We left last Wednesday to head to Neah Bay for our annual Halibut/Salmon/Bottom Fish vacation. We had an awesome time and caught more fish then we knew what to do with. :grin: The water was great and the fishing was greater yet. After going up there for the past 7 years, this was a lucky trip. The seas can get downright mean up there and we have been skunked for halibut, so this was good. We fished until Saturday and limited on salmon and halibut and lings each day. The wind was blowing a little in camp and I figured it might be rough out and when we started out, I was right. It was like the Perfect Storm out there....
See what I mean, when you can run out to your fishing spot 20 miles offshore at 40 mph, it is pretty darn rough. :grin: That is the NW corner of Washington you can see in the picture. That's our friend behind us in his 24' Motion Marine with 400 hp. He couldn't quite hang with the 200hp Yamaha..
Trust me though, it is hardly ever this nice up there so don't go up expecting it to be like this every time.
We used one of those like 150 quart coolers for our fish box and it was overflowing after limiting out.
Tha biggest halibut was close to 50 pounds so they weren't monsters but they sure do eat good. A couple of nice Cabezon about 12 pounds and a bunch of true cod as well. When you fish for stuff like that, you never know what you'll bring up from the depths...
If someone told me the salmon populations were declining after fishing up there, I would say they were pulling my leg. We trolled with divers like you do at buoy 10 and it was too much work because you couldn't even get your 15 pulls or whatever and you'd have a fish on. Pretty Insane!! Therefore, we jigged crippled herring in the big rips where the strait pushed up against the ocean and nailed the pinks and the silvers. YOU couldn't let your jig get to 100 feet without having a pink or silver grab it. We didn't catch any chinooks, but I had a big one on that broke me off after making my reel scream on a long run he made. I was really irritated, but it happens. I would rater catch 100 silvers than 5 chinooks any day. Besides, IMHO the silvers eat way better.
Seen some some whales and dolphins and all sorts of cool stuff again.
Overall, if you feel confident enough to go up there, Neah Bay is simply amazing fishing. We ended up with a ton of filets of all kinds and some great memories. I mean when your cooler weighs over 200 pounds a day before fileting, you know you've got something. :grin: :wink: ONe must realize that it can get very dangerous very fast up there and you need to read the water and weather at all times. YOu have to run at least 20 miles to go halibut fishing and isn't for everyone. But, if you can do it, you'll enjoy.
[ 08-13-2003, 11:40 AM: Message edited by: Mr. Carp ]