Halibut Rod and Reels.

[BlackHeart]

Planning on going out to the coast for salmon and halibut. Hoping to connect with some large halibut. I have some salmon rods, with the spinning reels set up with 30lb braided test.

So the question I have is.....If I want to target large halibut should I buy a different rod and reels set up specifically for them. I was thinking a stiffer rod with a large casting reel.

What lb of line should I use?

Any advice and pics of your halibut gear would be great. Would be nice to see some great halibut/salmon gear setups as well. Was thinking about starting the purchasing soon as I have myself and two sons to buy for and if I stretch it out over the next few months its a little easier on the bank account.

Any advice or recommendations on the best set up.... one or two or a really good combo setup.

Also some of those large reels had a line counter....is this worth it and why??

[Rigg dogg]

I have a few Shimano Trevala Jigging rods.
I had ordered the 6'6" ones but ended up with the 5'8" model.
2 are rigged up with Penn Senator reels and 2 with Shimano TLD 20's.

I love the rods, to look at them they seem like a light weight rod but they are rated pretty heavy. Go with some 65-80 LB Power Pro braid and you should be good.
One of the things I like about the rods is they are good for kids, had my 2 daughters and niece fishing with me. They had no problems handling them.

The Penn reels are OK, but I like the Shimano's better with the lever drag. Make sure to give the reels a bath with fresh water when you get in from a day of fishing. That Salt water can be hard on gear.

I have a custom built rod I got for a gift, it's actually a 7' Marlin rod, I have not had chance to give it a good work out yet.

Here's a little Testimonial for the Rod and the Power Pro braid.

We were Halibut fishing last year in the QCI, rough day out.Had the 9.9 in reverse trying to hold us on our spot.

While helping my buddy land a small Butt, my line got wrapped up in the 9.9. Well the line didn't break nor did the rod, but it busted the Scotty rod holder right off the side of the boat and stalled the motor.

Only damage was the eye on the end of the rod, had Reel doctor replace it and it's as good as new.

Lesson learned, put kicker in Neutral when screwing around. :D:D
Will post some pics when I get out of the BUSH in a few days. Here's my girl's with a few small Hali's and the " SHARK " they caught.


http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb307/riggdogg/kids078-1.jpg

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb307/riggdogg/kids071.jpg

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb307/riggdogg/kids080.jpg

[Rigg dogg]

As far as Salmon rods and reels go. I don't thnk A spiinnig reel wil CUT it!!!!

Get a Knuckle Buster, I LOVE my Islander MR-3's, no BUSTING NUCKEl's here.

Shimano GT 4000 are great tough reels as well.

Grade 3 Page 5.

[Kim473]

What does one use for hook and bait for them?

[critter]

Planning on going out to the coast for salmon and halibut. Hoping to connect with some large halibut. I have some salmon rods, with the spinning reels set up with 30lb braided test.

So the question I have is.....If I want to target large halibut should I buy a different rod and reels set up specifically for them. I was thinking a stiffer rod with a large casting reel.

What lb of line should I use?

Any advice and pics of your halibut gear would be great. Would be nice to see some great halibut/salmon gear setups as well. Was thinking about starting the purchasing soon as I have myself and two sons to buy for and if I stretch it out over the next few months its a little easier on the bank account.

Any advice or recommendations on the best set up.... one or two or a really good combo setup.

Also some of those large reels had a line counter....is this worth it and why??



Heres what you need to do if you are really as uneducated as you sound about this type of fishing. (Not a bad thing, just takes practice like anything :) ) Either when your on the island or even still in alberta, go to a store such as island outfitters or wholesale sports and tell them what you just told us. They will set you up. Even canadian tire sells perfectly good halibut rods for around 30-40 bucks. they should be stiff and short. For salmon, spinning reels will not do. Either go with an islander type fly reel (knucklebuster) or a levelwind of some sort geared towards that type of fishing. Its really not hard to find out what gear to use, i would definitaley invest more time talking to professionals who sell the gear for a living rather than a few forum junkies. Good luck and if your set up right, you should get into some good fish, assuming you know where to go! Just remember, halibut fishing is heavy duty. Just to jig the rod itself is like lifting weights, never mind when you get a fish on. Everything is beefy, sturdy, short, tough.. You will need 80 - 100 lb braided dacron line, anyone who works in the store will reccomend a good brand, i use gorilla tough. for salmon, you need 30 lb mono (maxima ultragreen), with a reel that holds at least 200 yards of it. Gluck!

