Halibut fishers Bible online..

[Fiskadoro]

I was playing around online and came across Several of Fred Archer's books online at Google.

Most of his books deal with Big Game or offshore fishing but I was surprised to find his little known Halibut book "Halibut Fisherman's Bible" was online.

You can find it here.

http://books.google.com/books?id=bIl...0archer&f=true

Doesn't look like the whole book is there but there is about fifty pages. Lot of info there.

Fred's known for his unconventional thinking, and unique methods of fishing which usually do work. I've never read this one before but just glancing over it I've got a feeling there will be few things you guys maybe have not seen before. Techniques that go beyond that beyond the standard stuff that most guys use that you see printed over and over in WON.

Worth a glance at any rate.

Jim

[wiredantz]

Helpful as always.

[DanaPT]

A nice weekend read.

Thanks for sharing.

[bus kid]

Thanks Jim, now we just sit and wait for someone to come along and tell you that you don't know how to use the internet.

[jorluivil]

Originally Posted by bus kid

Thanks Jim, now we just sit and wait for someone to come along and tell you that you don't know how to use the internet.

Jim, when you find the entire book online please let us know. For now, please figure out how to use the internet

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by jorluivil

Jim, when you find the entire book online please let us know. For now, please figure out how to use the internet

Can you read? I figured you'd appreciate an abridged version

[Fiskadoro]

So that was a pretty interesting read for me.

There were a few things I liked or found worth thinking about.

Big baits= Big fish...

I agree. I've hooked a lot of big fish on Macks, Brownbait, Smelt etc.. It's not always the ticket but it does produce big fish.


Humbolts for strip bait....

I've used smaller strips of humbolt squid with plastics for halibut, and it works. The best thing is it stays on the hook much longer then regular squid. That's said I never considered using big strip baits like he suggests though I imagine it would work.

Circle hooked trap rigs... (this one got me going)

Personally I don't like circle hooks, but the circle hook trap rig he shows for fishing live squid makes perfect sense. Unlike a treble trap the circle hook is cleaner visually and also less likely to pick eel grass and other junk when squid tries to hide itself in junk on the bottom. Like he says do to their speed and soft bodies big fish tend to inhale squid which gets the hooks deep enough to work and their soft bodies allow the hooks to pivot around and find the corner of the jaw. I think that rigging will not only work for butts but also yellowtail and C-bass. I may start trapping my dropper loop squid that way especially when there are Big butts hanging around La Jolla.

Spectra topshots?

This was a new idea to me. Splicing in only thirty feet of spectra as a topshot. The idea being that it will work for kelp cutting, but eliminate some backlash problems. hhhhmmmmmm.......

Since your almost always casting more then thirty feet, and since most backlashes occur at the end of the cast, this would eliminate much of the backlash issue of spectra, and since most kelp wrapping occurs next to the fish you can still cut kelp. Sounds plausible.

I could also see this used on party boats. Since the majority of tangles happen at the boat when some idiot crosses your line while your bait is still a good ways out, they'd tangle mono not spectra which would be easier to clear.

Personally I'll stick to my smaller superior dragged reels with magnetic cast controls, that I fill with spectra but that is an interesting idea for people still using traditional sized reels that have issues casting spectra.

Like I said worth the look, would be nice to see the whole version but I don't feel like spending the 35 bucks for the online book.

Jim