SC 7/8/21 PB halibut rpt

Arrived at the harbor around 0600 and said hello to Mr. Matt, and eventually Tote (OTW).  Also talked with "Rich" in the parking lot as he was setting up his yak and gear.  I was out of the harbor around 0645 and making my way to the fishing grounds.  On the way out there were some bait balls that I tried to sabiki up with zero success.  The bait fish were just too small and were not interested in the sabiki rig.

Had a 3lb box of squid with me from 99 Ranch along with the usual swimbaits.  When I reached some past proven grounds, I dropped down and began fishing.  Caught a handful of RF that were on the small side and all were tossed back.  Eventually hooked a 20" brown ling that was quickly measured and released.

Weather stayed calm with minimal drift and clouds.  Not much wind which is always a good thing for me in Santa Cruz.  Continued feeding the small RF and occasional croaker with squid.  Rich hooked a nice 25" ling and I was starting to think this was going to be another day where I should have kept some RF for tacos 

Sank a croaker for about 30 minutes and caught a 15-18" ling.  It was about 10:30am and I was running out of squid.  I grabbed a tiny squid that was sort of a last resort and tied it on.  Figured I'd be once again feeding some small trash fish, or tiny RF.....

After I touched bottom with my drift ball, I began slowly trolling...  Within a couple of minutes, my rod bent over while I was holding it.  I set the hook and tried to reel, but I couldn't.  I felt some hard slams and figured this was going to be a good fish.  I continued trying to reel, but simply could not gain any line.  I muscled the fish off the bottom and felt the head shakes.  This was a halibut... but how big?  I continued trying to move the fish upward, but it took forever, or what felt like forever...

When I saw the fish it had its' head up and I couldn't see the whole body.  It briefly flattened out and I soon realized it was F-ing Huge!!!  . I had trouble pulling the fish towards my kayak after it had tired out.  It was simply just too heavy.  I eventually had to hold my rod with my right hand near the tip and begin slowly pedaling.  I eventually flattened out the fish and hit it as hard and I could (from below) with my gaff.  The gaff stuck, but of course did not go through the fish.  I pulled it partially onto my yak and stuck my left hand into the gills and held on.

Rich was nearby, saw the fish, and quickly asked what he could do to help.  Rich grabbed my fish clip (which I could not access at the time) and I was able to lock him in.  Bonked him, bled him, in the boat!  Booyah!!!  The fish eventually began "going crazy" and the fish clip point slashed my left palm while I was holding on.  Neosporin time I suppose...  The fish obviously was not fitting in my fish bag and there was no point in continuing to fish... Have a feeling the wife is going to be somewhat perturbed when she realizes there's no more freezer room available.

Headed into the harbor and met up with the man, the myth, the legend,... Bushy.  . After unsuccessfully trying to convince Bushy to allow me to fish with him, I headed over to the bait shop for an official weight on the slob......

39.9lbs, 43.5".   

Holy holy holy moly…
Congrats on the stinkin hog

What a catch!  Nicely done, man!  Congrats!

Congrats. Definitely trophy butt. Santa Cruz produces some quality butts.

Oh i mean. There are no fish in santa cruz. Move on people. 😆

Alex

Wow!

Now that's a fish to remember! Awesome

Hell of a nice BUTT to add to the over 40" club!!  Great play by play, and bet your stoked to be eating halibut for days!   

Congratulations!  You never know when you gonna hit the jackpot!  Keep on!

39.95 pounds?  I'm sure that was 40 when you landed it!  Nicely done.

-Allen

Congrats! I never caught a Hali in SC. Someone must have caught it in ARW, and it fell off on the way in…

Dayum! Grats!!!

Awesome Aaron, just awesome!!
WTG

What a monster! And, it's pretty incredible that you put it in a chokehold before getting it on the clip. If it had decided to start berserking then, that could have been a little too exciting...

I must've just missed you launching, as I headed out at 6:36am. I went to the far west side (almost to Wilder Beach), which was obviously a mistake. For me, it was a slow, slow, slow pick of RF, with a half-limit of keepable size. Back at the harbor, I talked to several boaters who were chasing halibut, and they all came up empty. Given the big south swell, that makes your amazing catch all the more amazing.

I guess you can focus on salmon for the rest of the season now.     Congrats, bro

That's a pig.