We set out at 08:00 for the outside to find some Halibut and Lingers for Chris and Kerry. They have been coming with me for the last few years early in the season to take advantage of the great ground fishing. After setting the crab and Prawn traps we headed out of the harbor to my favorite early season Halibut spot. Dogfish bank did not disapoint us this year. After setting the hook in 200 ft of water I baited the circle hooks with a mix of Herring and Salmon parts with a spray of Butt Juice for good measure. It was not long before we had the first strike, Kerry grabbed the rod as the second one went off. Chris grabbed the other rod and set the hook.
Two fish came to the boat at the same time and I had to harpoon them both because of their size. Kerrys was 85 lbs and Chris was 60 Lbs. Good stuff.
It was not long before they were working their second double. This time it was a 70lb and a 40 lb. Done and out of there in 1.5 hours, not bad for early season Halibut fishing. The next stop was my favorite Linger spot. Three drifts over the pinacle produced three Lingers. We moved to the next pinacle and whacked three more. I use 32oz Norse Jiggs. It takes a lot of strength to jigg these off the bottom but Chris and Kerry are seasoned veterans. We jigged deeper for some Yellow Eye Rockfish but only managed to land four about 15lbs. The crab traps were loaded with Dungeness males and the Prawn traps had a good helping of Jumbo Prawns. A great day was had by all.
