Harpoons

Are harpoons legal in CA? Like say I am halibut fishing and want to use a harpoon instead of a gaff? Is that legal? And if it isn’t, why the hell not.

If you do a search I think there are a few topics on that

If you do a search I think there are a few topics on that

It definitely has come up before, but I recall seeing, "yes", "no", and "only if you are fishing for pac halibut" being given an answers. I think the regulations may not be entirely clear...

Flying gaff (basically a harpoon) for Pacific halibut is legal - not sure about Cali's.

Crash will know.

For pacific halibut it is legal to use a harpoon in California.

The direction from  CA DFW is extremely poor. The best we have are Carrie Wilson’s articles, and according to that resource:

In the ocean only-

Gaffs are legal to take almost everything except striper sturgeon salmon. And Trout  those species must voluntarily take the book in the mouth. No snagging either.  Gaffs can legally be used to assist in the take of everything except sturgeon. 

Harpoons are only legal for sharks skates rays and pacific halibut

A kage is a harpoon and not a gaff

A flying gaff is a legal gaff

A wiremans gaff is a legal gaff and you can attach it to a buoy without running afoul of the prohibition on mousetrap gear.

There is no direction as of yet on what we have traditionally called halipoons it seems like we might want to start calling them haligaffs just to be safe.

A discussion on coastside the other day indicated it was ok to gaff big salmon... I was surprised by this, then read this thread.  Not that I would ever gaff a salmon, but which is it? 
Also, how could using a kage on a calibut be illegal?

A discussion on coastside the other day indicated it was ok to gaff big salmon... I was surprised by this, then read this thread.  Not that I would ever gaff a salmon, but which is it? 

That is correct. You can’t free-gaff it but as long as it took a hook voluntarily you can gaff it to bring it on board.  Don’t try that in Oregon or Washington though.

A discussion on coastside the other day indicated it was ok to gaff big salmon... I was surprised by this, then read this thread.  Not that I would ever gaff a salmon, but which is it? 

That is correct. You can’t free-gaff it but as long as it took a hook voluntarily you can gaff it to bring it on board.  Don’t try that in Oregon or Washington though.

Good to know.  Thanks.  Maybe if ( or when?) I have a 50 lb, 60" chrome on, I'll deploy the gaff.  Until then, big net.  What about kage on calibut?

What about kage on calibut?

Carrie Wilson says no. I think she’s wrong. Don’t be surprised to get a ticket though and have to fight it. I use them here in Humboldt but not elsewhere in California since I don’t want to have to travel to fight a ticket. A couple of our local wardens have indicated that they would not ticket a kage as a harpoon.

This is the “poor direction” I spoke of earlier.

Maybe if ( or when?) I have a 50 lb, 60" chrome on, I'll deploy the gaff.  Until then, big net.  What about kage on calibut?

I'd like to see a video of the biggest fish gaffed by a kayaker.

Maybe if ( or when?) I have a 50 lb, 60" chrome on, I'll deploy the gaff.  Until then, big net.  What about kage on calibut?

I'd like to see a video of the biggest fish gaffed by a kayaker.

In particular, gaffing a salmon in a kayak seems optimistic.

I do love watching videos of people catching big fish tho

Maybe if ( or when?) I have a 50 lb, 60" chrome on, I'll deploy the gaff.  Until then, big net.  What about kage on calibut?

I'd like to see a video of the biggest fish gaffed by a kayaker.

Ha!  I imagine a pedal yaker pedaling his/her ass off while dragging a big salmon for an hour at 3 kts could pull it up next to them and drive a kage right behind the gill plate.  Would be the way to do it, but again, I don't see myself ever doing this.   

The commercial fleet is pretty much gaffing instead of netting anymore in that the buyers want a pristine scale look on the fish. Nets scrape scales badly. The key to gaffing salmon is a sharp rap on the head before lifting into the vessel. Salmon stun easily, unlike halibut, so if you ever have the 50#er on the line make sure it is tired out then ease to kayak side and strike the head sharply then slide aboard. If you see that it is barely hooked then maybe take a chance and  just gaff then slide over the yak edge and hope it can be held in quietude for a few secs then head hit.

The commercial fleet is pretty much gaffing instead of netting anymore in that the buyers want a pristine scale look on the fish. Nets scrape scales badly.

Good stuff!  I would think consumers would rather have messed up scales than a hole in the flesh.  That's interesting.