Slowest day ever recorded at the "ranch"

CAPT KUJO · 05-10-2003, 05:04 PM

Wow, I wouldn't of believed it unless I experienced it myself and I did. Got to the chicken ranch at 6:30AM and caught only 1 Fish and had six passengers. It was the slowest day ever and I didn't see much coming out of there at all. Left the ranch and went north about 11 miles to another spot called the saddle, dead there also, even stopped by the rockpile on the way back it and couldn't even get a strike. Guess we all have a SLOW day [img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img]

When we returned the fish ad game guy measuring fish at the dock had the same to say. All the boats that went to the Rock Pile limited out early , and boats returning from the chicken ranch had 1 or 2 fish if any.

CAPT KUJO

Mello-Yello · 05-10-2003, 05:11 PM

Hmmm, maybe you got there too soon.

Mikeymoto · 05-10-2003, 07:51 PM

We saw you rip by us a couple of miles before the rockpile this morning. All I can say is wow! I hope you have something for your passengers to hold on to. We were a little north of you at the ranch. Made 5 passes, landed 5, 1 shaker, kept 4, we're outta here. We weren't using anything special, just your standard butt thumping rigs. The only thing different was we used a heavier lead to keep it mostly straight up and down. Is your boat the one with the single outboard or the one with doubles? Good fishing

CrazyFish · 05-10-2003, 09:12 PM

The Ranch was real slow today. I got out there at 8:00 and hit a 36"right away, but it took til 12:00 for our second fish and we ended up coming in 1 fish short of our limit.

I know of a few boats that got skunked today.

Threemuch · 05-10-2003, 09:45 PM

Just talked to Pilar on the phone, he got three near the pile, two at 45" one at 54".
KB

kenai · 05-10-2003, 09:59 PM

My partner and I got a 47 and a 32 at the ranch today. I seem to have a knack for hooking those black cods which eat up valuable time and energy.

fisher-price · 05-10-2003, 10:25 PM

Well went out this morning and saw all 4,983 boats at the ranch and decided to go to a little differnet spot. Smallest was 36 and biggest was 59. The first time I have been halibut fishihg ever and came home with a nice 48. From the looks of things I was pretty lucky. Sorry to hear about so many that were not so lucky. But the skunk is off and I can finally post a pic. It was getting pretty stinky around my place!!!

[img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

wak'm&stak'm · 05-11-2003, 06:05 AM

We were at the ranch and limits in an hour...2 (37's) and a 50, we threw back 6 317/8s. It was slower then the day before.,

We had to run in reverse the whole time and just keep the bait in one place.......

I think we must have caught 20 plus fish the last 2 days and probably 15 on the top hook.......I still think it make a difference.

One time several years ago on the Misty I caught 15 in one day and all were on the top hook.

[ 05-11-2003, 07:06 AM: Message edited by: wak'm&stak'm ]

05-11-2003, 06:57 AM

We got out to the ranch a bit late on Saterday due to a bit too much fun the night before :grin:
Fished hard but only came up with two keepers, one shaker, a nice ling and a small rockfish.
Bilge pump ran the whole time from waves comong over the stern. Rough ride back.

Salmonator · 05-11-2003, 08:26 AM

We picked up 2 keepers for the three of us, 33 and 40 inches. Reeling up 48oz at the end of our drifts and for black cod removal really took it's toll. After that second keeper we quit out of sheer exhaustion :blush: Ran in reverse the whole time to keep 'em down. Also noticed both fish hit the top hook. Also only picked up 3 keepers for three traps. Did anybody else notice a billion little dime sized crabs in their traps? I've never seen them before!?

CrazyFish · 05-11-2003, 12:42 PM

WP

Here is a link to how I set mine up. Hope it helps.
My Halibut Rig

Captain and Marie · 05-11-2003, 12:52 PM

Crazyfish,

I'm glad you found your camera! Got any Pictures to send me?

Marie

Born to be Wild · 05-11-2003, 02:37 PM

Salmonator,

I'm surprised you saw the crab spawn so far offshore. Usually they are inshore this time of year and you end up seeing a lot of finning seabass on the surface feeding on them. Lot of fun when you get into the finners.

I took some ifisher's fishing off the rocks in Depoe Bay and when we called it quits around 5:00PM and I fileted there fish at the port docks and then got stuck fileting halibut for some private boats and charters till 10:00PM. One 6-pac charter came in at 8:40PM with 6 big halibut and 12 big lings. He fished the compass rose along with some private boats that always go there because it is considerably closer than the ranch and the fish average larger in size.

This charter captain said they started late because the bite has been late?

