if you want shorter seasons, open it later. these communities need this revenue, and combining it with other fisheries, such as salmon, reduces the value of the fishery. the fishery used to start even earlier (may 1).

weather later is no guarantee of calmer water. i've had some of the calmest weather in early may and brutally nasty weather later in june and july. the responsibility lies with the boaters who head out in big seas (irregardless if the bar is open) with small boats. with the huge increase in boats targeting offshore halibut, this was due to happen, and i'm surprised it took so many years.

i can remember being followed to offshore spots 30 nautical miles from tatoosh by a 18 ft aluminum center console. when we later talked to them, they thought we had been fishing blue dot (not even close) and had no gps or navigation gear. i've seen ski boats at the same spot (came from la push). i've missed the last 3 halibut seasons, but the general disregard for safety and lack of respect for the ocean and what CAN happen was an increasing trend. i know myself and many of the friends i fished with (long-time neah bay halibut fishermen) thought that a major incident was imminent.

we've all made mistakes when it comes to the ocean... but the lack of respect increasingly shown by many in the small boat and private boat community are the cause of this. looking at the forecast, i would bet i would not have ventured out that day... in a bigger and more sea-worthy boat.

it's not about the time of year, it's about using what's between the ears.

be safe, and remember .... catching fish is optional, coming home isn't.

chris

ps, had to add something because i missed it. halibut derby's are a bad idea in the ocean. first, they increase pressure on a quota based fishery (shorter seasons) and also create even more incentive to go out in marginal conditions and possbily can be the deciding factor whether to chance it in the ocean or enjoy a day exploring the la push / forks / neah bay area.

Now that is a post.

First of all, I'm not sure if you are aware, but they were not in the "Halibut Derby" This is an annual fishing trip they have taken for many many years. They are not new to Ocean fishing and have over 20 years of experience in ocean waters. If you read the coast guard reports, this was a an area that got rough (after an hour and a half of them out there) The captain of this vessel, a Pursuit fishing boat, cut the line of his fathers line. Yes, this was his father he lost in this accident. Please dont think for a minute he would of put his fathers life in jeapordy over a fish.

I just ask you not to assume what happened out there. There is little details released four the sake of our families grieving. We lost a wonderful man to this accident. But he died doing the thing he loved most.

I was one of he boats out there that got a late start. There were no forecasts for 13' seas. They were normal halibut fishing forcast that turned ugly. On the video of My Wife, is not even as bad as it got. It was 13' at 4 seconds and all washboard. We went through 15'-20'ers that were stacked close. More than once I had went over a wave to nose into green water. The water would hit the windshield with such force it would force up and explode into the bottom of the roof coming into the cabin through the canvas. We had water fairly deep several times in the back of the boat. the scuppers were under water and wouldn't drain very fast at slow speeds. I would guess we might have seen 40 MPH winds. I would have to turn the boat to get the scuppers above the water line. I watched my switches and ignition switches getting wet from time to time, but they held up. I was praying my ignitions switches would not short out. if you had any equipment failure out there on Tuesday, you were in trouble.

I was talking to the two boats in trouble. We dropped lines and double headered. Both fish were lost. I would not let them go back down and made them reel in so we could go. In 5 minutes I could see it building. We got out in 1.5 hours and it took 6 hours to get back. We were down to 4 MPH at the last. I watched the Ranger getting kicked all around on the way back and its a big charter boat. The Astoria CG helicopter came over us for a while and made sure we were doing OK on the way back. It was definitely a test of equipment. I have two bilge pumps and one is a 3700 GPH just for safety. My windshield wipers went out about 7 miles out as did three other PSA Sno-King buddies. I would not let anyone near the gunnels or out from under the roof. When the wipers went out, I had a very hard time judging the wave heights and widths.

It was like driving over and quartering houses 20' apart. They were very steep waves and I am very sorry for their loss. No one would have left the dock if they would have known how bad it was going to get. Your family and loss is in our prayers.

I ,too, was on the scene as the the helicopters were hovering around. Lots of armchair quarterbacking here but let's just say that it got much worse than predicted. My wiper motor on the helm side went out and the one on the port side broke off so I had no visibility at all for miles. I agree that the short season draws way too many small boats to the area for the "gold rush"..usually hear the macho bragging rights stuff...like "we went out 35 miles and got huge halis....we didn't have any problems...blah blah..." BS

Topwater chartered out of Neah Bay and La Push for years, I believe that gives him the right to voice an opinion on how this state sets seasons.

