S.Coast Halibut Roll Call

tailchaser · 04-25-2003, 09:25 AM

Well the time is near and a lot of people have contacted me about following me out in a couple of weeks. Everyone who's interested in going should drop a not on this thread so we can get a list together. So far the season choices of ports are as follows:

If the wind is supposed to blow from the South we'll launch from Coos Bay and have the wind at our backs on the way home. It's a 27 mile run from there. If it blows from the North then most likely we'll drop in from Port Orford and head northwest. It's only 18 miles from there and in a less fished area on the south side of the high spot. We've had some great weather lately so hopefully it will stay the same. I'll post exact times and places a couple of days before the run. Right now I'm expecting to fish the 8th, and 10th. Obviously weather permitting. I can almost smell that BBQ now!

I'll give coords to everyone heading out a couple of days before hand so make sure you have an email address available.

tc

[ 04-25-2003, 10:26 AM: Message edited by: tailchaser ]

Hanapa'a Time · 04-25-2003, 10:03 AM

Hi tailchaser,

Can't make it for the first three days. Are you planning on fishing the other days???
Got a couple of questions for you on fishing Charleston Memorial weekend.

Thanks, Kurt

tailchaser · 04-25-2003, 10:55 AM

shoot me an email and I'll see if I can help. My second weekend is pretty much shot. :depressed: I have a wedding reception to go to on saturday. I might go that thursday if for some reason I can't get out on the previous one. If there are more days available beyond that I'll be in.

tc

Lepper · 04-25-2003, 12:53 PM

Hey you forgot the Bandon bar!! I can drive us over the bar... :grin:

Mello-Yello · 04-25-2003, 01:31 PM

I wanna ride in the back!

highdesertdrifter · 04-25-2003, 01:37 PM

I want to set over by the light house and watch.

tailchaser · 04-25-2003, 02:09 PM

Lepper already gave a good show to all of those watching last week what a good wave can do to an alumaweld boat. :shocked: Lucky bugger now gets all new electronics for it. I'll let him elaborate more if he wants to but adds reasoning to why I'll never go over that sucker.

tc

Nofish · 04-25-2003, 03:30 PM

Tailchaser,
I believe we will shoot for going out on the 10th, weather permitting. I have a buddy that commericially fished sablefish out of Port Orford for several years. He mentioned the southwest end of that area as having lots of halibut. Hope to meet up with you folks if it works out. Cheers...Nofish

Silver One · 04-25-2003, 06:27 PM

TC
Planning on the 9th and 10th, the 8th is in question still. Will know by late next week. Thanks for the heads up!

Mike

fishwhenican · 04-25-2003, 06:40 PM

TC I was looking at the 8th,9th and 10th. Depending on a couple of things that are happening on my end.

Mello-Yello · 04-25-2003, 11:04 PM

Right now I'm planning on fishing all 6 days, weather permitting.

I have plenty of lead from 20 oz. up, should I stock up on anything lighter? I'll be running 80# tuff-line on all rods.

SouthCoastStu · 04-25-2003, 11:55 PM

TC-
Count me in for the 10th, maybe the 8th if I have any spare vacation days lying around. Praying for great weather...

tailchaser · 04-25-2003, 11:57 PM

Hey mello, have some smaller stuff too. It all depends on the drift. Last year two of the trips I think we were using 12's all day. The lighter you can get away with the better.

tc

reelmeister · 04-26-2003, 07:51 AM

TC,
We'll plan on tagging along on the 10th, again weather permitting. I'd definitely prefer the P.O. launch, since we're coming from Gold Beach.

Al

tailchaser · 04-26-2003, 07:07 PM

Sounds like we'll have a pretty good crew of boats heading out. Great to see. Obviously mother nature is going to make the final decisions on the halibut seasons but from there it's strictly a wind direction show. PO is tempting though since it's only an 18 mile run, but in a week or so we'll start getting some good weather predictions. Can't wait for the first flattie to hit the deck!

tc

Lepper · 04-27-2003, 11:26 PM

hey forgot to ask.. If my hand ain't strong enough to hold the pole you gonna do it for me..
:grin:
d

tailchaser · 05-05-2003, 08:55 PM

If anyone needs to get ahold of me a day or two before we head out my number is 541.888.0202. I'll be in a black fish-rite sled and you can get me on ch.11 cb, and 19 vhf if needed. Man, the wife's gonna love all the calls! :grin: Or you can reach me via email on my signature. Tight lines

tc

Mello-Yello · 05-05-2003, 10:39 PM

If I'm not mistaken, Tailchaser's gonna be goin out Thursday and Saturday. Anyone planning on going Friday too? (weather permitting, of course)

I'm planning on all 6 days at this point. If anyone wants to hook-up on Friday, let me know. It's looking like if the NW wind holds and the forecast doesn't swing bad again, we could be doing daylight departures from Port Orford. This should get us back in early, assuming the BFBs cooperate.

