Paradise 'but hunt 5/23

Howard - thanks for the pics, DVD's and egg rolls.  

Here is my hali story. In 2008, I was completely shut out for hali's including a hali hunt at Berkeley with Chuck and Dave where they caught 2 hali's each and I caught nothing.   The killer was my trip to MBK with flyaker where I was teaching him saltwater yak fishing and he bags a 36" hali.   Over the winter I did some research on hali fishing and decided to try some new tactics. I also always take a look at Chuck's rigging which is always very innovative and I borrowed some ideas. Yesterday I was drifting live 3" smelt which Sandman caught the night before. Thanks Gary!   I was using a sliding rig with a 3 oz torpedo sinker and light wire single hook in the nose with a butt hooked treble stinger. I was concerned about the treble hook slowing the bait movement down but Hippo Lau recommended it in his Fishsniffer article and I watched the bait swim after rigging and it looked OK although a little sluggish. Never fished at Paradise before so Adam gave me and Sandman the the layout and I followed Jay south to the point. Set up a series of drifts across the hole and on my 6th drift had a massive take down. After a short fight, I get the fish up to the surface and see that it is well over 22" and it is barely hooked on the stinger hook. I break out the Kunz gaff and I am thinking, "just don't blow the gaff shot". I aim for the head and the point bounces off the fish. Then the hali goes ballistic and dives straight down and my line goes limp.   My heart was broken and I was sure I had lost the fish. I start reeling line and find the fish is still on.   I get the gaff out and aim farther back and get a good shot and bring him to the boat where I boga gripped the lower lip and get him on the game clip. I decided to leave him in the water and cut the gills and waited for him to die before bringing onboard. When I finally brought him onboard, I flipped him upside down to try and figure out why I missed the first gaff shot. The same thing happen with Flyaker's hali last summer. On close inspection there is super hard gill plate which is much larger and harder than other fish like yellowtail. It was good to finally catch one and now I can return the ocean and hunt rockies for the rest of the summer.

scott

This POS laptop is just that!!

Thanks to all of you that showed up, and even those who did not. It was my pleasure to set up and GiveBack to those who have "Given Up" (shared) their SuperSecrets!

if i take too long and start to let true feelings out.....i'll never finish this! 
I've got pics(even though there are so many already) for Abking! (see what YOU'VE got started) and we all love ya' for it man!, but this POS is too hard for me figure out!!
Thanks to ALL the Real_Legends who showed up, for without YOU!, my nephew ChadtheKoolAidKid would not have decked his 1st'Butt!

What a day,

it was windy, then calm, then windy again.....

A fantastic turnout....

Your party, the yakfishing, this thread, and all the pics of course have my Royal approval.  WTG, mADmAnM!  You've delivered what, to so many of us, has become like a fix to a junkie.  Let's keep this addiction going strong!  

Congrats on the hali slammer!  Love that shot of the fog/light - very cool.

I showed up at the bait shop and thought that I might end up spending the day at the park reading a book due to the wind.  But when Jay and I arrived and saw everyone unloading boats and setting up in the lot, I decided that I would go out and try again for a hali.  I enjoyed my time on the water but there were no fish for me.  Congrats to all who did catch one, they were all beautiful!  The food and the company at the potluck was wonderful.  A great way to catch up with those I have not seen for awhile.  I hope to see you all again really soon.

My only picture to post, my view of halibut fishing.  The Pink Flamingo rides again, looking for a 'but!

 It was a long and windy evening.My chimes were clanging at 4am, but.........ok!! i'll post my OTW shots and thank Howard for clickin&postin the Real_pics, and to the rest of you who've "learned the way".......LOVE THEM PICS!!

Pic1&2~the 7am gates opened and the NCKA Flood begunst!

Pic3~ the Grubbin that went down, uptop!

Your party, the yakfishing, this thread, and all the pics of course have my Royal approval.  WTG, mADmAnM!  You've delivered what, to so many of us, has become like a fix to a junkie.  Let's keep this addiction going strong!  

thanks Bro!!  glad to share and so happy to infect the Madness!