I was in Longview Thursday & Friday and missed the first two days but heard the "ranch chickens" were living up to there name. Unlike the last two years where the halibut at the ranch were a very good grade. The fish I saw that came in from the ranch were averaging small and many had to be measured unlike last year when they were thrown back.

The one on the right was the only small halibut out of the six. The one on the left weighed 69 pounds.

Dan

Fishmstr · 05-11-2003, 06:46 PM

How far, how deep and where is the compass rose? Fished the ranch 3 days last week and I would love to fish someplace closer.
thanks,
steve

Fishmstr · 05-11-2003, 06:51 PM

We had our limit by 10 a.m. on Thurs (got passed by the black Zodiac at the bar:/ Got the helmet on friday!!! Landed two shakers and missed a few others. Not sure who on our crew snuck bananas on board. We caught 3 yesterday, including our biggest fish = 52". How much does a fish that long weigh? I was guessing 55, but I don't have a clue. All our other keepers were between 34 and 45 inches. Definitely not like last year when all our fish were over 40. Heading out next week, but would like to try some new spots. Where do folks fish around the rockpile?
tight lines,
steve

wak'm&stak'm · 05-11-2003, 07:26 PM

How I run 2 hooks is this way.... I use a spreader at the ranch, but not at the pile.because I can get it down at the pile without wrapping the main line.

So.......what I do is make a leader out of 150 lb test, I tie one end to a spreader or lead, and then I go up about 3 ft and tie a loop about 6 inches long. (I use a wierd knot that involves creating a loop and then twisting the line and pulling the loop thru the center of the twist.)

On this loop I put a 250 lb snap swivel. Then I run a hook called a crowbar. about 6 inches long ( the commercials used to use them a lot) they are a long shanked hook with an drilled eye.

I can't recall ever losing a fish because of the hook......seems to work for me.

we caught hali's 2 at a time, three different times.

Born to be Wild · 05-11-2003, 08:42 PM

Fishmstr,

According to this chart your halibut weighed 68.5 pounds. Seems a bit heavy for 52" and this is from an Alaskan chart:

http://www.outdoorsdirectory.com/magazine/halibut.htm

Google search:

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...ches+vs+pounds

I have a chart around here some place from ODFW that I used for figuring weight for fileting but don't know where it is. Last night I used my 100# scale.

Try that Google search and you will probably find other charts. I don't have time right at the moment.

I just got home and caught 2 lings off the rocks just down the street from my house and half dozen bass and two kelp greenling (seatrout) and I have to go filet them and give away some filets I promised. Started at 6:30PM and almost landed and lost a 15 pound ling right off the bat. Going to post pic's later on the community forum.

Dan

CAPT KUJO · 05-11-2003, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mikeymoto:
We saw you rip by us a couple of miles before the rockpile this morning. All I can say is wow! I hope you have something for your passengers to hold on to. We were a little north of you at the ranch. Made 5 passes, landed 5, 1 shaker, kept 4, we're outta here. We weren't using anything special, just your standard butt thumping rigs. The only thing different was we used a heavier lead to keep it mostly straight up and down. Is your boat the one with the single outboard or the one with doubles? Good fishing

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">The Boat I charter (BLACK ROCKET) has the twin 225hp Mercs. The Single 250hp (BLACK TORNADO) is a 24'4" version.

WP · 05-11-2003, 11:52 PM

How do you set up a second hook on your rigs guys? Maybe this is someting I should try! I have always just used a rig similar to the one Pilar uses (for the bottom, not the moocher)
Thanks, WP

Salmonator · 05-12-2003, 10:20 AM

Depoebaydan, we had our pots just outside the south jetty. I've seen surface crab spawn before (and the resulting seabass frenzy) and these little guys weren't even close. They seem to be really small adult crabs and they were swarming all over the bait we pulled up. I have never in my life seen these things crabbing in the area for 15 years or better.

greenbuttskunk · 05-12-2003, 10:51 AM

The Ranch was good to us on sat. We limited, but
I would'nt say the fish were big or anything, just a few decent ones and a few that were keepable, but could have been bigger. We got into fish right away. It was my first time out to the ranch, so I don't know what to compare it too.
My little secrete to success was when the boat seems to be moving fast on the drift, I kept feeding out some line now and then. When a bite comes, feed a little line for a few seconds, then stick the fish. I also used the double sliding hook rig with a spreader. I would avoid the plain wire version, it kinks and gets messed up, the coated wire rig worked better. Make sure to thread the leader though the bait a few times, this way you never have the bait stolen. Use plenty of weight, I used 32's, but more would have worked even better. Not saying I'm joe pro, but the mrs. was proud of my success when we got back to the boat. Wish I was going again this weekend.