We were out that day, and unfortunately saw everything right after it had happened. As stated before, on the way out the seas were pretty typical for the ocean and then kicked up around 8am. Seeing that boat upside down makes you think a lot, the reality of the oceans power definately hit me right between my eyes. God Bless all the families involved, it is truely a tradgic accident. Where there are fish, people will go. But, you can never be over prepared.

grieving, i'm sorry for your loss. the point of my post was more about learning from the incident than assigning blame. i can see how what i wrote might have come across as blaming the victim, and while i wrote them, the intent was not there. i have been out in those bad weather circumstances and i know how f'ing terrible it feels. i could have been the one in the paper and being discussed on the internet, and you know what... no matter how much i wish it wasn't, it would have been 100% my fault for going out, and ignoring all the warning signs. when the big charters wonder what the hell you're doing out there, that's a sign (guilty more than once). just wanted to let everyone know that i was just as lucky as those who made it back from this storm. those that live learn a lesson that could never be taught anywhere else.

i stand by what i said about setting the seasons... and for those who criticized my post for bringing up halibut derbies... you can stick it where the sun don't shine. read the thread title, then read the links to the news articles. there was a halibut derby going on... right?

and while this might create a few more negative posts directed at me, so be it. small boats are dangerous when you are 20-45 miles out in the ocean. while bad stuff can happen to larger boats... many of the small boats just are not capable of the seas that can come up when so far out.

i stand by everything i stated about small boaters that i saw being careless with their lives out in the ocean. if one life can be saved by candid discussions, it'll be worth it.

what's your point? did you read the thread title or the news articles about this tragedy?

of course if you don't like my posts, ban me....



that's right it is not your website. with that you have options:
-don't read my posts... and if that's too hard just put me on ignore.
-actually learn to read and understand what people are saying vs. your typical retarded knee-jerk reaction. btw, if you want to insult me, you'll have to try a little harder than saying i need to "clean my vegetable drawers" (whatever the hell that means).... and an insult always works better if you can spell.

If this is the Chris (Topwater) I am thinking of from Colorado, he ran an Almar out of Neah Bay for many years as I used to run out of there too. We talked at the docks. He does know what he is talking about.

After reviewing the coast guard video of the Trophy taking on water, and getting pumped out, this was while the weather was building. It was not even close to its worst. I am posting this picture of a livingston I snapped a picture of in 2006 at the SW corner of the closure. This is a guy halibut fishing by himself. This backs up Chris point.

By the way, There was no halibut derby, but is the poor reporting of the news station. It is treated like a derby or has a "derby" mentality.

It is Chris.

This really is a tragedy, my prayers go out to the family!!! So for future offshore adventures I would like to point out a few rules of thumb that I live by and usually keeps me out of trouble. I have been fishing offshore for over 40 years having grown up in a commercial fishing family and continue to do so in a 21' campion. Some of my runs are 50 to 70 miles offshore(tuna) so something that I live byis knowing the trends for the areas your fishing. Lapush anytime they are talking SW wind is going to get you in trouble the forecast was calling out sea's building and wind increasing for a 2 day period I know I was watching Noaa forecast and stayed home even thou in my heart I wanted to go, I have done the Lapush opener for 7 years now and I just new the water was going to turn to nasty for me, I have pounded my way home before up there and plan to never see that again, so a good rule of thumb is always use at least a 3 day forecast the day before the day of and the day after the day you plan on fishing , I try to find a trend where things are always looking better not worst as what NOAA was saying all week. One thing is for sure it doesn't matter if your boat is 20 or 50 foot when mother nature takes over!!!PEACE

BWP....

I don't understand your immediate willingness to jump all over a person for expressing their opinions.

Topwater made some valid points in his original post.

I didn't view his comments as being disrespectful.

So let's leave the personal insults OUT.

While I agree that it is possible to have bad weather later in the year, it's still true that the weather/water is statistically much better/safer in July and August than it is in May. However, as was pointed out, the primary reason for having the halibut openings in May is to bring more revenue to the local communities by spreading out the fishing opportunities over time.

Personally, I'd rather see a system set up in which there were "personal quotas" for halibut and salmon - e.g. just tell me how many fish I'm allowed to catch but let me catch them when I have the time and the conditions are safe.

thanks for the heads up on the derby. dang media, they just cannot seem to get fishery news even close to correct.

as for that picture... that's worse than anything i've seen during halibut season (i've seen less seaworthy boats in nasty water during salmon season). thanks for posting what is clearly not a smart decision by that boater.

chris