Big Halibut
If you are in search of some monster sized halibut to fill your freezer back home, then you must head up to Alaska to go halibut fishing. The size and the amount of halibut that are swimming in the cold waters up north is amazing. Most of the time, people who wake up very early for a full day of halibut fishing are back home with their limit within just a few hours. There are just that many fish to be caught.
Fishing Deep Water For Alaskan Halibut
Most people who go after the halibut figure they need to be fishing in 300-500 feet of water. That is actually not the case all of the time. Many extra large 200 lb halibut are caught in just 150 feet of water. This makes for a much more interesting fight with the fish too. When you begin to pull up a monster halibut from five hundred feet of water, it can turn into a very boring catch which nobody really wants to be a part of.
Shooting the Halibut When they Reach the Surface
One of the most common forms of killing a large halibut is to shot it with a lead shot. There are different types of ways to shot the halibut, but the safest and most popular way is to use what is called a bang stick. This delivers a shot from a .22 caliber bullet which goes right through the halibuts head and sometimes can hit the brain and create an instant kill which is desired. The large halibut can really damage the cockpit of the boat if they are brought over still alive.
Packing Halibut and Taking The Meat Home
One thing you will all want to do is bring some of your fresh caught halibut back home with you. That is actually the most popular thing to do for all visitors who fish in Alaska. They all want to bring home halibut. It is even more popular than bringing home salmon these days because the value of the halibut is so much higher. Nobody should worry at all, the towns in Alaska are well aware of the goal of the fishermen. They are prepared to pack up and vacuum seal all of your fish within just hours of it being caught. And once it is all processed, they will bring it back to your fishing lodge and store it in the freezers until it is time for you to take everything home. Most people end up taking with them over 50 pounds of halibut on the airplanes. Sometimes for people who catch a several hundred pound halibut, there will be some options to actually just ship some of the meat back to your home state.