Fish of a Life Time @ the Yak Now What?

[MrPukaShell]

OK I have a question for all of you. You hook your fish of a life time and get it to your yak, now what? How do you handle a "Hot" fish? How many carry a Gaff, lip gripper, bat or? Would like to hear your comments. Thanks....

[Regor]

Gaff
Clip
Bleed
Billy Club


Hide from dogs

[dorado50]

hooking a fish of a lifetime? is that even possible while you are alive and still fishing? Your fish of a lifetime will not come until you stop fishing or you are on your death bed, only at these two times will one know of their own personal "fish of a lifetime"...

[MrPukaShell]

OK, lets call it a "Trophy Fish" instead.....

[RK]

I don't catch fish but if I did:
-Get close to gaff
-Simultaneously gaff and either reduce drag or put reel in free spool stick rod in holder
-Pull bloody fish on lap
-Put leg over
-Game clip fish
-Tell you gorgeous creture you love her and are sorry about what your gonna do but she wont be wasted
-If YT pop the gill to bleed the fish if WSB maybe a knife is easier, bleed out fish
-Rinse deck or kayak
-Look out for jaws
-Put fish on deck in a gunny sack and occasionally splash water on it, or I bought one of those insulated kill bags from oex which I really like but Im not sure what fish think of it.
-Gut the thing ASAP like a rainbow trout
-Ice for 24-48 hours do not let fish lay in water just on top of ice and drain water as it melts.
-Clean fish
-Vacuum seal what you dont eat (or just release it before this whole fiasco)
-Enjoy

[dorado50]

Light boats in LJ means what? Nows the time to get that trophy your looking for........good luck!!

[Mtobolsky]

Real fisherman grab the fish with their hands and show that thing who's boss

Rk.. Good meeting you the other day.

[ccacher1]

12gauge...

But in all seriousness I've never caught anything big enough to have this problem =(. I do carry a gaff and a knife with me though. Wouldn't want to get into something big and have no way to get it in the yak.

[jorluivil]

If I've learned anything its to do the following:

Gaff(always go for the belly if its a halibut)
Clip
Beat it(if its a halibut)
Bleed it


Knowing what I know now I would never put a halibut on my lap until its been secured, beaten and bled. The moment the fish knows that the gaff is out it will go apeshit on you and I can assure you that 9 out of 10 times you'll lose that fish if starts flopping around.

Even then a clip means nothing

Originally Posted by ful-rac

Well things have been pretty quiet around the sewer lately...the team sewer guys have been on a cold streak...even me it's been pretty rough to be honest...I have a story that I was considering not sharing...but maybe some of you guys can learn, and someday might benefit from my misfortune...or just get a laugh at my expense...

The day starts out like any other day fishn, sleepy, tired, but excited of what the day might bring...Mrgregandrew and myself arrive at an undisclosed topsecret location not having very high hopes of catching anything worth keeping, but we just have to try anyway, good or bad.

After fishing for an hour or two and ending up with nothing but sandbass and sculpin, we decide to fish a different area that has produced fish or two in the past...We start our drift, we work as a team, I fish shallow greg fishes deep...About half way through our drift I get bit...I lift up on the rod...set the hook...heavy, heavy headshakes...ooooh boy now that's the right stuff...! I glance over to my other rod and see that it's already hooked up with my fish...Im think'n....not again...I lost a huge halibut last year that exact same way. I quicky throw the rod into freespool and flip the clicker on...ok now it shouldn't be a problem...It drags me around for a bit but gives up fairly quickly....deeep color....OH- MY- GAWD...!!!it's a friggn monster! The fish comes up completely vertical, not a good situation. I pull on the fish trying to lay it out for the gaff shot, I see my opportunity and I take it...perfect belly shot. I get the game clip on without incident, smoothly 1 try fish secured.

At this point, I have tangled lines everywhere...not good. So I whip out the knife and start cutting, now my lap is filled with hooks treble hooks spectra...not a good situation to be in with a monster fish just waiting to explode next to me...I know something bad is about to happen I could almost sense it...the fish was completely calm at this time. I have to get the rods off my lap and into the holders, as well as clear the line and hooks off my lap. I was reluctant to pull the gaff out...just because once removed...usually all hell breaks loose. So I needed to let the fish go, and get organized...but like I said feeling very nervous...I could almost see it coming....

You still with me...? Good...
I slip the gaff out of the fish and it's calm for just 1 second...and just like I knew was going to happen it went berserk! Almost like the video "grenade fishing" except this fish goes OFF like a bomb next to my kayak! Next thing I know...I see white...that's the fish launching itself...it lands on my rails with a loud whack...whack...whack!!! that just happens to be where I keep my phone on a ram mount...oh shit...I hear a loud crack and the plastic ram mount just comes apart...my phone drops right into the water...it seemed like the fish smashed the right side of my kayak about 10 times in 1 second...I'm going for a ride...somehow or another the fish comes unclipped??? and the next thing you know me and greg see it about 50 feet away...it seems in a blink of an eye...launching itself out of the water several times before finally sinking out to the bottom......Wow...did that just happen?

I'm in complete and utter shock...I look at the tip of one of my rods and in the melee somehow that fucker snapped 4" off my 800xl... What can I say...? Iv'e caught many halibut on my kayak a couple over 30 pounds many over 20...and never seen one go this crazy. This fish was definitely a personal best for me...it was larger than anything I have caught previously by far...I guess we will never really know for sure...

So I ended up losing a phone... whacked off by a halibut...busted rod...lost fish and wounded pride....hope this was an entertaining read for ya...true story! Unforturnately....



Tony.

[DanaPT]

yup, i'm w/ jorge on this. good to think about this now and best of luck remembering when the time comes.

[todd one]

To me, there's no more assuring feeling than the feeling of sinking a gaff in a fish.

[taggermike]

Its easier said than done some times, but stay cool. Rushing things or spazzing out will lose you fish and some times gear. Try to have your gear where you can get at it. HAving to dig out the gaff when the fish is at boat side, no bueno.

Gaff fish
Back off drag
Secure with clip or heavy stringer
Remove gaff
Bleed fish
Get fish out of sight. I put all fish in the hatch and out of sight to dogs.
Clean blood off yak
Hopefully repeat.
A word on gaffing. Place gaff hook on far side of fish and give a quick solid pull. Continue pulling until fish is against or in the yak. Sorry if this obvious but lots of fish get lost at gaff.
Mike