I'll be in the yello Wooldridge, and am usually monitoring channel 16 VHF.

By the way, the Port of Port Orford monitors Channel 9 VHF and doesn't have CB. They said they were pretty good at watching for boats coming back but if they don't see you, you can radio them.

M-Y

Lepper · 05-05-2003, 11:05 PM

Hey mello you going to try next week as well?
dave

Mello-Yello · 05-05-2003, 11:24 PM

Yep! I might have a spare seat if you're interested. If the weather calms down, I'd like to venture around Orford Reef too and do a little bottom fishing. Never fished it before but my charts indicate it's filled with a crazy bunch of humps, bumps and dimples. Looks like a bottom-fishing paradise.

M-Y

fishwhenican · 05-06-2003, 05:38 AM

I am still waiting for a closer guess from the weather guessers, I'll make a decision tonight on P.O. vs Newport, I may also have an open seat Thurs and Fri.

tailchaser · 05-06-2003, 07:20 AM

Well the weather gods I think are going to give us a shot. They're predicting 8' seas with 2' chop but only a 15 knot wind. I don't intend on being out there in the afternoon when the wind picks up but the best part is the waves are 16 seconds apart. That is very good. Decent swell but a long ocean. So as of now I'm definitely in for P.O. on thursday and most likely saturday.

Tallyho!!!!

tc

tailchaser · 05-07-2003, 07:06 AM

As of today and the latest reports for tomorrow I'm going to sit out the opener and shoot for friday and saturday. 9' swell and 3' chop just makes me antsy about trying it with wind picking up during the day. It has the ability to get real nasty. Friday looks a little better and saturday is by far the best.

That is my plan, I hope I'm not letting anyone down by this but the predictions aren't worth risking an absolutely ugly day for.

tc

Mello-Yello · 05-07-2003, 07:33 AM

I'm leaning that way too TC. I have the freedom to wait till the last minute though, so it'll probably be this afternoon's forecast that I'll base my final decision on. I notice last night's forecast had us at 4' windwaves for Thursday w/Rain, now it's 3' with chance of showers, and the rain is for tonight. Maybe things are moving a little ahead of schedule.

I agree, 15k winds, 3' chop with 8-9' swells could make for a bumpy day.

Mello-Yello · 05-07-2003, 02:38 PM

Welp, the afternoon forecast doesn't look any better (isn't really any worse either).

I think we're gonna go ahead and drive down to Port Orford in the morning. We'll plan on getting there right at daylight.

If it looks do-able, we'll go. If it doesn't, we'll putter around the south-side and do some bottom fishing.

If we're able to make it out, I'd like to think we got the worse part over with and can surf the wind and swells back home.

We'll be monitoring channel 16 (hopefully just listenting, not talking). If anyone else makes it down, give us a ring.

M-Y

tailchaser · 05-07-2003, 03:02 PM

Well I've pretty much decided to drop out tomorrow but I'll definitely be there at the crack of daylight on friday giving it a shot. Call me or email me when you get back in tomorrow and throw me a report. Hopefully it won't be too bad, but I think the closer to the weekend we get the better the weather. Also, the coasties don't like it much when you talk on 16 but if I miss you on fri. at the launch I'll be on 19 vhf.

tc

Mello-Yello · 05-07-2003, 03:47 PM

Sounds good TC. I'll touch base tomorrow when we get back.

PS, I only monitor VHF 16...in case someone needs some help. If I'm talking on 16, it means I need help...that's never a good thing.

I'll be watchin/listenin for ya Friday.

M-Y

reelmeister · 05-07-2003, 06:06 PM

Well we are going to shoot for Saturday too. I've never fished out of Port Orford, is there anything you guys can think of that would be helpful to know before I give the sling a try?

I think it would be great if we could take off at similar times in the AM Saturday, for those going. Is a 6:30 start reasonable?

I'll be in a Maroon Duckworth with three big guys and one short guy (I'm the short guy).

Anyway if the swell stays about 5' and the chop is 2 or less, I think it should be doable.

TC, I looked at the coords on a chart, it seems it would take about 1.5 hours to reach the spot. Seem about right?

Al

SouthCoastStu · 05-07-2003, 06:51 PM

Sweet!!!!!!

SAT
N WIND 10 KT...RISING TO 15 KT EARLY IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND
WAVES 3 FT. NW SWELL 5 FT. CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

Looks like the dancing(

) and praying (

) paid off. I plan on being at the sling at sunrise, and off the water by 1 :grin: . See you guys there

.

Mello-Yello · 05-07-2003, 08:30 PM

Southcoaster,
I should know a lot more about the boat sling after tomorrow provided we decide to drop in at all. The latest forecast has the swells a little smaller earlier but bigger wind waves. I think the key tomorrow will be get in and get out as fast as we can. We'll make the final call once we get there. If it doesn't pan out, we'll go golfing or something.

