BY MERIT McCREA
This past weekend was the 2-day 50th-Annual Marina Del Rey Halibut Derby. Last year’s winning team of Jim Hendrix, Chris Wheaton and Dennis Yamamoto were at it again, with the addition of Wendy Tochihara. Day one success was high, but as of this writing, day two is a bust, so far. Saturday’s success included a pair of halibut for Tochi, with the largest weighing in at 26.75 pounds, and a 46-pound white seabass by Dennis Yamamoto. The hali garnered a 25% bonus as they kept it alive to release. But Day 1 was not without its heartbreaks. Tochihara texted:
“I caught a huge halibut but Chris dropped the net a little and he lost it. I caught a second one and we are on the board. Both fish were on Big Hammers.” “We think about 40lbs.” “Dennis says it’s the biggest halibut he’s ever seen.” “Chris got splashed and the saltwater in his eyes made him drop the net.”
HE lost it! Wow! In seconds the moment was immortalized –tattooed on Chris for the rest of his natural life! Well, you’d expect the line to still be on the fish, even after it bounced out of the net, but the hook had fallen out of the fish.
Why had he reached for the net instead of the gaff on a 40 pounder? Well, remember, extra 25% in points for fish released after weigh-in.
How big of a fish can successfully be landed in a net? The largest I’ve ever successfully netted were triple-digit black seabass that had to be released. There’s definitely a technique to running a large, long-handled landing net, and it took two of us, one on either side of the hoop, fingers-through-the-webbing to hoist those over the rail.
Perhaps the most adept at netting big fish are partyboat crews on the salmon boats up north. With decks several feet above the water and salmon wanting to spin around on the surface out away from the boat, it takes a long handled net with a big sack and skills to reach them, sack them and get them aboard.
The netting wants to snag on everything. The handle is long and flimsy feeling, and as soon as the sack hits the water the net is stuck in place except for dipping down and pulling back.
While the practice of scooping dozens of fish daily is no-doubt the biggest contributor to future success, there are some basic techniques to the task.
First, when you carry the net around or stand ready at the rail, have your index finger through the webbing at the bottom of the sack, pull the bag tight and grab the handle with that hand so the sac can’t accidentally snag on stuff.
Second, the fish has to be right on top to have a decent chance at scooping it. The only way you can get a fish by digging deep is if you plunge the net straight down in front of a fish as it’s swimming hard and right into the net.
With the fish on the surface put the net quickly right in front of and under the fish, lift the net rim clear of the water scooping the fish, then, and here’s the key, pull back, closing the fish into the sac of the net, head first. A large fish’s tail will be sticking out a bit and you have to keep it high and dry.
Third, pull back on the handle quickly and with the handle sticking straight up, lift the fish over the rail.
Most newbies will try to hold the handle out like a frying pan. This both keeps the net open and puts all the weight horizontal to the net. Newbs with big fish break nets this way.
Netting fish tail-first almost never works out. Hooks and sinkers tend to snag in the webbing so a fish that bounces out of a net, often escapes entirely. A fish missed with a gaff usually is still on the line, however.
What about the gaff? Gaffing successfully takes practice, especially with the longer gaffs used on sportboats. The flex will fool you. Once again, chasing a fish down with the hook in the water is difficult. You have to lead the fish with the hook in the air and only hit the water once things are lined up.
Practice is key, and one of the best practice targets is an aluminum can. They’re very light but fairly tough skinned, so you have to hit them hard enough to punch through, but not so hard as to knock them clear off the hook.
A couple of tricks. Stay away from the line so you don’t get it wrapped on the gaff. Best target areas on most fish is right through the breast of the fish, where all the fins are. It’s tough there.
Barracuda on a big single-hook gaff? Hold the hook at an angle to the fish so it can’t cradle the ‘cuda.
A word on the double-eyeball gaff. On tuna over about 50 pounds a gaff can tear right through the eye sockets. Best target on big tuna is the chest and gill plates.
On tuna of over 100 pounds it’s best to hit them in the head while they’re right on the surface, and keep their nose out of the water no matter what it takes. If a 150- 200 pounder gets its nose under water it will kick your ass. You will end up elbows-on-the-rail screaming for help as the gaff tears out of the fish or out of your hands.
It’s best to have more than one person gaffing a big fish at once, all in the head. If someone hits far back, that gaff should be repositioned before attempting to drag a big fish through the gate. And don’t let the gaffs get twisted around each other.
For safety’s sake, even on skiffs, have all your gaffs at least 7 feet long so the hook is well above eyeball-level when the butt is on deck. Anything shorter should be like hay-hook or ball-bat gaff length only.
As of Saturday night Dennis had big fish overall but they hadn’t entered the seabass side pot and Tochi was in first for women and 4th in the calcuttas with the larger of her two halibut that had made it aboard – all on Big Hammer swimbaits with a 1.5-ounce leadhead.
Update: They ended up winning big fish and big seabass, Tochi took first place fish in the women’s division and the team took 3rd overall.
Merit McCrea is SoCal saltwater editor for Western Outdoor News. A veteran Southern California partyboat captain, he is the Science and Fisheries Coordinator for the Sportfishing Association of California and a marine research scientist with the Dr. Milton Love Lab at the University of California at Santa Barbara’s Marine Science Institute. He currently serves on the Groundfish Advisory sub-Panel of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, the Santa Barbara Harbor Commission, and the CCA-Cal State Board. He can be reached at: merit@wonews.com.
