Newbie Mistakes

Good Evening All
     After lurking and learning for far too long I have finally been hitting the salt.  I share the following story to help other beginners learn from my mistakes.  I am sure I am not the only one who has had a similar experience so If you have, nod, smile and share with other beginners like myself.



     We have all heard of a One that got away story.  This is my Five that got away story,  a lesson in being prepared .
      Earlier this month, I launched my kayak off a public beach in Mendocino county, one of many.  This was my first excursion in the wide open briny blue. My kayak touched the salt in Humbolt bay a couple weeks earlier where I worked the north jetty and after going through many small fish, kept a limit of semi respectable rock fish, or swimming tacos.   On this day I launched in the surf behind some rocks for protection, paddled out about a hundred yards and began slow trolling a large swim bait between some visible rocks and kelp.  I barely went a hundred feet before I landed a nice black around 16 inches.  Score!  I started trolling again and right away another fish, this one made a couple runs .  I landed a ling around 26 inches give or take.  Thrilled ! Back at it and I picked up two more blacks, not quite as big but on the rope stringer they went with a clipped gill on each.    Looping around I made a pass back towards where I started and whump,  I hook a big weight, no head shakes, just weight.    I decided to tow it away from the rocks and over open sand and with foot drive  I can do that hands free.. When out in the open I turned full attention to reeling it in.  Slowly it came up from the depths.  I wasn't sure if it was a hali or what but when I saw the huge open mouth with my swim bait deep in its throat I knew it was a very respectable ling.  I readied my gaff and slipped it in the open gill plate and slid it right in my lap. A solid fifteen pounds or so it proved to be too easy.  I was elated and  untied my rope stringer to add it on.  I wasn't about to put my hand down that mouth and I had a very hard time trying to get the rope behind the gill plate. Sometime after a minute or so, this fish decided it had had enough and went ape nuts crazy. Flopping and thrashing and despite my efforts it went over the side.  I grabbed the line and it broke off pretty easy. I was dumbfounded, in shock at what happened.  Then I looked for my stringer and of course it was gone also as I had untied it.  Five beautiful fish gone.  At that point I called it a day.  Although I hope the big one survived, I definitely killed four fish and that is what really got under my skin.  Many lessons learned.  I now have 3 fish loops, a fish jaw grabber, and a wooden priest for the large fish I plan to retain. I didn't fish the following day but did the day after that keeping a limit of rock fish that went home.  I am now fully prepared at least for the expected.   jim

We all learn from many mistakes.  I lost my fish stinger before and it is one of the items that I double secure (one short line and one long line) only removing one tuna clip at a time.

Paul

Bring a fish bonker and bonk keeper lingcod straight away !!!

Got one, thanks.  I grew up calling it the Priest.
thank you j

Sometimes a second dose of the wood shampoo is needed… I have had a few flipping around five minutes after a healthy first round. May look brutal but it beats the happy dance which leads to fish overboard. 🎣

Thanks for sharing. We all learn some things the hard way. A couple of nice lingcod have bounced out of my kayak so now I net any ling that I plan to keep and put it on the stringer before taking it out of the net. For lows and highs, one time I had a nice one, about 30 inches, in the yak bouncing around and over it went. I went right back over that spot and less than a minute later BAM caught a 30". I swear it was the same one. Talk about redemption.

... I readied my gaff and slipped it in the open gill plate and slid it right in my lap. ...

You don't want to just slip the gaff behind the gill plate. Ideally, you want to hit the fish in the "shoulder" area, and you want to be sure to use enough force to drive the gaff all the way thru the fish. I haven't gaffed a lot of lings, so it might just make those foul-tempered fish angry, but with halibut (and salmon), the gaff shot causes them to go limp for a while, giving you time to get them on the game clip before they "wake up". Once on the game clip, I just rip/cut the gills, but you can bonk first and then rip, if you prefer.

For halibut in particular, it's especially critical that you have the game clip open and ready _before_ you gaff the fish. The idea is to gaff, then get them on the game clip ASAP, as the fish will wake from it's gaff-induced slumber, and if it's not on the game clip, you're sure to lose it.

Yeah, those lessons are hard to learn, but really everyone has similar stories.  Heck, yesterday I almost forgot to leash my game clip to the yak when I dropped two halibut over board, and only realized at the last second I had detached it.  Having a second game clip ready is my advice.  Even if you transfer to your other clip, having one free is a good way to be prepared to land that next big fish.  And yeah, if you can work quickly before they wake up.  This was also the case yesterday when I brought up a halibut, I gaffed it, came up limp, on the clip, and pulled the gills, and then slid back into the water to bleed and then it started thrashing.  Too late buddy 

  Sounds like you were doing it right until one mistake. Unlucky man. You'll get it back!  The heartbreak makes the walk of victory that much better. Sounds like you're ready and wiser, I bet you get a monster soon.

We all have those stories, we learn from them. I dropped a nice halibut this year transferring it to the kill bag...unsecured. Now I move fish from my game clip on my left to my fish gripper on my right (leashed) before stuffing into my kill bag aft. 

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Thanks all
    Now I have two game clips, and a bonker, and more importantly, a plan.  The size of that ling was totally unexpected.  I am sure I will cross paths with some of you over time.
jim

This is a photo of my game clip with two attachments.  I always have least one clip connected and normally both clips are attached.

Paul