5 Halibut Fishing Tips for Your Ketchikan Alaska Trip

Halibut Fishing Tips for your Ketchikan Alaska trip

Halibut fishing tips for your Ketchikan Alaska Halibut fishing trip.

Have you ever gone fishing just for the halibut? Fresh Alaska halibut is, after all, delicious when prepared well, so you can never have enough of it.

Unfortunately, though, however fun fishing trips may be, racking up on fresh halibut is not quite as easy as we’d like it to be; we really do have to work for every halibut we reel in.

Of course, halibut fishing doesn’t have to be unbearably difficult. You need only take the following 5 halibut fishing tips into consideration the next time you go out to sea in search of halibut.

Vet Your Fishing Rod

Every fisher already has his or her own preference when it comes to fishing rods, and we’d never suggest that anyone’s favorite rod is somehow inferior to anything we recommend here.

That said, sometimes a fishing rod just isn’t ideal for catching certain fish, which is why we’re of the mind that you might want to do a little research in order to find a fishing rod that is suited to catching halibut. Luckily for you, there are fishing rods that are specifically listed as halibut fishing rods.

Even so, don’t just take a company’s word for it when it claims its halibut fishing rods are worth the money. After looking at the specs, you might find that the rods aren’t as sturdy or powerful as they need to be to catch halibut.

Select Fresh Bait

Fresh bait is so important for fishers who are looking to catch halibut since halibut rely primarily on their sense of smell to find food. In other words, you’re going to want something smelly, and the bloodier it is the better it works to attract them.

Fresh herring, salmon heads, and salmon bellies are common choices for bait because they give off very fishy odors. Do keep in mind, however, that not all of this bait will be easy to keep on your hook. That is to say, you’ll have your own reasons for choosing one type of bait over another.

Or Choose A Good Lure

If you don’t have access to fresh bait for some reason (or have a limited amount of fresh bait), your lure pretty much has to be superb.

When we say “superb,” we don’t mean that the lure has to be expensive or anything of that nature, but that it must be strategically selected.

If you are someone who is trying to save your fresh bait for another occasion, then you might consider rubbing the scent of some fresh fish on the lure in order to reel those halibut in.

Let The Halibut Eat Your Bait

We’ll be brief here: Don’t try to wrestle your halibut out of the water.

You don’t need to be so aggressive. You’ll do much better for yourself if you just gently pull the fish to the surface.

Fish During Halibut Season

As far as halibut fishing tips go, this one seems unnecessary, but we feel the need to remind you that you won’t get a bite if the fish aren’t there to bite.

Nor will you if you get the boot for failing to adhere to certain regulations.

For these reasons, you should make a habit out of looking at the rules and regulations that you’re bound to when you go fishing.

For More Halibut Fishing Tips

In truth, we’ve only scratched the surface here; there are plenty of other tips out there.

But we can’t go on forever.

If you’re interested in learning a few more halibut fishing tips (and in more detail), take a look around our site. You’re sure to find something that will improve your fishing technique.  You might also want to read about our 10 reasons to add Alaska fishing trips to your bucket list

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