June 10th - Caught, Tagged and Released #150 Pounder!

The 4am weather report called for 30 knots of wind out of the NE and we got every bit of it.   The ride out was smooth but as we crossed Bainbridge passage the weather picked up steadily all through the day. Looks like the weatherman was on the ball today, which is not the norm.  As usual we targeted some large fish all morning but were unsuccessful at our first 2 spots.  We first tried shallow then deep after the tide switched to an incoming.  I have to admit, we had some very tough folks on the boat today.  Anyone that can endure 30 knots of wind to the face with out a bite for hours is always welcome on my boat.  The wind would not let up so we packed it up and dropped on top of a huge school of halibut about 30 minutes away from the Island.  It was defiantly the most savage bite of the season.  We lowered lines and 11 out of 18 all had fish on at once.

30knot NE wind

We sealed the deal on the halibut by 3:30, and I'm not one to get back early so we targeted black rock fish to fill the time void.  The weather was a bit nicer at the rock fish grounds.  We hooked up one after another until the box was littered with black bass.  I was assigned the job of tagging one of the official fish for the Halibut Derby.  I have not had a chance to tag another since the 42" halibut we released 2 weeks ago.  I grabbed the jig rod once the fishing slowed down a bit and threw my brand new $30 articulated herring lure over the side with low expectations of hooking a fish.  The more I spend on a lure the less productive it seems to be.  I think the pretty ones are mainly for the fisherman.  Within a minute my line was pinned to the bottom with something big.  I could tell it was heavy but wasn't sure it was a halibut until its head started shaking violently making runs to the bottom over and over again.  It took a good 20 minutes of peeling it off the bottom until it finally surfaced.  We lip hooked it with the gaff and were able to pull it into the boat and successfully tag and release it without harming the fish.

It was very exciting for me! I get to see a lot of big fish hooked and landed but very seldom do I get to land one myself.  The fish was being recorded by the IPHC (International Pacific Halibut Committee), to record growth and migratory patterns.  I'm glad I could help and believe it or not; it felt good letting one of these monsters live to see another day.  Fun day fun fishing, Have to say I had the most fun today but the overall morale on the boat was great.  We had a full boat of hardcore Alaskans, the only people I think could handle a weather day like today.  Good job today guys way to make a great day out of a nasty one! FISH ON!!!