Newport Inshore Halibut with Chris

My friend Chris was in town from Idaho and went out the day before to fish for tuna by himself.  He fished out of Newport and ended up almost 30 nautical miles west before finding warm blue water.  The fishing was slow, and he only ended up with 3 fish.  I drove over to Newport that night and we formed a game plan.  On the way, was the most beautiful sunset over Siletz Bay.

We decided not to waste gas for tuna, and instead, try for some inshore halibut and salmon.  There had been some good reports just off the lighthouse for some white gold we decided to go out and prospect!  Steve, from Idaho, also came over with his wife and child and we took them along for the killing.
That next morning, I woke up before everyone else and decided to run and grab a coffee.  It was nice and sunny around town, so I grabbed my coffee and headed over by Yaquina Head to become a tourist.  The tsunami that struck Japan last year sent debris all the way across the ocean and some ended up on the coast of Oregon.  There was a large concrete dock that created a tourist trap for some, and an eyesore on the beach for others. 

Finally they figured out a way to drive a crane out during low tide and dismember the dock in small pieces.   I drove up to the Yaquina Lighthouse and took a few other pictures from above.  Impressively big!  I can't believe it floated all the way across the Pacific!

Chris eventually woke up and called me, so I headed back to Southbeach.  We headed out, dropped the crab pots, and motored out to the drift.  Just off the lighthouse in 165' seemed to be the depth.  We dropped our baits and got bit within 20 mins!  Not just bit, but line just started screaming out!  First inshore fish on!  Chris brought in a nice fish!

They weren't just chickens, either.  These fish were around 40-50lbs each!  The bites continued and so did the filling of the cooler!  We limited out in short order and made our way back to pick up the crab pots.  After some nice limits of big crab, we headed in to clean up, relax and recount our adventure.  Here's Steve with a nice fish that is going home to his Idaho freezer!  ...and let me tell you... These Idaho boys don't mess around! When they drive out here to fish, they bring fish HOME!  They come equipped with full chest freezers in the back of their trucks, attached to generators to keep them cool.  WOW!  Dedication!

Here's my piggy!  

 
Can't beat a day inshore, nice weather, great company, and BIG FISH!!  What another amazing day on the pond!  CHris, thanks, dude!  Can't wait til next Spring for the next adventure!