Kayak halibut 'Mongo'

[rogerdodger]

took my inflatable i11s out on a nice light wind day, I trolled 2 rods for several hours looking for a chinook and then took a break to bump the bottom with a jig in about 50' of water using my Rockfish/Lingcod medium spinning rig (30# braid, 20# leader). Hooked up and got my GoPro running as it seemed like a large fish but what?

it ended up being a California Halibut: 43", 37#



video starts with me testing the limits of the Cabela's IM7 rod (7', 8-12# line, medium action), then after a futile netting attempt (3:40) I realized it was too big for my 'chinook' net so I deployed my harpoon (graphite/steel golf shaft with speargun tip connected to a crab float, 5:20 hit!, it looks like I am going overboard but it wasn't even close because the i11s is so wide), I did learn at 8:15 that bonking 'Mongo' just made him mad and then I did almost fall in while standing up and trying to lift him and then rock the boat back and forth at 8:30 but that was in 4' of water back at my launch point. cheers, roger

video link: https://youtu.be/K7hrBfiBuVM





Usually, my kayak hull (35.5#) is the heaviest thing that I carry up to the car; not today...

 

[Raincatcher]

What a great surprise! Good for you!

 

[EOBOY]

Dang dude your gonna need to put a winch on that yak!:worthy:

 

[TheKnigit]

That is awesome, Congrats rogerdodger!!!!

 

[eugene1]

Congrats on the California butt!

 

[TheBigFoote]

Real nice fish! I'm from California originally, used to go out there and slay some slabs!

 

[GaryP1958]

You da man! I spent many years fishing Santa Monica Bay and my biggest was 25 lbs, Is that Coos Bay?

 

[billfisher]

OH MY GOSH! Way to go Roger! :flex:

 

[Gulfstream]

Dang Roger,nice fish!

 

[hobster]

Testing the limits of that rod is right! That could be an add for Cabellas Great video and catch, way to go man!

 

[troutdude]

dang dude your gonna need to put a winch on that yak!:worthy:

rotflmbo!!!

P.S. Epic fight buddy! Took the Salmon Skunk, right OFF of da boat.

 

[rogerdodger]

Testing the limits of that rod is right! That could be an add for Cabellas

"I don't always fish for big halibut using light action spinning rods from Cabela's; but when I do, they always hold up their end of the battle, the rest is up to me"



I love that this picture shows the light spinning gear and 'golf-shaft harpoon' but I can't help thinking if that jig had pulled loose at this moment, it would have been a long sad pedal back to my car...

 

[rogerdodger]

first, 'Mongo' was a girl fish (their eggs don't look like salmon/steelhead eggs)
I finally finished processing all the meat, trimmed fillets grand total is 21#: frozen, eaten, or given away.
Halibut length/weight calculators I found for 43" say 37#, based on at home weight of 214 (minus 178 for me), yield, and blood loss, I am going with 37# as the as-caught weight.
that makes our yield 57% which is very good based on info that I found on-line, especially full of eggs.

 

[EOBOY]

Yum

Sent from my BLU LIFE ONE X using Tapatalk

 

[GaryP1958]

Dont forget the cheeks and a big pot for the carcass for soup!

 

[Gulfstream]

Save me a piece!

 

[hobster]

Save me a piece!

Yeah, me too for when we go crabbing:thumb: I love halibut, i'll trade some summer steel for it, or something else of interest (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean)

 

[mikeredding]

Great job Roger. I haven't been on here in months and this was the first thing I saw. You have come a long way in the past few years my friend.

 

[GaryP1958]

You need to invest in a nice gaff if its legal in tidewater!

 

[rogerdodger]

You need to invest in a nice gaff if its legal in tidewater!

you might have missed the 'point' of my golfshaft harpoon that I used on this fish. I am on an inflatable flat board/kayak, the hull weights 35.5#, I am right at water level. consider gaffing a 37# butt and having it slam into the boat with that gaff point...cartoon 'gas' powered boat spinning around comes to mind. however a 6mm speargun tip on the end of a high modulus golf shaft is something I felt confident I could punch into a big fish without having anything sharp sticking out....worked.

...and yes, for the rest of my life, when fishing stories start flowing, I will eventually say "wow, that's cool, I caught a fish that weighed more than my boat..."