Alaska Halibut Fishing - Great Strategies For Barndoor Halibut
By: chris howe
Submitted: 2010-02-02 23:38:27 | Word Count: 671
Alaska halibut are the heavyweights of Alaska's offshore waters. The Alaska halibut is murky coffee or dirty russet with unbalanced blotches on the top side. The bottom side is light or dirty white. The Alaska halibut's body is extended in shape, compared to different members of the flounder family, with its width at about one third its length. The scales are undersized. The mouth is tiny, with well-developed teeth on each sides of the jaw. Both eyes are on the prime (brown) side. The flesh is sallow, tasty, and well worth the time and effort.
Alaska halibut's life starts in an upright position, with one eye on every aspect of the pinnacle, but during the first six months of its life, a Alaska halibut goes through an uncommon change. The fish's form begins to flatten, and its left eye moves to its right side. At this time a Alaska halibut starts to swim flat on its side along the ocean bottom.
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Alaska halibut are bottom dwellers, for the foremost half, feeding on fish, squid, crabs, clams, etc. They are especially fond of salmon carcasses carried out into the saltwater throughout August and September. Alaska halibut are highly migratory; adult fish travel more than 2,000 miles. Most Alaska halibut are caught at depths of 90-900 feet; the bottom recorded depth for a Alaska halibut is three,600 feet. Alaska halibut grow slowly; fish estimated at 45 years old have been recorded. Females out live males, and are larger in size. All award Alaska halibut are females; males rarely exceed 45 pounds.
Alaska halibut are giant -- the largest of the flat fish. Fish nine feet in length and over 500 pounds have been recorded. Any fish over 350 pounds is considered exceptionally large. The common size of most Alaska halibut hooked sport fishing is during the 20-50 pound range. Hundred pound fish are terribly common, and fish over 250 pounds are captured every year. The Alaska state record for hobby-caught Alaska halibut is 450 pounds.
If you're going to use a fishing charter to fish for Alaska halibut, they can a lot of than doubtless give you with the equipment and bait you may need. Raise concerning this when you make reservations for the charter.
The "traditional" Alaska halibut rod could be a short, significant action rod of between 5-6 feet in length. Some people do use longer rods, but in my view, it's much additional convenient to use a shorter rod on the boat. We have a tendency to recommend a five-5.five foot heavy action offshore rod over a longer rod any day.
A large capability saltwater reel may be a must. Again, Penn makes some smart ones, however thus do alternative companies now. I'm using a graphite Shimano reel. Most folks fish for Alaska halibut with anywhere from 60 to 120 pound Dacron line.
The quality halibut bait is herring. Acquire the biggest ones. It sometimes looks like the bigger the bait, the larger the halibut. Eight to 10 inch herring can do nicely. Create positive the herring is firmly hooked up to the hook. Crabs and little fish will typically try to nibble at the bait. Other baits additionally work well. Squid, pieces of cod or other fish, will obtains results too. In most cases, herring is the simplest bait to search out, and it works.
