The Fun of Halibut Fishing
Well mine was kind of like this LOL
What a wonderful day yesterday was to be on the Oregon Coast.
Normally I let others post on this blog! (Thanks William and The Crew of the Harvester) but today I think I will share a bit.
Yesterday I just happened to get a chance to go out Halibut fishing on a charter boat out of Bandon (Prowler Charters). It all started about 5:30 am. I had a brand new Ugly Stick tiger rod and Penn reel with 1,800 feet of brand new line, warm clothes and a picnic lunch. All looked well.
We left under clear skies with a small swell breaking into the Jetty, things are definitely looking up!
An hour and a half later we are over a prime fishing spot (or so the Captain tells us). Turns out we are right. We are in nearly 600 feet of water and fishing with a 5 pound ball of lead and a nice, tasty chunk of squid.
I drop the line and it is falling like a lead weight (duh!). I had no sooner hit the bottom when I get this familiar tug, a halibut. It’s pissed off because he just got hit in the head with a huge ball of lead and as soon as the stars clear he sees breakfast waiting there with two nice shiny, stainless steel hooks.
The halibut can’t resist, he (I will call it a he just because ‘he’ seems right) is really mad now and goes straight for breakfast.
I wait a couple of second while he gets a good bite on the hook and I set it as hard as one can from 600 feet.
Now I certainly have his full, undivided attention. He’s been hit with a hunk of lead, been given breakfast, and now something has latched onto his lip and trying to pull him from his favorite depth.
The fight takes a bit as the boat is rocking in the wind and the waves. I am getting tired of reeling after doing what seems like 10,000 rotations on the handle.
He gives me 10 feet of line then takes back a few and the battle continues. It’s man vs. beast and my wife likes halibut and lets me go fishing so I have to prove myself.
So we keep on battling. I am not sure if this is a big halibut or a small one for sure but I suspect it’s about 25 pounds or so.
If you haven’t seen a halibut they are broad and flat and have been likened to pulling up a barn door. This is pretty close, I don’t think any fish fights quite like a halibut. They tend to go back and forth sideways making you drag more than a fish that size should.
In the end I won, the deck hand gaffs the halibut and pulls it over the deck rail. It’s the second one on the boat by a mere minute or two.
I am tired and a bit winded from the fight and the rocking boat but I have one: It’s halibut zero, me one!
I was right, this fish weighs about 25 pounds so I decide I need to try again and get something bigger so I move to the other side of the boat and once again drop my lead bomb to the bottom of the dark abyss in the hopes of bonking yet another halibut.
After a minute or so I feel the ball hit the bottom and BOOM! Something big and very unhappy hit’s it hard. My ugly stick is bending in an arc that says “this is a big unhappy fish”. Game On!
I am positive this fish is a lot bigger than the last one and he’s just as unhappy at being woken up, hit and fed and then hooked.
It takes me a good 30 minutes or so to crank this one in.
Several times I just think how tired I am and I just want to take a break but you can’t just put a big halibut on hold. A couple of times I stop reeling and just let the big guy swim around and take back a bit of line.
After getting him close to the surface I see the white side of a really nice fish. It’s funny how usually when a halibut comes up he is white side up, but it may just seem that way.
I call over the deck hand while trying to make sure not to pull his head out of the water. You have to do this or sometimes they throw the hook and after all this time I have no intention of losing him.
So the deckhand gaffs him and brings him over the rail! It looks to be about 45 pounds or so. Definitely a much better Halibut!
The rest of the trip I pretty much sat and watched everyone else try and catch halibut with one goal, to get one bigger than mine. In the end I did get the biggest one on the boat! It sure was a lot of fun!
The trip back was cold and wet but it was a successful trip and I ended up with about 25 pounds of halibut that my wife just loves!
Thanks to the guys of Prowler Charters for another great trip
Great story Webby and well put so we can feel the excitement. My husband knows who the owner/skipper of the Prowler is,, Wayne Butler. He doesn’t know him personally, but a friend of his does (Gary Sellers). They respect Wayne’s expertise and say he is a first rate skipper and you got a fine grade of halibut.
I know both Wayne and Ken very well and have for about 15-16 years since I first came up here! They are both cool and run an excellent service. They always make sure you get your limit and make it fun! I’d highly recommend them to anyone wanting to do a fishing trip in Bandon!
Good catches Webby and it sounds like it was a blast!
I’m gonna look-up Prowler Charters when I get back to the area. Done a lot of fishing in my time but never specifically for Halibut, and I do love to eat them.
Webby, that’s a great story. I would love to try for some halibut some day. Those things are massive!!!! Sounds like lots of fun. It sounds really exhausting, too, though. I’m glad to see that you specifically designated this as a blog, gotta be clear.:) (Where are my smileys when I need them???)
nice one! There is nothing better than fresh halibut — and wow do they get frisky flopping around on the deck. Glad they’re sideways huh? If those big dogs where flopping side to side you might need shin guards!
Now post a recipe how you ate it!
-zachary of the Harvester