Halibut anyone?

[TimH]

Damn! now thats dinner!!! :eek: Dinner (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/139258_bighalibut12.html)

[ 09-13-2003, 12:13 AM: Message edited by: TimH ]

[Stiletto]

Will there be fries with that?

[Donn]

Oh my!

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20030912/450BIG_HALIBUT_AKAND101.jpg

[TimH]

Good thing we got him out of there before the polution got to him. There *used* to be big Halibut like that in Puget Sound, but...... :(

[Don Olney]

"the crew spotted what appeared to be a bus coming up from a depth of about 210 feet"

This tiny halibut is from the Prince William Sound.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid60/p3b0aba6a34d73c6a271868a025b8b89c/fc46a0b8.jpg

[Mrleft8]

When I lived in Ft.Bragg (Ca.) I used to go down to Noyo harbor, and watch the boats. Mostly urchin boats, but a lot of Halibut boats too. One day I asked if I could go out with one of them some day. They asked if I knew my way around a comercial fishing boat, and I replied in the negative. They then told me I'd be in the way, and dangerous, and why would I want to go out on a smelly old fishing boat anyway? I said "Oh, just for the Halibut"... Didn't even get a chuckle or grin out of 'em.... And NO, they didn't ever let me tag along.....

[MarkC]

Could they eat it, or do they stuff it?

[ishmael]

I saw a depiction of halibut, on a web-site a few days ago, that made it look like a free swimming fish, almost identical to a cod.

When in it's life cycle does it become a flatfish?

Love Halibut, by the way. Fresh, broiled or grilled, a little lemon. YIPES!!! Yum. smile.gif

[Donn]

"Halibut larvae begin life in an upright position similar to other fish with an eye on each side of the head. However, when the larvae are approximately one inch long, they undergo an amazing transformation in which the left eye moves over the snout to the right side of the head and the pigmentation on the left side of the fish fades. The young halibut take on the features of adult fish approximately six months after hatching and settle to the bottom in shallow, nearshore areas. The halibut now have both eyes on the pigmented (olive to dark brown) side of the body while the underside of the fish is white."

link (http://alaskaoutdoorjournal.com/Ecology/halibutlife.html)

Just a big flounder, at heart. The migrating eye part always fascinates me.

[ishmael]

Interesting. So the web-site that showed a free swimming halibut was simply wrong. I thought so at the time.

They are weird, delicious but weird.

[whb]

Lefty

Most of the small boats that take folks charter fishing for halibut up here don't even put them in the boat when they are this size. They spear them and tie them to the side of the boat to take back to the dock where a crane lifts them. A big halibut thrashing around in a small boat is a good recipe for broken legs or people thrown out of the boat. Hence the issue of safety.

Howard

[BrianW]

Also, that big halibut would be a 'her' not a 'him'.

The males don't get that large. Unfortunately for the crew, they just killed a large breeding female. :(

When they get that big, it's my understanding the meat is not as good. The "chicken'but" in Dons post above is about the perfect size.

[Donn]

Brian..these were longliners. They aren't known for their conservationist ways. A 500# fish brings the same price (per pound) as a 50# fish.

[Dave Fleming]

Ayup, 'chicken halibut' is best flavour wise.
Outside of Atlantic COD it is my favourite white fish. Makes 'aces' fish n'chips too.

Classic Halibut story is about the solo fisherman who catches a fish similar to the one in the photo and brings it aboard. Fish thrashes about and breaks his thigh bone and punctures the 'femoral artery'(sp). Fisherman knowing he is in deep doo do steers for shore and the boat runs aground with engine still running when boat is found later in day with the fish and fisherman both dead.
And YES you can steer a troller from aft fishing station or working cockpit.

Probably an old folk tale but nevertheless a word to the wise.
I have been told that many a halibut fisherman carries a 22 cal. to pop a fish like that in the head before bringing aboard.
Other tales tell of big fish being carried along side until an Orca comes along and 'slurp' gone is that nice big fish and the money it would bring from the buyers.

[Norske3]

...wide beam for its length...shallow draft....my favorite fish dinner.

[Donn]

Any fool that would bring a fish like that aboard, alive, deserves what he gets. A .22 probably wouldn't break the skin on a 500# flounder...much less her skull. A 12ga slug would be more appropriate.

Drag her at 8kts for a short time, and she's dead.

[BrianW]

Single shot .410 shotguns are pretty popular too. Fairly safe, since once fired the can't be easily reloaded. There are some made in stainless steel for a couple hundred dollars. Not very pretty, but at least if it falls overboard you won't be too upset.

[AlleninAlaska]

http://d3625903.s69.snitz.net/images/halibut6.jpg

From my last charter on Cook Inlet at the end of July 2003

[ 09-14-2003, 04:25 AM: Message edited by: AlleninAlaska ]

[Mrleft8]

"Just a big flounder, at heart. The migrating eye part always fascinates me"
I had a girlfriend once, with a wandering eye.... Do you suppose a migrating eye is really just a wandering eye that found a place it liked?
I was just thinking of "The old man and the sea" movie with Spencer Tracy. That swordfish he caught, was so proud of, disappeared pretty fast when the sharks showed up.....

[ishmael]

I've been told that fish are very sensitive to alcohol, and a squirt gun filled with 151 rum, aimed to the gills, will dispatch them in a hurry. Anyone confirm or deny? Seems a little less messy than a shotgun. :D

[Ron Williamson]

I think I'd rather have the rum than that much fish.
R

[ion barnes]

OK, listenup. If you get a halibut on a line. you get it near the surface, but dont let the nose out of the water as it will thrash around and be difficult. Let it swim near to the boat and when it begins to swim away, you haul in hard and bring him up white side out, and into the boat. As soon as possible, coming over the rail, you begin petting the latural line on the white side and the fish will remain calm and you can put a noose around the tail so you wont lose it and now cut the gills.

Shooting them just makes them mad, dragging them to drown them is more likely to loose the fish and either way is for the uninformed.

I have had the pleasure of sport fishing for halibut with a 350# handline and the largest I have got to date is 80# and assisted with bringing in a 110#.

As for the one that started this thread, I mourn the loss of the breeding potential, commercial fishery or otherwise. No wonder our oceans are going the way of the Dodo bird.

[Don Olney]

Good to see some Alaskan forum members on this thread.

The halibut in my photo was shot with a .22. It might have made it "mad" but only for a split second before it gave up the ghost.

In my opinion, the smaller type halibut as in Allen's photo are the tastiest.

I seem to recall that there is a bone in the halibut that is prized for carving.