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!

Idaho Spuds Bag First Tuna

 

Well, Chris popped back over the hill from Idaho to spend a couple weeks fishing.

During this trip, a friend of his from Idaho, and his boy, joined us.  It was their first time out on the ocean, and fishing for tuna.  We couldn't have asked for a calmer day, either.  The ride out started out with a slight breeze in the morning.

Throughout the day, the wind died off and it just turned to glass. We found warm water just 24 miles offshore and deployed the lines.  The first couple fish came one at a time.  They had a blast gaffing fish!

The fish were very cooperative throughout the afternoon!

We ended up the day with just over 20 fish, and the Idaho boys were amazed at this fishery that we have out here. 

Happy Birthday, Dad!

On July 21st, Melissa and I went out to Siletz Bay to take my Dad crabbing for his 79th birthday.

He and my Mom had the greatest time out on the water.  The weather was absolutely perfect as well!

  We didn't end up hooking any salmon, but didn't really try, either.  We mainly crabbed and enjoyed the day.  This day was his.  So, whatever he wanted to do, which was relax and catch some crabbies.. 

So we did!

My parents enjoyed seeing the seals that inhabited the bay.

 If you hook a fish, you need to get it in quick, because these seals would swipe your salmon so fast your head would spin!

Dad helped pull the crab pots and keep the back deck organized.

We ended up with a few crabs...enough for some crab cocktails, but no limits, that's for sure.   The plan was to sneak a cake out with us, and sit on the beach and have steamed crab, some wine, and some cake and celebrate his birthday.  Well, everything went well, except we didn't catch our crab... soooo, we just headed back to Salem to celebrate.  Little did he know that we had a cake with us during the WHOLE trip, out in the cooler in the front of the boat!  Needless to say, he was VERY surprised and LOVED it!!! 

Happy Birthday, Dad!  I love you!

4th of July Tuna!...err, 5th!

Well, it wasn't exactly the 4th of July, but we DID get out to fish for some tuna on the 5th of July.  My friend Chris saw a nice weather window for a week of calm weather so he loaded up the boat and headed over from Idaho. 

I drove over the night before and met him in Newport to launch the boat.  We set a plan for the next day, which entailed a later start.

 
 We loaded up and took off under the bridge, through the thin layer of fog.

 
The fog quickly dissipated and sun broke through.

We made it out to the 33 line and dropped in.  We instantly hooked up!  A nice single to start the day!

 Right after that fish was bled and chilled, we had a double. ...then a triple. ...then a QUAD!  We landed all 4 fish during that quad, too!

It eventually slowed down and the fish went off the bite for a while during the late morning and early afternoon.

There were plenty of signs of life, and lots of birds.  We found a few friendly albatross that danced along the water beside us, looking for a meal, themselves.

Its amazing how large these birds are.  It definitely takes them a few waves to create a runway to take off.  They almost run along the water until they finally glide up into the air. 

The bite turned back on and Rapalas and swim baits were the meal tickets.  

We ended up with plenty of fish for both of us, along with a great day full of memories.
 
Thanks again, Chris!!

Halibut on KillerTraylor

    Joe Traylor sent me a text asking if I'd like to join the guys for some halibut.  I couldn't resist!   Besides, the new chest freezer needed some weight, anyway.  A beautiful morning drive took across the back bay, exposing the sunbeams peeking through the fog.

     Once in Garibaldi, I met up with the guys and planned our day.   We launched and headed across the bar.  We first headed North and dropped crab pots before heading out to the hill.

Once we were out there and set up a drift, the bites began.  First were a few chickens, but eventually we finished out with our limits.

Amongst the drifts and the halibut, were the the occasional skate.

 
We would be bringing up a heavy fish, getting our hopes up, hoping for that 100lb piggy halibut, but noooooo.... Another skate.   Pretty much a worthless fish.  Some people stamp out the wings with a cookie cutter, making calamari, but eh.... no thanks..  I'll stick with halibut!  We saw a couple regulars bellying up to the Halibut bar out there..  Dave, Bud,

Also saw Bud and the boys on Seelicious filling the fish boxes..

 We grabbed a couple picture before cleaning the white gold!

Here's a final picture with a couple of our nice fish.