7/13 Santa Cruz halibut

   Caught a 28.5 inch halibut 11 am about 200 feet from the Black Point buoy on a white hoochie with mylar insert tipped with squid.Used a big net for the first time and I almost lost the fish. I'm sticking with the gaff from now on. Also got a nice sized brown rockfish. There were a lot of jellyfish in the water. A strong wind came up about 1 pm and I quit happy.

Nice....

  What kind of Kayak is that?

nice halibut.  what went wrong with the net?

Nice one casey!

Nice halibut and report, Casey.   

  The kayak is an out of production Islander Colada purchased cheap at the wharf rental place ( 7 years ago). It's tippy.It's like a 12 foot typical kayak but they chopped the back 2 feet off and squared the end.
   
    The halibut ducked the net 4 times and I'm darn lucky to have caught the thing.Then it ended up a tangled mess and the hook just dropped out. I've always used a gaff before and had missed  a couple and really thought the net would be an improvement. That fish saw the net coming and knew what it was all about and just went nuts.

Hi Casey,

Nice fish! How deep were you fishing?

Kim

Well done, Casey. 

I guess we should have stayed a little longer... I was in the same area with ScAllen all morning, but we left about 10:40. It was my first time going for halibut from a kayak, but not a one was seen. I did manage to pull in 9 rockfish (1 released), an undersized ling cod, and a lowly mackerel, which saw brief duty as a rather large bait. All fish were caught on anchovies.

So at least I wasn't skunked in my newbie outing. Fish for dinner!



Andy

Nice halibut Casey, I knew there was at least one out there!  glad you hooked it up!  Good to see another going to the "gaff side!"  LOL

nice looking stringer, there, Andy.  I haad a great time out there with you.  thanks!!

Allen

   Those rockfish are as goog eating as anything anyway, just don't overcook.

      I wonder if a flying gaff made especially  for  kayak and halibut , maybe with some shock cord , would be anything? Something homemade.

 

casey, congrats, I chatted with you one day at the launch pad.

I get the feeling you get out a lot! 

J

  I go out about twice a week. I'd love to go more but my elbows and wrists have a different idea about the matter.

Nice work Casey.
What kind of fish bag are you using in your cockpit; does it keep the fish cooler and is it big enough for a halibut?

Mike