time. Well, that was then.

Unfortunately I now see so many shorties caught and kept that the toads are few and far between. But that is a very respectable fish for sure.

thanks

capt. mike - 10-24-2011 at 10:09 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Cypress
capt. mike, Flounder are much smaller, less than 10 lbs., look just like a tiny halibut, lots of 'em in the Atlantic. Halibut can be huge, lots of 'em in the Pacific, the further north you go, the bigger they get.


funny - in the stores - flounder sells cheap but halibut is expensive. wondered why.
so diff species of a similar genus?

Pompano - 10-24-2011 at 02:19 PM

Flounder is less 'fishy' tasting than halibut..and is much smaller on the average.

The biggest flounder ever caught on rod/line was about 30lbs...whereas the biggest halibut is almost 470 lbs. (except for that 540 lber caught by my Norsk bretheren in a net)

Both great table fishes, though...so don't go throwing it out the window just for the ...halibut.....groan.

[Edited on 10-24-2011 by Pompano]

BajaRat - 10-25-2011 at 10:44 AM

The sashimi! Oh the sashimi!
P.S. Shari congrats, happy birthday Sirena!

I'm offering these tips just for the HAL-i-but.

Pompano - 10-25-2011 at 02:09 PM

Hah...I'm On The Road Again...and just re-reading this fishing thread about Asuncion's halibut.

This is great fun...cuz Fishing/Hunting reports are ALWAYS my favorite Nomad threads to read.

I'm still chuckling over Santiago's colorful description of how he was introduced to Alaskan halibut fishing...whoa!.. what a job, eh? NOT FUN!


Well, the real story..at least our story... is far from that ordeal, thank Neptune.


I know most fishermen who have been on Alaskan halibut trips are already up to par on this, but just in case...here's my 2 cents worth of tips. These are NOT gauranteed ways for 'you' to catch halibut...just some suggestions from someone who began learning to fish those waters in the sixties ..and is still learning today.


Note: the following are purely sport-fishing ways to catch both BIG and chicken halibut in Alaska. Not to be confused with the Grocery Boat heavy-tackle fishing methods like the Sitka charters offered to Santiago. Nevertheless, if that's what the paying customers want thier money spent on?...then so be it. It is certainly not my place or intention to insult them here.


We are lucky, though, in that we/I have our own boats and gear with us at all times. We generally use fairly light butt-tackle….especially compared to what Santiago describes so humorously! And!..There is even some great fly-lining for halibut out of Kodiak Island.


I should mention that I am especially fortunate in that I had a head-start in fishing halibut (and all other fish) in Homer, Seward, Kodiak Island, and Dutch Harbor when I was a teenager. Thanks to a Dad/fishing-flying instructor/ and all-round good guy who took me many places in a Stinson station-wagon flying machine! (Much like Igor, Skipjack Joe taking his son, Alex, to great fishing adventures)

A little later on my own, I got into a few seasons of commercial fishing (reds mostly) in the Aleutians out of Dutch Harbor and inside Bristol Bay….32ft drift-netters…that keeps you awake!.... but still sport-fished a whole lot whenever I had the time. So I had a considerable advantage in learning the ropes of how to sport-fish halibut….Alaska style.

And now.. hopefully.. Baja-style at Asuncion!





I think this was 2002...was with mi amigo, Two Dogs,who snapped this photo. A great dinner! A nice linguado taken in Coyote Bay just off Isle Barga in 75ft with a yellow 3/4 oz jig, drifting and drinking.

My late friend, Matt-Mateo of Coyote Bay (a great benefactor to Mulege who financed & restored El Candil and a few other places), always caught some nice Baja-halibut dinners while sailing his sloop, Gale, slowly thru BOC's channel area to the river anchorage at Mulege. That channel still is a great place for them. Stop by anytime and I'll mark some rockpiles for you to try your luck.


Back in the colder seas!....May is a good time for big butts in Alaska...:yes: ... but the prime time is the last of August to mid- September. I’ve fished Dutch Harbor area bruiser halibut …200-300 lbers….with an entire cut fillet of cod …maybe 1 to 1 ½ lbs..and hook to a heavy bullet jig. You can..and should... jig in rocky areas, with some high points here and there, using long strokes up and down…enticing those brutes! We are 'always drifting slowly'...using a sea anchor if needed.…maybe 1-2 knots. NOT anchored.

