Some fishing questions

I have a few questions about lures and so on.

Question #1
I've been using a Halibut Trap Rig so far. With squid bait. Although I caught a mackerel the other day and used it as live bait.

I've been having a problem recently where the squid constantly gets so tangled up that instead of looking like a sideways T (i.e. weight on bottom, lure on the left, main line on top) the line ends up looking like a Y. The bait line gets so tangled up with the weight/main line that the squid ends up into it, no matter how long or short the leader is.

It may just be that I am letting it descend too fast, but I tried slowing it down or speeding it up with no results. Is there an alternative problem that could be causing this?


Question #2
I'd like to learn to use two rods, one active casting and one drop shot. so while I have one rod with a trap rig, I'd be able to cast and reel in specifically targetting rocks or lings. What kind of setup would would be good for this?


Question #3
My brother would like to keep a shark to cook it at some point. I'm guessing Leopard is the most likely, but Thresher is possible I guess. I'm wondering how  kayak fishers do it? My understanding of cleaning shark is that they need to be immediately bled out and gutted within 5 minutes and stuffed with ice to prevent the ammonia from entering the meat. That seems really difficult to do on a kayak.

Thanks for any help for a newbie angler.

To answer ?#3 for leopard sharks just take the back strips and toss the belly strips if you can't bleed and clean them right away.

Question 1.....the squid is spinning thus tangling up your lines.  Increase the length of mono between your main hook and your stinger so the bait is straight and doesn't get compressed/kinked. Also switch to a cross lock swivel instead of a 3-way or ditch the rig completely for a slider rig (plastic slider with a quality ball bearing swivel).

Question 2.....you are limited to one rod when keeping fish in the rcg complex (rockfish, cabs and ling cod).  You will be fined if they ask what you're fishing for and you say rocks/lings with multiple rods out.


You can use multiple rods when targeting halibut and wsb.  Do not have any rocks/lings in possession with multiple rods out.

Oh, thanks for the regulation info. Glad I didn't make that mistake.

I did notice the squid was spinning, I thought that was unusual but didn't think anything of it.  That is definitely what I was doing wrong! Thanks!

You've given me a lot to think about in rigging. I'll look into those setups!