Salmon bellies

[Linglifter]

I have a few king salmon bellies I've caught up north. I'm wondering if anyone here has used them for bait and how it worked out. I'm still looking for my bigger butt.

[danjor]

Work great for bug bait!

[buddha]

Bait?

Cook up those bellies!!!

Some of the best parts of the salmon as well as the collars!

[Linglifter]

Yeah their great for smoking and canning for sure. Butts like em too. We used them on my buddies boat and did well. I have salmon for days caned jerky frozen. Want some halibut in the freezer now or on the grill. May try this evening actually. Ill report back

[taggermike]

Seriously, those king bellies are probably better to eat then any thing you could catch on them. Mike

[danjor]

Post some belly recipes I have like 10lbs vacuum sealed in the freezer but i tried to pan fry them once and they didn't turn out to well. The ones I have are more than 50% fat, its like marbling on steroids, not meaning to thread jack with recipes....

[Linglifter]

Well I only have a few cause I smoked the rest ate some then made jerky. Still have a ton smoked and canned. Just want some different fish in the freezer. That's all. Rather use herring but they are hard to come by down here it seems

[Fiskadoro]

I know Salmon bellies are good bait for the large left eyed Pacific Halibut but our smaller right eyed California halibut are not as opportunistic and prefer live bait.

If your into hoop netting for lobsters I would cut the bellies into strips and add a small portion into the bait cages of your nets. The oil in the salmon bellies will travel a long way and attract bugs that might miss other less oily baits.

I envy you. I've not had any salmon in my freezer for almost a decade.

[Linglifter]

Ah thanks I guess the PAC Hal are pretty far out. Ill definitely save them for the bugs. I've caught tons of dungeness but never a spiney lobster. Onlooking forward to it. The salmon season was off the hook this year! Shall I say on the hook. Thanks for the info on the ca Hali's. how far out is 300 ft of water here? Are the PAC Hal even here at that depth?

[Linglifter]

I can tell u that northern ca fishing is really really good. huge lings blacks and we could keep cabezon there.

Trolling for salmon from a kayak.
This something special. When u land a beautiful 25 lb king salmon after battling sea lions that wanna just take a bite of the belly and just let the rest sink.

When u decide to go next year " the Bite is over now " here are a few tips.

1.Take your radio and listen to the fleet. It's better than chasing a fish that's not there.
2. Look for the birds. "The right birds "

3.I'm sure u will have a fish finder and can see the bait balls clearly.

4. The rig. I use a 7 ft seeker with an avet sx raptor. That second gear really helps when ur trying to avoid those harems of lions that are chasing ur hooked fish
5. Deep sixes. I use size 00-1 rarely the 002
6. Flashers, just a simple silver 12" works for me but there's all kinds
7. The bait or lure. I use mostly a 4.5 watermelon apex or Anchovies work great

8. Learning what depth to troll. You will hear the fleet or ur buddy telling u how many pulls. This means how many times you pull your line from a full spool. It goes from reel to the first eyelet on your rod. It's usually from 25-40 pulls

The important part is to be sure u tie your apex "lure" no more than 24"
From flasher otherwise u won't be a or to reach the fish unless u have a long ass gaff. I learned this from experience. I have a video to prove it

I am curious to see if anyone would be interested in heading up north to Trinidad next year for say a 4 day trip or so? I know those waters very well.

[Linglifter]

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[Aaron&Julie]

Linglifter, I don't know if in 42 years of fishing SoCal, I've ever heard of a Pacific halibut being caught down here, not even as far up as Santa Barbara. That doesn't mean it's never happened, I just wouldn't even try to target them if I were you. As far as our California halibut, 22" being the legal size and abut 3.5 lbs, you can catch them in water from 5' to over 100' deep, but if you concentrate your drift in likely areas in a depth of 25' to 75' feet you'll probably be more in the depth zone. And as others have said, live bait is the best choice, squid, greenback spanish mackerel, sardines, etc. Don't expect to find herring this far south either. Good luck!