[Reeves1]

Man up and use 220lb test hand line ! :lol:

Then, when you go home, you can use it in the weed wacker !
That is where I'm using up my old line :D


109 lbs

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/DerrickJB/109lbs.jpg

[gordfishing]

What does one use for hook and bait for them?

I used a large spreader bar with a 1 lb weight at one end a halibut rig with large power bait at the other and bounced it off of the bottom
line lots of at least 100lb test and yes braided would be best. I have fished at 300 feet for these guys:wave::wave::wave::wave::wave::love::love::lov e::love:

[slipbobber]

I got a Shimano TDL 20 reel/rod combo from Cabelas. Payed $180 for the combo and they sell the reel for $160 for $20 you get a good rod aswell.

[BlackHeart]

Heres what you need to do if you are really as uneducated as you sound about this type of fishing. (Not a bad thing, just takes practice like anything :) ) Either when your on the island or even still in alberta, go to a store such as island outfitters or wholesale sports and tell them what you just told us. They will set you up. Even canadian tire sells perfectly good halibut rods for around 30-40 bucks. they should be stiff and short. For salmon, spinning reels will not do. Either go with an islander type fly reel (knucklebuster) or a levelwind of some sort geared towards that type of fishing. Its really not hard to find out what gear to use, i would definitaley invest more time talking to professionals who sell the gear for a living rather than a few forum junkies. Good luck and if your set up right, you should get into some good fish, assuming you know where to go! Just remember, halibut fishing is heavy duty. Just to jig the rod itself is like lifting weights, never mind when you get a fish on. Everything is beefy, sturdy, short, tough.. You will need 80 - 100 lb braided dacron line, anyone who works in the store will reccomend a good brand, i use gorilla tough. for salmon, you need 30 lb mono (maxima ultragreen), with a reel that holds at least 200 yards of it. Gluck!

Yes, I have only gone salmon fishing once and it was from shore. The rods and reels I bought were from WSS and on recommendation from one of the staff there. This was 4 or 5 years ago. I bought the large spinning reels and long heavy rods.

I have gone to WSS yesterday and was shown some stuff and given some (I think) good advice. But as indicated maybe the stuff I bought 5 years ago was not ideal. So I'd like to get advice from those with experience and no sales biases.

Critter. Any reason for the 30lb mono versus what is used for the halibut? And can the 30lb braided stuff work for salmon...any advantages to the mono or improved catching??.....I like the braided test because it is very slippery and small diameter....when my son was 9 he could cast with this rod quite far....actually suprised me how the smooth line allowed him to get it that far out. Maybe I need a guide for salmon/halibut gear buying:lol:......are you in the Edmonton area.....I'd buy lunch.

[Mike_W]

First of all for salmon braided line I would not recomend the no stretch characteristics are not nessasary and actually can work against you and cause a mouth to rip or have the hole worked big which allows the hook to come out easy.
My setup consist of a mooching reel and 30 lb maxima ultragreen with 40 lb leader.

For halibut a 6 foot rod with a good back bone with a bit of tip action is my preferance and as mentioned the Shimano TLD 20's are nice.
Line.....wow I just finnished checking out the entire line of power pro and without a doubt that will be on my reels in 80lb test its round and super low diameter is a major plus for me. (got there 250lb downrigger line coming also).

Good luck
Mike

[critter]

BlackHeart, 30 lb mono for halibut is simply way too light. For halibut, you are fishing from 200-400 feet of water, straight down to the bottom. With that much line out, its no different than jigging for trout in really deep water. You want a good hook set. If you use mono, there will be way too much stretch to get a good hookset. You need braided line so you are able to feel every contour of the bottom as you bounce bottom, and feel every bite, and get a solid hook set as a halibuts mouth is like concrete. Heres acouple videos of why 30 lb mono wouldnt work for these fish.. These are ones we caught acouple years ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4GoAjLojDE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCNhexRdspE
That should give you an idea as to what kind of rods and reels we use, and how heavy the weights are that we attach to the spreader bar. Often times, we need to attach up to 3-4 lbs of weight to maintain bottom contact if its windy or if the tides are running. Halibut are a heavy duty fish and require heavy duty gear. I live in Calgary. Mono for salmon is the way to go, as you dont need a really direct hookset and its a different kind of fishing.. Trolling fairly shallow for a soft mouthed fish v.s extreme deep water jigging for a hard mouthed large sized flatfish. Any other questions, speak up...:)