Halibut Trap
 

I have been getting an education in rake 101. I have used the trap but they seem to avoid it. Question is where do you like to put the trap for better success? Also, do ya perfer SD Bay or MB for Hali? I know SD Bay in the back has a lot by the bridge but I am not eating them but toward the mouth of the bay, fair game. Appreciate any thoughts on this one as I am heading out tomorrow to drag some dines around. Thanks Todd

isnt it gonna be too windy tomorrow?

Heading to the bay. Gotta go when you can go.

Gonna hit up sd bay 0630 in search of the flat kind
I'll be in a olive revolution
Shelter Island

I'm curious.....why wouldn't you eat a fish that was caught near a bridge but you would eat a fish that was caught 100yards away in the same water?

must be the troll poop

Trap hook for me always goes top or bottom of the tail area. San Diego Bay is better for Halis, I believe, and anywhere from The two North Island air base hangers toward the mouth of the bay is holding some monster Halis.

My experience is, there is no need for a trap hook, unless you want to catch small halibut. Big 'butts inhale the bait. Raked baits are usually small males. Just keep pounding the area to find the bigger females. Good Luck and tight lines

Geno

Thanks for the info guys.

~As to why I avoid eating fish way back in the bay...A lot more industry back there with NASCO and a potential for pollution. There are a lof of spills back in that area. An occasional butt would be fine but I would avoid eating a lot of fish from back in the bay. The mouth of the bay has less industry and more water movement. Just my opinion...
:cheers1:

He's probably referring to the Coronado Bridge. From there to the bay entrance area is like 2 miles. There are a lot of pollutants concentrated in the back bay area (Shipyards, manufacturing, runoff). Various reasons for this but the big one is because it is tucked away so far, it has very poor water exchange with new, fresh saltwater.

sorry to hijack but does anyone use the tag end of a palomar to tie the stinger to, thats what ive been doing and i just wanted to make sure the tag isnt allot weaker. but i usually put it by the anal fin

Why can't we redirect mlpa gunners to those factories which is the real danger not only to fishery but our own health?

I haven't ever had trouble with the trap hooks. The size of baits I prefer trap hooks work very well, but that's if I'm using live bait. Plastics I don't use trap hooks at all.

Because, unfortunately, the mlpas have nothing to do with common sense.

fish move. that hali by the bridge could have been out at sea a week earlier. and the one you catch by the mouth could have spent 2 months chillin in the back bay.

eat what you want. i wouldnt worry about where it came from.

DAMMIT!!!!

You beat me to it!

its only common sense... ;)

I used trap hooks for a while but after landing only more shorts halibut and gut hooking some sand bass I stopped using them. I also feel that the bait, any bait, will swim better and live longer with out that second hook in the tail. Now I use a light wire circle matched to size the bait. When I worked for the Hubbs institute we taggedsome halibut with acustic tags and released them in to Mission Bay. We had several automated listening probes on the bottom to tell us where the halis went in the bay. We had one fish that started in the back bay near Vacation Village. It barely moved for a few days and then on one out going night tide it completely left the bay and out the mouth. They do move. Mike

It's difficult to trap hook a live fin bait. The trap hook usually comes out of the bait or your bait dies. Here's some tips. Use a treble hook rather than a single and nose hook your bait as you normally would. Mustad 3X strong in sizes 4 and 2 work for most sardines. I like Mustads because they have good barbs! Fish with your reel in gear, my rod holder out fishes me hands down. Someone mentioned using a Palomar knot and putting the trap hook on the tag end, that rig is deadly with live squid but doesn't work well with live fin bait.

On another note I was listening to Lets Talk Hookup with gues Ron Baker. He had some great hali tips. He too is adamat against the trap as all you get are shorts and you may kill them. So I hit up San Diego Bay today, no trap and got some live bait. Got raked 8 times and then I hooked up. Seemed to have some pull so I tried to wear it out. On the way up snap goes the leader....Damm. I pull the rig up 8' or so and see a clean cut. The all of a sudden a freaking huge threasher shark comes up to the yak, he hits the boat and rolls over tail come out of the water and hits my arm. He goes under the yak and runs into the fins of the hobie drive. This gal was pissed. I thought about trying to gaff her but quickily realized I was in over my head and watched her swim away. Who knew threashers in SD Bay? No keepers but what a beautiful day!