Halibut Fishing

[Capt. Rich]

Like the rest of the fleet we also got flattie-itis and booked charters for the May 10-11 halibut opener. We had a full boat on Friday and left Winchester Bay headed to the Heceta Banks. Before we got there we stopped at the "Rooster Hole" and tried drifting there.

It was very successful. In three drifts we had limits of halibut and some nice ling cod. One of the lings was longer than the first chicken we got. We had our eight halibut, even halibut for the crew in three drifts.

On Saturday some of the charter were too beat to go again and we only had five. It was not fun. We plowed uphill into twenty knot winds and got to the same spot in 2 1/2 hours. On Friday it took only 1 1/2 hours. After backtrolling for three hours we were able to limit on even larger halibut. Go figure. But we lost a lot of gear. The favorite bait was black label herring. They seemed to be really hungry and wanted the larger bait.

For this weekend we are booked. The weather looks like it will hold to let us out again. I was told by a retired charter captain that these were the first charter halibut to cross the docks in Winchester Bay in a long time. I can't figure out why. The "Rooster Hole" is actually closer than the Chicken Ranch in Newport and shallower.

If there are halibut openers in August, we are booking for the "Grand Slam". We almost did it last year. We had halibut, ling cod and albacore. Missed on the salmon. Call us if you are interested.