SD Bay in winter

[Gotfish?]

Launched from Cays, got a nice halibut, that pic is my avatar now. Wound up with 47 spotted bay bass and 2 halibut. Most were on a cow pie green (match the hatch???) curly tail grub on a 5/16 ounce ball head jig in 9-15' of water. Slow and low (1/2 crank, pause, repeat) retrieve as usual and feeling the line between thumb and forefinger for those pressure bites, 6 lb line on baitcaster. Had some sun initially but it went away as soon as I put on sunscreen.

Lots of dead grass, especially just before low tide, used the trick of a swivel 1-2' above the lure as a grass catcher.

[Carpkiller]

Picked the wrong spot yesterday (Sunday the 5th). Only got 16 (I think) spotties while my friends were a half-mile away roping a ton of fish. Also got a few short halibut.....and had a big one hooked for a while.

So if the halibut spits the hook and ends up foul-hooked right in the middle of its back (just below the dorsal fin) how in the heck do you land it without a gaff? The fight lasted 15 minutes, and when I got it in front of me...can't try and lead it into the net. Can't slide it up over the spreader bar. While I was a-cipherin' the fish caught its breath and lunged straight down and the hook popped free. The fish was about 30 inches long...if one of youse catches a halibut with a hole centered just below the dorsal fin...can I have my fish back?

[JWall]

Picked the wrong spot yesterday (Sunday the 5th). Only got 16 (I think) spotties while my friends were a half-mile away roping a ton of fish. Also got a few short halibut.....and had a big one hooked for a while.

So if the halibut spits the hook and ends up foul-hooked right in the middle of its back (just below the dorsal fin) how in the heck do you land it without a gaff? The fight lasted 15 minutes, and when I got it in front of me...can't try and lead it into the net. Can't slide it up over the spreader bar. While I was a-cipherin' the fish caught its breath and lunged straight down and the hook popped free. The fish was about 30 inches long...if one of youse catches a halibut with a hole centered just below the dorsal fin...can I have my fish back?

My limited experience w butts, especially one 30”, is that an unhappy camper with sharp teeth like that would test all of your fish landing skills even with a gaff!

[JWall]

Picked the wrong spot yesterday (Sunday the 5th). Only got 16 (I think) spotties while my friends were a half-mile away roping a ton of fish. Also got a few short halibut.....and had a big one hooked for a while.

So if the halibut spits the hook and ends up foul-hooked right in the middle of its back (just below the dorsal fin) how in the heck do you land it without a gaff? The fight lasted 15 minutes, and when I got it in front of me...can't try and lead it into the net. Can't slide it up over the spreader bar. While I was a-cipherin' the fish caught its breath and lunged straight down and the hook popped free. The fish was about 30 inches long...if one of youse catches a halibut with a hole centered just below the dorsal fin...can I have my fish back?

My limited experience w butts, especially one 30”, is that an unhappy camper with sharp teeth like that would test all of your fish landing skills even with a gaff!

…and along those lines, my bros and I were bottom bumping fish traps off Belmont Park/Mission Beach years ago when this guy bit. He came up way too easy, likely not realizing he was hooked. We somehow lifted him into my center console right about the moment he did figure it out and all hell broke loose. The scene of 3 grown men jumping around a relatively small boat avoiding that mouth full of teeth and a big swinging tail had to be comical. There was a moment when we all thought about bailing out too. Anyway we finally got it under control and on ice. Big hali’s are hard to land!!

[Gotfish?]

My method for landing halibut in the float tube:
1. Bring the fish up to the tube, this is usually not to hard. Next step is to really tire the fish out. When he seems to tire, lift his head slightly out of the water. This will cause the fish to take off; he wasn't that tired after all.
2. When that no longer provokes a response, bump the halibut's head with your net. Eventually the halibut will get so tired even that does not provoke a response, even with a good whack.
3. Remove sunglasses, zip up jacket, zip up pouches in the float tube in case he still has some fight left.
4. Bring the halibut up to the surface, put the net below the halibut and he will swim head first into it. Sit your rod aside and quickly grab the tail with one hand and lift the net with the other and swing into your lap (my net is too small to fully contain a legal halibut). If you did all the above, he should be so beat he doesn't even flop around.

Downside of the above method is increased chances of the halibut breaking off. Your reel drag needs to be very smooth for this to work. Plus side is you won't have a green halibut with hooks hanging out flopping around in your lap.

[Gotfish?]

Additionally, to remove the hook(s), hold the jaws open with plastic pliers (https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/bass-pr ... iers?gQT=1 ) and use needle nose pliers to pry the hook(s) out.

I would hate to see what your thumb would look like if you thumbed his jaw like people do with largemouth bass. Maybe you could change your screen name to Stumpy.

[Carpkiller]

I landed this 10 lb, 31 inch 'but without net or gaff......by tiring it out and sliding it up over the spreader bar and grabbing it by the gill plate on the far side...and holding its head (and my jig) against my chest. No, it didn't work on the first try...or the second...you get the picture.

But with a foul-hooked fish and no control of the head, not an option....