Who is ready for Halibut ?

[Kruel J]

Love me some halibut! Anyone need a fishing buddy? I don't eat much and I'm good for gas money!!

Seriously though, I've fished salmon off downriggers for YEARS. Never owned a boat, I was lucky that I had a buddy that covered that. We used to go out every weekend in Puget Sound and limit both days. I would love to someday try my hand at halibut.

 

[PORSCHE928S4]

I don't have an ocean boat but i do have an 18' Jetcraft windshield boat for inshore trips. I like to trade trips when I chase the Springers then switch over to Kokanee in the summer then Coho in Sept & October.

I have this Halibut fighting combo.
It's a Lamiglas 5'-6" rod with a Tekota 800 loaded with 100# braid....
I'm ready to fish.

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That 800 is a beast absolutely love it I use mine with a seeker rod

 

[Caveman Jim]

Hewes makes a awesome boat I sold mine when I saw the Kingfisher and well have been loving it ever since

I fished out of a 20' Hewes Sea Runner & it is VERY sea worthy. We made it home alive one day burning 52 gallons of fuel and with the capable hands of an ex CG pilot & that awesome boat.

 

[Argonaut]

We use a 12/0 Penn with an electric motor. In the old days we would fish rock fish at 1000 feet with 2 6 hook Gannon's and a 5 lb weight. Sometimes we would catch 100 lbs of fish on a single drop. We fish for a lot of halibut off my work boats in the SF Bay.....great stuff and they aren't that deep. We are going to move my 28' Aluminum research boat to Astoria in a couple of months. I have decided to launch in Lewiston and drive her down the rivers to Astoria. I haven't done that trip for years and the spring has been so nice it should be fun. I am looking forward to albacore season.

 

[PORSCHE928S4]

QUOTE="Caveman Jim, post: 1918280, member: 26305"]I fished out of a 20' Hewes Sea Runner & it is VERY sea worthy. We made it home alive one day burning 52 gallons of fuel and with the capable hands of an ex CG pilot & that awesome boat.[/QUOTE]

Don't get me wrong I am not knocking a Hews the one I had was a 16 ft River Runner made in 1986 and it served me well with no issues at all. I just had the ocean call me so had to move to a ocean boat the 16 footer just was not going to get me there and I do miss her .

 

[Caveman Jim]

I would take my 17' Willie sled out into the Straits from Sekiu, had to pray a few days but enjoyed it.

 

[PORSCHE928S4]

I would take my 17' Willie sled out into the Straits from Sekiu, had to pray a few days but enjoyed it.

Had to pray a few times with the big boat lol

 

[Argonaut]

In my experiance (considerable) a small boat can be OK off shore for some uses. We carry many on my larger boats and most perform well but with bottom fishing you normally position the boat upwind of a rock pile or sand bar on the bottom and allow the boat to pull your line across it while more or less drifting. Those can be dangerous conditions to operate a small boat. It is very easy (enevidible) to wind up with the beam to a trough. I have picked up boats that were flipped turtle in that situation. As long as you are traveling enough to keep the bow to the swell you can be quite safe in most sea states. We commonly launch Boston Whalers allowing my divers more mobility and easy in and out access, some with a gunnel cut out to the deck that I bought from the USN dolphin training program. As long as the swell duration is long they are fine but a short swell on the beam can be really ugly.

 

[PORSCHE928S4]

Yes sir safety knowing your limits and having a good head on your shoulders will get you and your fish back to the dock oh and of course having serviceable equipment !

 

[Chase89]

Can't wait to try for some halibut this year. Filled the freezers with salmon, lingcod and rockfish last summer but didn't manage to get out for the butts. Had a Willie Sled that wasn't ideal for getting out to them. New Hewes ought to get the job done this season.

 

[Mister Bisley]

They sure are tasty critters. Would really love to get out for some halibut fishing at some point in my life. I grew up mostly fishing on the Chesapeake Bay in MD for blues and stripers.

 

[bbbass]

I grew up mostly fishing on the Chesapeake Bay in MD for blues and stripers.

I had fished for stripers but discovered blues while stationed with the USCG at Elizabeth City NC. I loved fishing/catching/eating them. We caught stripers on the Pasquotank River but not very many. By comparison, we could follow the clouds of seagulls in a vehicle on the beach (amazing) and just keep getting the bite. It was soooo exciting! And tasty!!!!