What I do know about the boat lift. Theres's two of them. The big one just has a hook. A guy that owns a boat w/eyes, backs into position, readies his boat (unhooks it from the trailer, duh...check the plug(s)...etc) The boat I watched had it's own ropes too, don't know if that's the norm, but I'm guessing it is. You bring all 4 ropes together in the hook, then everyone gets clear of the boat. The boat owner had a rope at each end of the boat, and one guy held each rope. This is to control the boat's position as they lift it and swing it over the water, alongside the dock. The guy lowered their boat so it was flush with and right next to the dock. At this point, your boat is about 40' above the water. Everyone loaded into the boat, the guys that had the ropes at each end of the boat then put one wrap around the nearest piling and held the rope taut, apparently to keep the boat parallel with the pilings on the way down (the pilings appear to have some sort of polyethylene coating to protect your boat). The lift operator then lowers them to the water, they unhook their ropes from the hook, fire up and take off. The tide was low, the boat was pretty big.

There is a boat dock (floating type) there, but it wasn't in use, dunno why except it's pretty shallow there right now.

They charge $20 if you have eyes, $25 if you don't...this is round trip.

The smaller lift handles the boat sling. It's basically a framework with two straps hanging from it from 4 points. I didn't watch them use it, but it's my understanding that it goes something like this...

You back your trailer into position and ready the boat. They hook the back of the boat to a solid anchor, have you drive ahead enough to expose the back of your boat for the rear sling (if you have bunks). They run one sling under your rear, the other they run under the front of your boat, lift you off the trailer and I'm guessing, lower you in the same fashion as mentioned above. Here's a big difference. Once in the water, you have to back your boat out of the sling. When returning, you have to drive your boat into the sling. The guy I talked to said they work with you pretty well to make sure your boat's secured well before lifting it. That's a good thing...

They monitor channel 9 if you need to reach them. This includes if you have problems when on the water.

Hope this gives you an idea what to expect. Sure wish they'd replaced the boat ramp instead.

We're planning on being there around daylight each day, some time around 6am.

I'll be on ch. 16 tomorrow and probably 19 Fri. and Sat.

Hope to see you out there!

M-Y

Lepper · 05-07-2003, 08:49 PM

$25 they RAISED IT!???? I wish they would just put a nice boat ramp in.. problem solved...
d

tailchaser · 05-07-2003, 09:12 PM

Mello has the jist of the sling thing but they must have raised it 5 bucks since I was there. Oh well. Anyhow, to get their attention away from the commercial guys you have to have your boat ready to rock the minute they walk over to you. This means tackle and gear ready to roll immediately when the boat hits the water. The toughest part is starting your engine cold and getting out of the sling quickly. Mine doesn't like it too well in the early morning. After you see one boat jump in you'll see how it works pretty quick. My best advice is to pull up under the sling. Tie a rope to the back of your boat and pull it off the trailer enough so the strap can easily slide under the transom of your boat (approx. 18"). This will also give the front strap the ability to slide under the front. Make sure a bowrope is attached so you can keep the boat from swinging while in the air. When they lower it down and it's about 2' from the water you'll be able to go down the ladder, jump in and get ready to back it out of the sling. Once you do and they bring the sling up the rest of the clan can come down and jump in. Then you have to clear way for the rest of the people putting in.

What I plan on doing is being there probably at 5:30 and being on my way by 6:15. If we have to wait on a few then so be it, but everyone has to hussle there to get everyone in and going. So get your stuff ready long before you hit the boat launch. I'll try and help out as best I can to get everyone on the same page. So far there looks to be a min. of two boats on friday, and three on saturday. I'm not positive where I'll launch from just yet on saturday, it just depends on what friday afternoon brings but right now it's the logical choice at P.O.

Tight lines to everyone and if you have any questions let me know. The weather report seems to be getting better all the time. Don't say that very often.

tc

Mello-Yello · 05-07-2003, 09:16 PM

We used to load my buddy's 12' v-hull right on the beach. I mean, I'd get in the boat, he'd back his little Ford Courier down the beach. We'd wait for the wave set to pass, he'd back me in the water, I'd fire-up the engine and back out away from the surf. He'd park, I'd pull in and pick him up and away we'd go [img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img] . Sweet huh?

Here's a pretty funny story. He talked his Mom into going with him one day. So, she filled my role as boat starter. As he backed her into the water, the boat gently slid into the water. As he's driving off the beach, he looks into the rear-view mirror, he sees his Mom feverishly pulling on the starter-rope. All the sudden, you guessed it, a wave comes in, curls right over the back of the boat, lift the boat and promptly places it high and dry up on the beach.

She got soaked, the boat was half full of water. He dumped the water out, loaded the boat and took his Mom home. She never tried it again...

[img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img]