Pick up a copy of the Fish 'n Map. It shows the banks and bars along with GPS coordinates. All the places referenced above turn out halibut. Biggest problem is working the tides. My buddy likes fishing the flood to high slack. He has worked out the best times to fish MA 6 and 7. They are posted below:

Best halibut hours for Marine Areas 6 and 7 for 2007

Remember, the current timing runs east to west in these areas. Therefore if the times listed are 9 am to 11 am, this means water may be slack in the east at 9 but still running in the west and slack at 11 in the west but starting to run in the east. When the current is
slack in Pt Angeles, it will already be running out in Pt Townsend. When slack in Pt Townsend, it will still be running in at Pt Angeles.


Also note I’ve only listed slow in (flood) tides thru high slack. That’s because these are the best tides for catching halibut. If you wish to fish the low slack, add or subtract 6 hours to the listed times as a general rule.

Good luck!!!!!!!


Mon 9 April Opening Day! A nice in tide from daylight to 9 am
Thu 12 A nice in tide from 8 am to 2 pm
Fri 13 A nice in tide from 9 am to 2 pm
Sat 14 High slack 2 pm to 4 pm
Sun 15 High slack 4 to 6 pm
Mon 16 High slack 5 to 7 pm
Thu 19 Good Daylite to 8 am Low slack 1 to 3 pm
Fri 20 Good Daylite to 8 am
Sat 21 Good Daylite to 9 am
Sun 22 Good Daylite to 9 am
Mon 23 Good Daylite to 10 am
Thu 26 Good 10 am to 3 pm
Fri 27 Good 10 am to 4 pm
Sat 28 High slack 3 to 5 pm
Sun 29 High slack 5 to 6 pm
Mon 30 Forget it, go mow the lawn
Thu 3 May Daylite to 7 am
Fri 4 Daylite to 7 am
Sat 5 Daylite to 8 am
Sun 6 Daylite to 8 am
Mon 7 Daylite to 8 am
Thu 10 8 am to 11 am
Fri 11 9 am to 2 pm
Sat 12 Good 9 am to 3 pm
Sun 13 3 to 4 pm If you must
Mon 14 Time to mow that lawn again
Thu 17 7 to 8 pm only if you need a fix
Fri 18 Daylite to 7 am
Sat 19 Daylite to 8 am
Sun 20 Just like yesterday
Mon 21 Daylite to 9 am
Thu 24 Good 8 am to 1 pm
Fri 25 Good 9 am to 2 pm
Sat 26 3 to 5 pm
Sun 27 4 to 6 pm
Mon 28 Time to mow that lawn again. Grows fast.
Thu 31 7 to 8 pm only if you have nothing better to do
Fri 1 June Forget it
Sat 2 You don’t really like fish anyway
Sun 3 Daylite to 7 am
Mon 4 Daylite to 8 pm
Thu 7 Good 6 to 10 am
Fri 8 Good 7 am to 12
Sat 9 Good 8 am to 2 pm
Sun 10 2 to 4 pm
Mon 11 3 to 5 pm
Thu 14 6 pm to dark
Fri 15 7 pm to dark
Sat 16 8 pm to dark
Sun 17 Too late, It was over yesterday!


Okay folks, let’s talk about bait. I assisted at the PA derby last year and examined the tummy contents of a lot of halibut. It seems they really like shrimp and crabs. The crabs were mostly red rocks 2 to 3 inches across. One fish had 9 crabs in it! Octopus was also very popular. So I’m thinking a red, orange or, brown big hoochie upside down (to look like legs) over an appropriate sized lead head jig may do well. If you try this, let me know if you get fish.

Ever wonder whether you got a male or a female? Check the gonads when you clean it. The female will be white and stretched out and the male will be brown and rubbery.

Thanks
Gordon

Feedback welcome!!
gazuum@olypen.com