This is an extremely exciting way to catch the preferred chickens...AND that 300 lb fish. The 300lber doesn’t nibble…heck no!....you’ll think you’ve snagged a passing Sherman tank!

Seward is always a favorite port of mine because of the great scenery all around you….gorgeous snow-capped mountains….the quick boat runs to the front of Resurrection Bay…or southeast to Montague island…all good spots to enjoy the views …and catch fish! My angler amigos and I have literally lost count of the many halibut over 100 lbs we’ve caught out of Seward. I like it a lot because you can fish much shallower here…from 40 to 200…but also have options to go much deeper…say to 600ft if needed. You get to switch from your ultra-lites to the heavier gear.


It's not rocket science tech needed to catch these boys. Simply use some scampi jigs, teamed with light line…65lb 'good stuff line' wound onto some quality reel, like a Penn 10 clamped to a Loomis or Seeker or ? 40lb bluewater series rod….just like ones I use in the Cortez. Hey, it works just as well Up North as Down South.

Rig 12 to 16-ounce lead head jigs with some scented Berkley Power Grubs...these will catch big halibut, believe me. As for bait, the fresher the better. Use salmon, cod carcasses and/or heads, also herring. Fish the bait three-four feet off the bottom and keep it as still as possible for a long trial...then switch to some slow bottoming and back to 3-4 feet if needed.

Rocky areas are best when fishing the shallow areas. When and if you have to fish deeper spots….then try to find a gentle rise on a mud flat.

If you go back to Sitka, Santiago...you might give this a try:


First and foremost, don't go to Sitka for halibut...because the salmon fishing gets red hot, especially the coho fishing with generous six fish limits. Early on, from mid May until mid July fishermen can also enjoy spectacular King fishing. Typically anglers can catch a limit of salmon and average-sized halibut in the same day.

But for anglers who want to target 100lb-plus halibut it’s simply a matter of asking the charter operator about that prior to booking your trip. Most of the guides practice catch and release on large fish. This practice has worked out well and provides many anglers the chance to catch large fish without depleting the resource.


Savy angling customers who fish for three or four days will most likely notice that the charter captains self-regulate themselves by fishing in areas with chicken-halibut most days and fishing areas with larger barn-door halibut only part of the time. This practice as worked well to maintain the resource and works out well for anglers who want to bring the highest quality halibut fillets from halibut weighing 30 to 40 pounds. like in my photo somewhere below...

....unless I've gone and posted it in some Baja-dog photo thread like before. :rolleyes:




Nosirree, by Neptune! Here it is...I'm the one in camo.


Catching the barn doors is a blast, for sure...but when going after a halibut dinner...think small. (..like why I prefer pinto bass in SOC for a meal...works for me.)



This size is called a 'chicken'...any halibut from 20-40 lbs...the best for dinner.


As stated above, if you want to catch bigger fish let your captain know your intentions ahead of time – including your desire to or release big fish or keep them. It’s much better to communicate your wishes with the captain prior to booking your trip.




Well, there's lot more more with chasing big butts....about 50 years worth...but that much bilge-water would short-out your memory banks, as it has mine.



And remember...tell 'em you read it on Bajanomads!

rts551 - 10-25-2011 at 05:57 PM

My Uncle, a commercial fisherman in Alaska refused to bring large halibut aboard the boat when sport fishing. He called them trash fish . (they would trash the boat).

Hey, Pompano

Gypsy Jan - 10-25-2011 at 06:17 PM

Congrats! Your text and pics are fitting the frame on my web browser.

I am happy that I can see and read your adventures so easily now.

Pompano - 10-26-2011 at 06:19 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Gypsy Jan
Congrats! Your text and pics are fitting the frame on my web browser.

I am happy that I can see and read your adventures so easily now.


Hi...and Thanks for a reminder to down-size a lot of my over-sized photos. Being a klutz, I made a wrong adjustment on my camera to pc download program..which left the pics way too big for most screens. Like me, these photos need to go on a diet!

I'm working to correct those now in Photobucket...sorry about the inconvience in sliding your screen all over the place. :no: