Biggest 'but I ever wrassled

[Switchback]

So there I was, mindin' my own business on an Oregon jetty, jigging for rockfish and maybe even a lingcod. 75 yds. away was an older guy, casting spinners for salmon. Well he hooked into something huge, because he had a gigantic rod and it was doubled over. I thought maybe it was a large lingcod, and I set my rod down and watched him battle this thing for over 15 minutes. All of a sudden I saw its tail right by the jetty rocks, it was wide and brown, which made me wonder what it was. Then I saw the white underside, and thought oh crap, this dude is in a pickle. Ran over to see if he needed help and sure enough, there's a freaking 38" halibut on the end of his 15-lb. mono fishing line. He can't bend over enough to help land it, there's nobody else around, and the jetty rocks are pretty slick. He stayed up on a dry rock, I went to the water, and tried unsuccessfully for another 10 minutes to get this thing on the rocks. Neither of us was 100% confident that halibut was open – he had one hand on the rod and another on his phone, calling the ODFW and then a charter – because why would you check halibut regs before you fished for salmon off a jetty. Well then the stinking line broke, and the halibut just sat there for a second. I managed to grab its gill, and get my other hand on its tail, and kinda heaved/fell onto the rocks just clinging to it while it flopped with quite a bit of might.
Turned out halibut had just opened a few days earlier, and he was able to keep it. Wish we had known before the whole shindig went down, it would have been easy to just drop a rock on its head! We didn't have a gaff or net or rope or anything – it was quite the ordeal, like those catch-a-pig contests they hold for kids at the fair.
Was pretty cool to watch him hook and fight that thing, a halibut like this is likely a once-in-a-lifetime feat from a jetty. Hope the attachment works. Too weird of a story to believe otherwise! Estimated at 38" from my boot length, I know for sure it was over 36, but it looked a little shy of 40.

What's the biggest 'but you ever wrassled in by hand? Surely there are some interesting stories, I'm sure someone has forgotten or broken a net on their boat and wrangled one in the old fashioned way.

[X-Force]

Heck of a story 

[7mmfan]

I've got a few stories related to halibut that made onboard without a line attached. My most memorable was as a deckhand on a charter boat in AK. We had a big one coming up, and the captain was ready with the harpoon, I was standing by with the gaff and a hay hook ready to pull him on board after he'd bled out from the harpoon. The fish hit the surface and we saw he was just barely lip hooked on the jig, so the captain rushed the 'poon and hit the spine instead of the guts. The jig flew out and the fish lingered just long enough for me to bury the gaff in him, which gave me just enough time to get the hay hook in his cheek and get his head out of the water. I "wrassled" that son of a gun for what seemed like 5 minutes, but was probably more like 30 seconds. I was able to hang on long enough to get a knife in the gills, and then heave him over the side straight into the hold where all hell broke loose. That fish weighed in a 212#.

The next best one was as a captain in AK fishing with family. My uncle hooked a giant fish while we were trolling for kings. I was convinced it was a giant king for about 5 minutes as I had gotten a 50 pounder there the week before. I finally decided it was a big halibut but it was hard to gauge size on a salmon rod and 20# test. We finally worked him to the surface after an hour and I estimated he was 120ish #. It was hanging straight up and down so I couldn't harpoon him, and the salmon leader had a hook in the top and bottom jaw keeping me from shark hooking him. I was going to have to gaff him over. I had a brand new gaff so I cleared the deck, swung, stuck, and started pulling on board. He arched hard and the brand new gaff straightened out like an arrow. The fish hit the water and took off on a blistering run. 10 minutes later we had him back, but as I got ready to gaff him again, this time with a hay hook, the leader broke. I swung as he turned down and buried the gaff into him mid body and swung him over the side in one swoop. He broke a rod and basically destroyed the deck of the boat and cleared the gunnels before I could club him enough to stun him. That fish weighed in at 138#.

Theres more, but I don't want to hog the thread!

[trophyhunt]

wow!

[hunthard]

Man that would make a great video

[7mmfan]

Goes without saying, great work helping that gentleman out! I think I'd be as if not more excited to help him get that thing on the rocks as catching it myself. That's a story you'll both have forever!

[Switchback]

I've got a few stories related to halibut that made onboard without a line attached. My most memorable was as a deckhand on a charter boat in AK. We had a big one coming up, and the captain was ready with the harpoon, I was standing by with the gaff and a hay hook ready to pull him on board after he'd bled out from the harpoon. The fish hit the surface and we saw he was just barely lip hooked on the jig, so the captain rushed the 'poon and hit the spine instead of the guts. The jig flew out and the fish lingered just long enough for me to bury the gaff in him, which gave me just enough time to get the hay hook in his cheek and get his head out of the water. I "wrassled" that son of a gun for what seemed like 5 minutes, but was probably more like 30 seconds. I was able to hang on long enough to get a knife in the gills, and then heave him over the side straight into the hold where all hell broke loose. That fish weighed in a 212#.

That is a heck of a story! Never caught a big one... I imagine it can get pretty hairy at the boat!

[7mmfan]

I've got a few stories related to halibut that made onboard without a line attached. My most memorable was as a deckhand on a charter boat in AK. We had a big one coming up, and the captain was ready with the harpoon, I was standing by with the gaff and a hay hook ready to pull him on board after he'd bled out from the harpoon. The fish hit the surface and we saw he was just barely lip hooked on the jig, so the captain rushed the 'poon and hit the spine instead of the guts. The jig flew out and the fish lingered just long enough for me to bury the gaff in him, which gave me just enough time to get the hay hook in his cheek and get his head out of the water. I "wrassled" that son of a gun for what seemed like 5 minutes, but was probably more like 30 seconds. I was able to hang on long enough to get a knife in the gills, and then heave him over the side straight into the hold where all hell broke loose. That fish weighed in a 212#.

That is a heck of a story! Never caught a big one... I imagine it can get pretty hairy at the boat!

The first real big one I ever dealt with on my own was the biggest I was ever caught as a captain. It weighed in at 385#. I had never harpooned a fish before and was a little apprehensive about it. The fish came up really fast, and really green. I knew it was big but was not prepared for how big. When I hit it with the harpoon, I didn't bury it all the way through so it ended up just inside the gut cavity. The second that fish got stuck, it went absolutely berserk. I rodeo'd it for probably 15 or 20 seconds, getting thoroughly soaked in the process, then the harpoon pulled out. I was sure she was gone, but she was hooked really well with an 18/0 circle hook, so we were able to get it back to the boat in short order and get a shark hook in its head. It was game over at that point. After bleeding it, I was able to squat/pull it right over the side with the help of 2 anglers with gaffs. That's when it really sank in how gigantic that fish was. That fish had an 8# yellow eye rockfish in its stomach along with a half digested octopus and the beaks of at least a dozen other octopus. Awesome fish.

[Stein]

My first trip to AK I went with a couple buddies one of which is a real wheeler-dealer type guy.  He somehow knew someone who knew someone who knew a guy in Homer that lent us his boat and truck and gps coordinates (that's how wheeler-dealer that guy is).  Pretty amazing thing for a guy to loan that out to dudes he never met.  Anyway, it was a 16' skiff that we put in and headed out to the gps coordinates.

About 10 minutes in, my buddy hooks one and battles it up to the surface, back down, back up and back down.  On the third time at the boat, I pulled my carry gun and put a 9 mm hole behind the center eye and then my other buddy gaffed it with the $10 tiny hand gaff we bought at the tackle store.  He heaves it in, jumps on top of it and starts whacking it with the back side of the gaff, just like Ralphie on the bully in Christmas Story.  The fish comes back to life, starts thrashing around and I'm standing there pistol in hand, trying to dodge the gaff hook flying around through the air as well as all the junk on the bottom of the boat that is getting kicked up by the fish.

We end up back at the dock with probably close to 100 pounds of halibut that I shot while on a borrowed boat.  Favorite fish ever.

[7mmfan]

My first trip to AK I went with a couple buddies one of which is a real wheeler-dealer type guy.  He somehow knew someone who knew someone who knew a guy in Homer that lent us his boat and truck and gps coordinates (that's how wheeler-dealer that guy is).  Pretty amazing thing for a guy to loan that out to dudes he never met.  Anyway, it was a 16' skiff that we put in and headed out to the gps coordinates.

About 10 minutes in, my buddy hooks one and battles it up to the surface, back down, back up and back down.  On the third time at the boat, I pulled my carry gun and put a 9 mm hole behind the center eye and then my other buddy gaffed it with the $10 tiny hand gaff we bought at the tackle store.  He heaves it in, jumps on top of it and starts whacking it with the back side of the gaff, just like Ralphie on the bully in Christmas Story.  The fish comes back to life, starts thrashing around and I'm standing there pistol in hand, trying to dodge the gaff hook flying around through the air as well as all the junk on the bottom of the boat that is getting kicked up by the fish.

We end up back at the dock with probably close to 100 pounds of halibut that I shot while on a borrowed boat.  Favorite fish ever.

Love it!

[h20hunter]

Short version. College. Many many beers. River. Late. Snapping turtle.  Battle. Club. Left in back seat of best friends truck. 2am.

[Alchase]

In the late 80s. I was supposed to meet my parents at the Coho RV park in Sekiu, Thursday morning. They had been there fishing all week. Wednesday night I blew the ligaments in my ankle playing with my softball team and was on crutches. I could not head over to Sekiu until Friday morning.
Friday I pull into Sekiu, and have to use the restroom so I pull into the Cove. While in the stall, I hear two old timers cracking up about what happened the day before. An older man and his wife were fishing, and hooked up a double. As they were fighting the fish, their small dog somehow went over the side. The the wife was screaming that the dog went over, and the man would not get the dog until both kings were netted, then he netted the dog. The two guys in the bathroom were cracking up, one says "well there is one man who has his priorities in the right place".
I leave the Cove and head to my parents RV at the Coho. When I get in I asked them, "do you have something to tell me? " Did Patches (their pampered Schitzu) go for a swim?" My mom's jaw dropped, and she asked how the heck I knew about that! I told her it was the talk of the town. 
They told me the story how when they were fighting both fish, my Dad looked behind the boat and says "look at that white seal"!
My Mom yells "that is no seal, that is PATCHES"! then the argument started.
My Mom screamed to go back and get the dog, now 50 yards behind the boat, in the Straights, a couple miles off the cave.
My Dad would not go back until both kings, a 25 lb and an 18lb were finally netted and in the boat.
He turns the boat around, and nets the dog with the salmon slimed fish net! 
My Mom was furious, because now Patches stunk like salmon slime.
The next morning we head back out. On our way out of the bay, heading towards Pillar Point I hooked up, the dog starts to howl like someone is beating him, and dives under the middle bench seat into the fish tray, and would not come back out. The rest of the day, everytime we hooked up, that dang dog would start howling again!
I thought about throwing over again, and by the look in my Dad's eyes he was thinking the same thing   

September comes, I meet up with them again for the Silver run and Patches now has a doggy life jacket on, with a tether, which of course kept getting tangled in everything in the boat.
This time when we hooked up, the dog would just piddle all over the place. My Dad and I would just chuckle, my Mom would give us the evil eye, but we still caught fish.

 

[Angus]

This didn't happen to me but a guide buddy of mine who is a very well known OR. salmon/steelhead guide who decided to give it a go in AK.
One of his first groups was a group of guys that had been coming for years and were known well by everyone in camp. One day while salmon fishing they hooked a halibut that was around #60, the guide, who had very little halibut experience grabs a shark hook and gaff, stuck the shark hook in like we had shown him then hit the halibut once or twice with the gaff and drug it over the side. I was kind of watching this and working with my guest at the same time and missed the part where he drug it over the side but somehow he lost his balance and fell backward onto his back and the halibut landed on him and didn't seem to happy about it, the 2 of them went at it for about 10 seconds before the guide tapped out and escaped. I couldn't see anything but heard alot of yelling (guide) and laughing (guests) and had to watch, he finally got to his feet while the guest dispatched the halibut, he looked like hell, but other then a couple bruises and his pride, he wasn't hurt. His guests made sure everyone in camp knew what happened and for years to come they told that story.

My first year, I took a skiff out pre-season to troll for salmon, I hooked what was probably a #125 halibut and only had a net which wasnt going to work for this halibut, I sat there contemplating what to do for a few minutes then finally pulled the hooks out, and let her go, I didn't want any part of bringing that fish into my skiff without any way on killing it. Never went unprepared after that.

[Alchase]

We tied my 47#er to the side of the boat and cut the gills. It thumped the boat for about 15 minutes, before we felt safe to bring it aboard our Olson's rental boat out of Sekiu. In the Cove Restaurant they had pics on the wall of the damage halibut can do inside a boat, it was impressive!

[Cylvertip]

Guy i used to work with told of catching a good one out in The Strait on a big lead head jig.  Brought it up boatside, pulled out his 44, and went for the Coup de grace.  Next thing he knows is he is coming back to his senses on the deck of the boat.  Apparently he hit the leadhead and it ricochet back and knocked him silly.  I believe he gaffed and landed the fish when he regained his composure.

Butch, rest well my friend.