Longlining question, Chicken Ranch/Banana

[fishitis]

We had a pretty slow halibut weekend. Friday, started at the Banana and very slow, didn't catch anything worth keeping. Assumed it was because of the longlines in there and/or the shrimpers.
Next day, tried the Chicken Ranch all day for one decent halibut. Again, longlines covering most of the normal drift areas. Again, assumed that this could have caused fishing to be slow.
I know next to nothing about commercial halibut fishing, so I was hoping some of you on the board could clue me in.
First, I'm assuming that the sets of buoys out there were marking the ends of the longlines and that these were fishing for halibut. Is that correct?
Second, I look up the IPHC site to get an idea of when the seasons are so I can maybe redirect my fishing efforts to more productive dates or stick to the Rockpile when the longlines are in. But as I'm perusing the site, the last halibut 10 hour season was July 23 and there was very little quota left. The next season is Aug 6, again for 10 hours. So now I'm wondering why we saw longlines both at the banana and the chicken ranch. Anybody shed some light on this?
I figure the more I learn about this fishery, the more successful I can be.
Thanks for any enlightment.

[Reel Knotty]

I second that question. I would really like to know more....

Anyone?....Bueller?

[Fatdad]

Originally Posted by fishitis

We had a pretty slow halibut weekend. Friday, started at the Banana and very slow, didn't catch anything worth keeping. Assumed it was because of the longlines in there and/or the shrimpers.
Next day, tried the Chicken Ranch all day for one decent halibut. Again, longlines covering most of the normal drift areas. Again, assumed that this could have caused fishing to be slow.
I know next to nothing about commercial halibut fishing, so I was hoping some of you on the board could clue me in.
First, I'm assuming that the sets of buoys out there were marking the ends of the longlines and that these were fishing for halibut. Is that correct?
Second, I look up the IPHC site to get an idea of when the seasons are so I can maybe redirect my fishing efforts to more productive dates or stick to the Rockpile when the longlines are in. But as I'm perusing the site, the last halibut 10 hour season was July 23 and there was very little quota left. The next season is Aug 6, again for 10 hours. So now I'm wondering why we saw longlines both at the banana and the chicken ranch. Anybody shed some light on this?
I figure the more I learn about this fishery, the more successful I can be.
Thanks for any enlightment.

These are all good questions, I would like to have some light shed on this. I am sure that those long lines catch more fish in one day that all the sport fisherman combined. Again the majority pays for the profit of the few.

[Mark Mc]

Without even looking at when the commercial halibut season was, I am pretty certain the buoys at the chicken ranch were not halibut longlines.

As you mentioned, halibut openers are short. When they are working an area, you will see multiple sets of gear, not just a single pair (of buoys). You will see the boat in the area, working the gear. You will usually see many boats over a wide area, working their gear.

It could have been a single longline for black cod. Or it could have been markers for black cod traps. Or (drumroll) it could have been markers for hagfish traps.

My guess is they were markers for traps.

[fishitis]

Thanks, Mark Mc, that seems reasonable. I was puzzled because I've never seen markers on the ranch before.
There was one commercial boat in the area the entire day, but there was no way he could get in there with the sport boats all around the markers. There were two sets of markers, each I'm guessing at 1000 feet end to end. One set on the north end and the other set running N-S right down the main drift. As we were leaving, the commercial boat was coming into the set and he wasn't dragging anything, so I assume he was going to pick them up after most of the sport boats were out.
I hope they were traps as I can't see how you could set a black cod line there and not get halibut.
For us, it was one halibut, one black cod and one skate.

[Bluefinn]

Originally Posted by fishitis

Thanks, Mark Mc, that seems reasonable. I was puzzled because I've never seen markers on the ranch before.
There was one commercial boat in the area the entire day, but there was no way he could get in there with the sport boats all around the markers. There were two sets of markers, each I'm guessing at 1000 feet end to end. One set on the north end and the other set running N-S right down the main drift. As we were leaving, the commercial boat was coming into the set and he wasn't dragging anything, so I assume he was going to pick them up after most of the sport boats were out.
I hope they were traps as I can't see how you could set a black cod line there and not get halibut.
For us, it was one halibut, one black cod and one skate.