Awesome report Scott. Thanks again Adam for setting this up and thank you
Barbara for all your hard work setting up the table and much more.  Yesterday
was another awesome get together. I just love meeting more new people I have
not met before. It is always a treat. Just don't ask me to repeat their names. I am so bad at that. Howard, thanks for taking some wonderful
pictures. Sonny, great job also on taking some pictures on the water.
Congrats to Chuck on catching the biggest fish. I honestly thought that Craig was
going home with that AMAZING,BEAUTIFUL,AWESOME art work that Ben
(guitarzan) had made. Dude, you're truly gifted man. Congrats to all who caught
some fish. Dustin(Rock Hopper), Scott(GB2),Chad,Craig(ravensblack)and of course
our champ, Chuck(ChuckE).
I am so glad that my family was able to come with me. My giving back was I sat
this one out. I was on the sideline. My wife Kim was having a ball pedalling my
Outback. She was out there pretty far just enjoying herself and so was my son
Brandon. On our way home, my wife and kids said that they all had so much fun.
She mentioned that she met a lot of great folks and had great conversation with
the Mrs.
Oh, I almost forgot about the great FOOD. Man, talk about some amazing dishes
that everybody shared. I ruined my hard dieting that day. Who could blame me, I
wanted to try everything there on the table. From the BBQ to the salads and the
desserts, WOW!!!
Thank you NCKA! THAT WAS FUN ALL OVER AGAIN.

Jedmo
ps Sorry no pictures this time. I was kicking myself for a while there for forgetting
to bring my camera.

Hey Jack(Slammer), I don't remember seeing you there bro. Sorry I missed you.
Congrats on the halibut man.

Jedmo

Remember the theme......JustGivinBack!!  

There were LegendsOfNow and those of the future in attendence.

pic1~possible FutureLegend ChevroletDaze theKoolAidKid and his HymenBreaker!

pic2~NCKA Legend Dustin and 1 of his 2

pic3~ NCKA Legend MakoJuan1 prepping

Adam and Barbara, thanks for putting on a great event. Always a good time hangin with the NCKA family.  Congrats to chuckE the luckiest guy I know.  The food was great as always.  Can't wait for Albion

Almost the most fun Ive had not fishing! The wind wasnt as bad as I thought... Glad the Crab Chowder was gobbled up, Anita will post the recipie, she got the main one from epicurious.com, then added her own twist...
Some more pics... Craig and Scott coming in with some flatties,
A future art critic, You can see Chucks but from a mile away,,,
Craigs but on the ground, some ncka posing shots...
Fun, fun, fun, great to see everyone out there! Rockfish soon.

Hey Jack(Slammer), I don't remember seeing you there bro. Sorry I missed you.
Congrats on the halibut man.

Jedmo

i saw who&what i thought was Jack? did you get one dude?

....i thought we were going to fill-up the upper-lot too, the way the lower one filled. I told the Ranger there were carpoolers in the group and we are trying not to take all the spots, he replied," We don't care and I'm gonna take some pictures of this!"

I'm so happy that everyone had a goodtime and there were no OnTheWater "Incidents". (thanks Al!)  

pic1~NCKA LegendManGB2 gearing up

pic2~ another NCKA Legend paddled up and guess who it was?, JTF !the guy who held my paddle as he took me under his own,by taking me out on my 1st OceanTrip, only for me to say as we got out there,"Dude, I don't feel comfortable and I'm turning around and going back, he replied, "WHAT?!...you better go NOW and paddle fast to catch-up to Gary, cuz I'M NOT TAKING YOU BACK IN!" ....now that was LOVE!....turning a boy into a (kind of a) man,SOONERthanHEplanned!

pic3~ TheChamp   (no other words needed)   and yes!
a REAL_LEGEND of NCKA!!  

Uncle Ad thanks for the (I don't know, he just jumped on the hook?) Picture. This was the best BBQ EVER!!! I was able to catch up with some old friends, soak up some game from the legends, and bust my Hali Cherry. I'm 100% a catch and release guy, but after so many deliciouse Butts came un buttoned on me, I had to take a sacrificial Flatty for the family. The highlight was catching the fish, yet the day would not have been as fun or satisfying in any way with out the NCKA fam . It was a trip to roll up and see so many yakers dipping into the water. I ended up hooking that hali after a lil snack, I'm still convinced that it was Bens crab chowder that did it. As soon as i headed back out I let nature do the rest, really i got lazy and stopped trying to paddle. Then I hear zzzzzzz. Well the rest isn't important. Ended up netting and filleting my first hali!!! special thanks to Adam aka OUA, Juan aka the magic man, and to RickL for guiding my rod through my first hali experience

My Son and I had a great time, its always nice to see and be apart of a group of people that make you fill so welcome. Fishing was not so good for me and I think my son caught the smallest halibut for the day 18” at lest he did not get skunked. Congrats to all that caught halibut that day and thank you Adam for putting it together and for those of us that did not catch any thing WE WILL GET THEM NEXT TIME .

Pat R