Halibut documentation, what are you guys doing?

[Drewski Canuck]

I have the download from DFO, and it seems a bit crazy. I'm supposed to keep a fillet and the spine and tail, at 95 CM??? My Cooler may not be long enough!!!

Anyways, can a guy get a certified processor to vouch for the size of the fish and then cut it up, and if so, what would they charge?

Sure hope that Hali numbers increase in a hurry so that we can get back to something a little more reasonable. The idea of selling quota has now privatized the fish and made it a true rich man's sport. So much for a public resource.

Drewski

 

[the fog ducker]

whack 3 clean fillets , the 4 th must include the dorsal and full tail , snap the tail over if needed , just dont cut it off..
not a big deal , bit of a pain if ya dont have big coolers for a week long trip,,, if ya do well on all species
ez pz though , buy a bigger cooler if needed lol.. times of change....

fd

 

[Fishtank]

Or just say f#%k it and just do what you used to do

 

[the fog ducker]

Or just say f#%k it and just do what you used to do

lol......

fd

 

[Tips Up]

Giant pain in the butt!
Tried to do this a few weeks ago in renfrew and made a mess of the 4th fillet on both and knife cutting through bones.
I am now filleting and bagging as usual and then taking the headless carcas cut down to have just dorsal to tail in a seperate fish bag.
Not by the book but the best I can do.
We should all be back on the letter writing to DFO explaining how difficult this is to do. Love to see one of them try.

Tips

 

[the fog ducker]

the crap i seen on the cutting tables last trip was priceless ,,, the "less experienced " what a mess
amazing how many really dont know the new rules or measurements upon arrival of there vacations ,
they do ask , and play by the books , just a general $hit show mess when there done with there fish at the tables... lol ,
ALOTTA FRUSTRATION for sure !!... feel for them..helped out where i could...


fd

 

[tubber]

Unlike guides who need to process fish for guests, I use a different method. This is for the average joe with access to salt ice and ideally 4 coolers on a several day trip. Fill one cooler with salt ice the night before. Put some of it in the cooler on your boat and leave the rest in the truck. Gut and gill the fish, but leave them whole or head off if you have more than 2 anglers. Layer the belly-iced halis and other ground fish with fresh ice into the third clean cooler. Clean the boat cooler and dump the leftover ice in there. Layer the cleaned belly-iced salmon dorsal side down into the original ice cooler, leaving a bit in the bottom of the boat cooler for the next day. Now go fill the fourth cooler with ice for the next day. Continue fishing and layering until you are tagged out if that is your thing. Drain and top ice as needed. Take it home and cut it up any way you want while someone else works the vacuum sealer and makes fish burgers from the scrapings. No bags allowed until you get home.

 

[Last Chance]

Leave the fin, spine and tail on a fillet. If you need to fold 'er up, bust the spine.. It find it's easiest to take 3 regular fillets first, pop the gut sack out after that, and then push hard with the knife to remove the upper spine bones.

Yes, it sucks, but this spring in Renny when DOT and DFO were out there a few guys got reemed.. And I can assure you it went badly..

 

[GDW]

The piece with the fin and spine etc. attached can be cut in half to fit your cooler.

 

[chinnok]

I am just going to do what i used to do last year. Fillet the fish and cut into as many pieces as I need. I will not keep a fish that is too big. What can they do, throw me in jail for something stupid like this. I think DFO should concentrate on more importmant issues than this one.

 

[trophywife]

documentation?

i am recording all the ones over and released so i can submit it to DFO.

 

[High Velocity]

Anyways, can a guy get a certified processor to vouch for the size of the fish and then cut it up, and if so, what would they charge?

Drewski

We just returned from Winter Harbour last week and we had all our fish processed into approx. one pound pieces and vacuum packed by a licenced processor in Campbell River. While in WH, I gutted, headed, bagged and iced all fish caught, then High Tides in CR did a great job of the rest. So much easier.




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[Bragg]

Best part of the whole crazy deal is camping somewhere for a week that has no facilities. A generator and small freezer do the trick, BUT its impossible to freeze halibut flat... Bags are too small (short), freezers are upright, vs long and narrow, not all halibut are caught on the same day...yadda yadda.

Good luck staying legal, even when you cut as per DFO guidelines.

At the end of the trip, you have "balls" of frozen or semi frozen fish. Everything is legal, BUT can't be easily verified by Donny DFO...so you hope and pray you don't get checked.

Nice way to end a trip. Feeling like a criminal even though you have made attempts to abide by every rule.

Good thing fishing is so cheap these days...otherwise something like this would keep out of province guys away for good...along with their dollars that help out coastal communities.

Yeah...I'm bitter. Not worth the trouble anymore really. Guess DFO is winning.

 

[tidal shot]

I agree that they are trying to make it as difficult as possible for us to deter us from fishing halibut. These rules are so stupid in packaging that it is almost impossible for a out of province guy to bother with. Some guys mentioned taking it to a processor, at an additional $1.75lb to process that gets pretty pricey for a days fishing after all the other expenses a guy goes through, not to mention find the place to do it and taking a day out of your trip to deal with it.