Mark could they be Slime eel bbl Markers?

[ron m]

I think slime eels and hagfish are the same.
ron m

[ogrejager]

First, the disclaimer: I've never fished commercially in Oregon and you all in the Lower 48 sometimes do things differently from where I did fish.

I watched that boat through binoculars off and on all day. It was rigged with a large, high pulley like I used to see on crabbers--pot pullers. There was no drum like you'd see on a longliner. So, yeah, after thinking about it, it was some sort of pot string. At least that's my guess.

[Mark Mc]

Like Ron sez, "slime eel" is slang for a hagfish. The hagfish has the most disgusting slime known to the fishing world. If you get it on your gear..... haha .... good luck!!!!

The hagfish crawls inside the carcass of dead critters, and eats them from the inside out. Gee I wonder what role the slime plays?

Jeff on the Cricket discovered their wonders last Friday. Hopefully he will post some pictures of the snotty mess.

Oh BTW, most every time I've seen halibut or blackcod longliners, they have radar reflectors on the mast of each buoy. These were absent at the ranch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagfish interesting reading..... not actually an eel.

[ron m]

OK, here's a story you will all like and laught at, plus you'll be glad it didn't happen to you.

When I got the pot puller for the boat I also bought some prawn traps, ya know, I had visions of getting some big prawns, I get thses big ideas often, it's one of my shortcomings. Ok, so we put them down about 3 miles NE of the ranch on a halibut day. We pick them up afte halibut fishing and the crew is not happy with me. All 3 pots were covered with slime and let me tell ya from experience, it doesn't come off pots easily. Of course there were no prawns in the traps either! I think the crew was cleaning the slime off almost all the way back to Newport. They still give me grief about that day!
ron m

[Pilar]

I cruised through the ranch yesterday at 1600 and the marker I saw had an aluminum radar marker ball hanging on it.

I also noticed a dead drift. No current. Same thing at the south pile. We found a little current at the north end.

[TWB]

Mark, you are right. The gear on the "Chicken Ranch", is Hagfish longlines. It's a pot fishery, and will not catch halibut, just as the Black Cod pot fishery. There are no hooks involved. That said, as stated there was a short halibut longline opener last Wed. Also, as said, there wasn't many lbs. left on the quota. I believe that there is a depth restriction as to where they can fish. I don't think the Ranch was legal to fish waters. Might be wrong on that one. Sparkleboy has the whole story on this. One other thing, I believe the Hagfish thing is a developmental fishery.

I have drug sport halibut gear over the top of "Halibut Hill" off Newport, when those Hagfish were on it. Your gear comes up in one nasty mess. No halibut around, either.

[TWB]

ogrejager, did they pick up the whole ground line, then reset it? Or did they leave the the gear in the water and run the ground line through a puller, then right back into the water? Not sure on this, but I don't think you would use a drum with pots, on a longline. Pots would wrap up in the drum. I would think the ground line would go through a puller, as you said. The pot would come up, and it would be dumped and rebaited, or a fresh pot would be clipped on. And, I think, the ground line and new pots would go right back into the water? Hmmmm, could that be done in 500 feet of water?

And, how would you like to be a deck hand on a "Slime eel" boat?

[Mark Mc]

Originally Posted by TWB

And, how would you like to be a deck hand on a "Slime eel" boat?

Not even Edgar Hansen could handle that.

[ogrejager]

Originally Posted by TWB

ogrejager, did they pick up the whole ground line, then reset it? Or did they leave the the gear in the water and run the ground line through a puller, then right back into the water?

Sorry, I was unclear. I never saw the boat actually working the gear. Things would become instantly clear, I think, the first time you saw any gear come over the side of the boat. I was just looking at how they were rigged--no reel for the longlines and a big, flat, empty deck for the pots. They were drifting off of their gear the whole time I saw them (most of the day). I think they were counting how many sets of recreational halibut gear they'd get to pull off their line....

