Hi, <BR>First time on the forum, got a question for those<BR>of you who float tube.<BR>What do you do with the Lings and Halibuts after you catch one? Do you use a stringer? <P>Thanks for your input.<P>Jerry<BR>

as far as shooting halibut in alaska, first of all, the flatties up there i believe are pacific halibut which get A LOT bigger than californias. those fish up north will actually do damage to the boat and injure the crew. even big california halibut can be dangerous, but not nearly to the point where you need to shoot them before bringing them on board. i personally have never had the need to kill a fish before storing it on my float tube. i figure if i get a fish that big, i'll be happy to just put it on a stringer and pull it shore and call it a day. (that's what rob did on sunday). unless you hook up with like a 20 pound fish, it ain't gonna do much damage while it's on the stringer or whatever. ok, i don't think you'll have to worry too much about a fish puncturing your float tube (unless you swing it into the boat and it starts thrashing around with a hook in it's mouth, rob did that on tuesday...) so, i think a stringer and a bag will be just fine. i just bring a stringer and it works.<BR> -Brian

Brian,

When I got the legal seabass last Sunday I attached him to a stringer. When I got home and was cleaning it I noticed how strong and sharp the spines on the first dorsal are. It swam under my tube and stuff several times when it was on the stringer. I know they usually swim with that fin folded down but it freaked me out anyway. I had a largemouth pop a tube with it's fin one time when I was floating down a river in Virginia. I was trying to get the hook out when POP! I was instantly underwater (not a float tube - just an inner tube).

Anyway, I think if I catch and keep another legal in the tube I'm going to snip off the ends of those spines before letting it dangle.

You can't catch tomorrow what you kill today - please practice catch and release.