Registered: 03/08/99
Posts: 27837
Loc: Seattle, Washington USA
We did manage to get some halibut on Thursday, though our spot did not produce at the same clip that it usually does. Due to some serious operator error we not only missed a few bites, but went a dismal 2-8 on hooked up and fighting fish, losing two of them with less than 100' of line out after doing the heavy duty of getting them over 400 feet off the bottom.
A couple of nice lings and rockfish limits on both Thursday and Friday, but that Friday weather was a bastard!
Overall I came home with a decent haul of groceries.
Fish checkers and cleaning stations both indicated that fishing was rather poor, at least compared to the usual opening week halibut productivity.
We fished out of Neah Bay, and went south and west from Tattoosh
The requirement for having a descender device on board in the ocean fisheries will go into effect July 1. There will be an emergency regulation coming out in June and the WAC will be updated to reflect the requirement for all saltwater areas. Would have been a whole lot easier had the regulation as originally drafted and presented to the Commission been passed.
Use of a descender will save a lot of rockfish and is critical when one encounters any of the listed species. I hope if anyone encountered the listed species during the halibut fishery that they had a descender on board.
Great little video from ODFW on a simple style of release device....
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"Let every angler who loves to fish think what it would mean to him to find the fish were gone." (Zane Grey)
"If you don't kill them, they will spawn." (Carcassman)
At first glance, it looks like our local rockfish do a little better than other species elsewhere...
The hidden internal injuries do worry me, as I'm certain our fish are not immune. Yeah we can get 'em back down to depth without them floating back to the surface. But then what? The fish are weak and lethargic and unlikely to be very adept at evading predators. (Hungry ling?) Makes me wonder just how effective descenders really are for overall long-term survival.
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"Let every angler who loves to fish think what it would mean to him to find the fish were gone." (Zane Grey)
"If you don't kill them, they will spawn." (Carcassman)
Registered: 03/06/01
Posts: 1183
Loc: Gig Harbor, WA
We fished the 3 hali openers on my boat and got our fish each day. Some days took a little longer than others. Largest was a 65 incher (maybe low 140's?), with a couple in the 70 lbs district. Kept some smaller ones when the weather was up and we wanted to tuck it in. Pretty well stocked for white meat for now, but that is so much fun I might have to hit another opener or two, and then do some Canada work later in the summer,
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"Laugh if you want to, it really is kinda funny, cuz the world is a car and you're the crash test dummy" All Hail, The Devil Makes Three
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He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice.
Registered: 03/06/01
Posts: 1183
Loc: Gig Harbor, WA
Rec's get two more days. I gotta sit those out, so I'm hoping for the next two in early June when I free up. Not much effort or success for most of the fleet on day 2 or day 3 in my neck of the woods. I doubt there'll be much quota burned up over these next two days either, even with the nice forecast. Long ways for most of us to drive to catch one fish and go home. . .
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"Laugh if you want to, it really is kinda funny, cuz the world is a car and you're the crash test dummy" All Hail, The Devil Makes Three