[Sea Jypzee]

Originally Posted by TWB

ogrejager, did they pick up the whole ground line, then reset it? Or did they leave the the gear in the water and run the ground line through a puller, then right back into the water? Not sure on this, but I don't think you would use a drum with pots, on a longline. Pots would wrap up in the drum. I would think the ground line would go through a puller, as you said. The pot would come up, and it would be dumped and rebaited, or a fresh pot would be clipped on. And, I think, the ground line and new pots would go right back into the water? Hmmmm, could that be done in 500 feet of water?

And, how would you like to be a deck hand on a "Slime eel" boat?

They did a "Dirtiest Jobs" show on Slime Eels a week or two ago. It was just downright nasty!!

[Stingray2]

Ogrejager was right.....its very clear when you see the gear hauled in. I was at the Ranch in mid-June or so and saw them haul one in....it's some sort of pot/trap, that looks sort of like a keg..maybe a little smaller. Watched them thru binoculars, so could see it fairly well----was definitely NOT a hook-and-line set up.

I fished the Ranch Fri-Sat as well and we did OK, but was definitely the slowest fishing I've had there in 15 years. Not sure why---water was very abnormally cold out there, even much colder than usual May temps, so not sure if baitfish moved out and Halibut followed or what. But I do know the orange buoys were not longline gear at least. Any other ideas????

[Coastalfisherman]

You guys probably saw the gear that my brother set. He is definately catching slime eels. They are on a longline system with 55 gallon plastic barrels attached to catch the eels. Pretty interesting fishery, but NASTY!

[corrirod]

As I recall when I was commercial fishing, the hali longline season has an exclusion zone from 40 fathoms to 100 fathoms. Inside or outside of those parameters are o.k.

[Abalone]

Ok ! I give.. What would anyone do with Slime eels ? Don't tell me they serve them at Skippers fish N chips either.

[Coastalfisherman]

Originally Posted by Abalone

Ok ! I give.. What would anyone do with Slime eels ? Don't tell me they serve them at Skippers fish N chips either.

A delicacy(sp?) in Japan and China. My bro smoked some and I could not get myself to take a bite after watching how much slime those things put out. I figured I would turn to slime if I ate it.

[Boatdog]

Originally Posted by Coastalfisherman

A delicacy(sp?) in Japan and China. My bro smoked some and I could not get myself to take a bite after watching how much slime those things put out. I figured I would turn to slime if I ate it.

Are those the dried or smoked eels they use in Sushi rolls?

After having had to (try to) clean prawn traps that were covered in gallons and gallons of that SLIME, there is NO WAY I would eat, drink, touch, catch, or do anything with those creatures. Blech!

[ron m]

Originally Posted by Boatdog

Are those the dried or smoked eels they use in Sushi rolls?

After having had to (try to) clean prawn traps that were covered in gallons and gallons of that SLIME, there is NO WAY I would eat, drink, touch, catch, or do anything with those creatures. Blech!

Now Tom, was it really that bad? Was it worth if for the story you get to tell now? -- no need to answer, those questions are rhetorical!
ron m

[Abalone]

"delicacy ! " I have some stuff buried in my backyard they should try..

[sparkleboy]

The longline bouys at the Chicken Ranch were markers for hagfish barrels. I wasn't at the Banana to see what was out there, but I'm guessing it was more hagfish markers or possibly blackcod. I saw a hagfish vessel come out to the lines at the Ranch on Saturday, so I'm positive those are hagfish markers.
Hagfish are popular in Korea, which is where all the Oregon caught fish are going. They are pretty interesting fish, and definitely produce a ton of slime.
Hagfish is a developemental fishery in Oregon right now.


Aaron

[ogrejager]

Originally Posted by sparkleboy

The longline bouys at the Chicken Ranch were markers for hagfish barrels. I wasn't at the Banana to see what was out there, but I'm guessing it was more hagfish markers or possibly blackcod. I saw a hagfish vessel come out to the lines at the Ranch on Saturday, so I'm positive those are hagfish markers.
Hagfish are popular in Korea, which is where all the Oregon caught fish are going. They are pretty interesting fish, and definitely produce a ton of slime.
Hagfish is a developemental fishery in Oregon right now.


Aaron

Thanks. That's the information a lot of us were waiting to hear. If you, or anybody, knows the Captain--could you ask him where he's going to sell all the sport equipment I watched get lost on his gear? It might come close to what he gets for a catch of hagfish?