Pacific halibut from a kayak

It's one thing to sink a spear into a 100-200 pound fish when you have a breakaway with floats.

Can a fish that large be safely landed in a kayak? I've been wondering what I'm in for if I actually manage to hook into a pacific halibut with a rod and reel in Alaska. Am I going to die? 

You'll have to ask this guy:
http://www.grindtv.com/fishing/kayak-fishing-record-set-with-1247-pound-shark/#85tb6iomheYACxWM.97

It's one thing to sink a spear into a 100-200 pound fish when you have a breakaway with floats.

Can a fish that large be safely landed in a kayak? I've been wondering what I'm in for if I actually manage to hook into a pacific halibut with a rod and reel in Alaska. Am I going to die? 

Use the floats.

-Allen

Not in 100-200lbs but fun to catch nonetheless. Use harpon with floats.

I'm not going to spend much time on the rod, but I just want to get an idea of what could happen.

I've hooked some big sturgeon off the kayak and nearly got tipped and pulled in. When guys go after fish that big in boats aren't they usually in harnesses?

Is there some type of set up for a kayak as far as tethering the pole or a quick disconnect? I really don't want to lose my pole, but drowning in a mess of line doesn't sound fun either.

Check out Northwest Kayak Anglers (NWKA). Those guys have pacific halibut fishing dialed. I went ahead and signed up there, too, since many of the salmon fishing techniques they use up there are also productive here. (And I do love to fish up in WA when I visit my aubt and uncle.)

Like others said, you want a harpoon and float. You also want to make sure your drag is set properly. If the drag is set properly, YOU control how hard the fish can pull on you.


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Check out Northwest Kayak Anglers (NWKA). Those guys have pacific halibut fishing dialed. I went ahead and signed up there, too, since many of the salmon fishing techniques they use up there are also productive here. (And I do love to fish up in WA when I visit my aubt and uncle.)

Like others said, you want a harpoon and float. You also want to make sure your drag is set properly. If the drag is set properly, YOU control how hard the fish can pull on you.


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Thanks, I'll check them out.

I thought the harpoon and float thing was a joke. So you basically get them to the surface, and chuck a tethered harpoon into them? Haha

The big ones are no joke.  Just spear it and use a float.  Harpoon and float seems like a good idea if line fishing.  When I was up there they just shot the big ones in the head before pulling them out of the water. 

If you end up near homer get a derby ticket.  You could win thousands.  They changed the rules so you can win on smaller fish with tags.  You can even camp right on the spit. 

I looked at past winners of the large fish and many years the winner had a 300+ lb halibut.  Freaking huge. 

Check out Northwest Kayak Anglers (NWKA). Those guys have pacific halibut fishing dialed. I went ahead and signed up there, too, since many of the salmon fishing techniques they use up there are also productive here. (And I do love to fish up in WA when I visit my aubt and uncle.)

Like others said, you want a harpoon and float. You also want to make sure your drag is set properly. If the drag is set properly, YOU control how hard the fish can pull on you.

Alex, have you every caught a Pacific Halibut off your kayak?  Ever harpoon one?

You can coax a pac butt to come to the surface with much ado about nothing.  But after harpooning, you may NOT have any control over what happens.  I've seen halibut drag an A2 buoy under for many 10's of seconds, if not a minute.  That's ~68 pounds of buoyancy.  At this time, with the violent head shakes, anything can happen.  Hooks rip out, harpoons rip out, mayhem can ensue.

-Allen

Check out Northwest Kayak Anglers (NWKA). Those guys have pacific halibut fishing dialed. I went ahead and signed up there, too, since many of the salmon fishing techniques they use up there are also productive here. (And I do love to fish up in WA when I visit my aubt and uncle.)

Like others said, you want a harpoon and float. You also want to make sure your drag is set properly. If the drag is set properly, YOU control how hard the fish can pull on you.

Alex, have you every caught a Pacific Halibut off your kayak?  Ever harpoon one?

You can coax a pac butt to come to the surface with much ado about nothing.  But after harpooning, you may NOT have any control over what happens.  I've seen halibut drag an A2 buoy under for many 10's of seconds, if not a minute.  That's ~68 pounds of buoyancy.  At this time, with the violent head shakes, anything can happen.  Hooks rip out, harpoons rip out, mayhem can ensue.

-Allen

Can you please explain the harpooning? When you say harpoon I imagine a 10' tree branch with a rope attached. You guys have me worried about dropping a line in haha.

I think this is what you're looking for.  You can find a spear at http://www.bigcountrysportinggoods.com/danielson-6ft-bullet-tip-halibut-harpoon-5-5in-x-0-5in-tip-hhw6b55/?gclid=CKq43rm3mdQCFUlNfgod3_MKLg.   Also, google kage/hawaiian spear.  Some use diving spear as well.

Perfect, thanks.

This is a 135 pound halibut caught from a sea kayak. My son often launches out of Homer usually for a two day trip 25 miles away. Big halibut over 25 pounds are shot in the head with a 45 caliber pistol. The mouth is closed with stiff wire. A rope is attached to the wire and the fish is towed to shore and fileted. For him it is a very successful system to land a fish too large to get into the kayak.

Friend Rudy Tsukada on Facebook. I believe he is Cardinal82 on here and NWKA. The man knows more about landing Pac Hali off a kayak than just about anybody. His son Ryu has become a bit of a sensation for his Kayak catches. If a 12 year old can land 80# Pac Hali from a kayak, then so can you. Rudy has lots of videos showing how it is done

I think this is what you're looking for.  You can find a spear at http://www.bigcountrysportinggoods.com/danielson-6ft-bullet-tip-halibut-harpoon-5-5in-x-0-5in-tip-hhw6b55/?gclid=CKq43rm3mdQCFUlNfgod3_MKLg.   Also, google kage/hawaiian spear.  Some use diving spear as well.

That is Rudy's (Kardinal82) video.  That's me in the center of the pic at 3:31.  We did some compare and contrast on this trip to Kodiak, catching many nice butts.  Some used harpoons attached to buoys.  Others used big ass shark hooks attached to buoys.  We had at least 1 halibut pull out on a shark hook way too easily.  Harpoons won the day.

There is also video from this trip showing butts pulling A2 buoys completely under for extended periods of time.

Not sure I would use a kage on butts.  Their head is way too bony for a reliable brain shot.  And if you miss the spot, you just end up with a pissed off halibut and all the mayhem that ensues, without it being attached to a buoy.

-Allen