Halibut where and how?

[voyager]

The past few years I have booked a charter out of Port Renfrew BC for Halibut but this year I am thinking about taking my boat and going myself. I would not be going all the way to Swiftsure Bank but I was thinking about the straight. The problem is I have only fished the straight a few times with friends out of PA and we have yet to land a Halibut. I know they have to be out there so I am wondering if anyone else has any suggestions on where to go? What type of gear or technique? And the best place for overnight moorage?

[Tedster]

Paul did I ever tell you the story about Scott Hauck going to Port Renfrew instead of going to Roche Harbor like he was suppose to do for The Bayliner Rendezvous? :lol:

[SPUD]

Kathy and I do quite a bit of halibut fishing in the Straits with very good results. Last year we made 4 trips and landed 6 halibut with the largest weighing in a 66 pounds.

The key areas are Eastern , McCurdy, and Hein bank for us. We jig in 140 to 200 feet of water. We use the new Daiwa Electric Bull reels but a
Shimano TLD 25 or 20 will work also. I use braided 80 lb line with a 100lb flourocarbon leader with Owner hooks. Depending on the current we use one to two pound lead balls to get the ball to the bottom fast. You will have less snags if the line is strait down and not drifting out too much.
"Ring the Dinner Bell" means bounce the ball off the bottom to stir up the mud/gravel and to make a sound. Scent heavily and often (we use both Herring Oil and Shrimp Oil.

Best bait for us has been the HERRING HOTDOG (I made it up). Take a whole frozen 10 inch squid and insert a black labeled herring into it. Take your top hook and hook it into the squid and through the eye of the herring and back out the squid. Take the trailing hook and hook it through the tail of the herring. Squirt lots of oil into the squid cavity with the herring inside. Drop to bottom and jig...two feet up....two feet down to hit bottom. Make sure your hooks are super sharp.....very very important.

If you want, I can post some coordinates !


Good Luck,
Spud

[SomeSailor]

We're gonna have to start calling you the "Slab Hunter" :)

[voyager]

Spud thank you, if you do not mind posting coordinates on the board that would be great. I printed what you posted so I won't lose it. It looks like I am going to need some new equipment :)

[pkrogh]

Spud, what about the bank just north of Marrowstone Island? I've heard some
say that it used to be good for flatfish.

80 lb line, huh? I better do some upgrading also. Maybe start lifting weights
too!

Pete

[voyager]

Is the outdoor emporium the best place to get this stuff?

[Go Aweigh2452]

OE is good but so is Sportco or my fav... Sportmans Warehouse if you have one nearby...

[Pegasis]

I've found using 35# braided line is almost more than adequate to anchor the boat for short periods of time and has a lot more breaking strength than the drag on the reel can handle.

[SPUD]

There is an area just off of Protection Island that put some slabs out this year. I throw out some coords when I check on the FISHTALE tomorrow. I like the 80 lb Powerpro as we also like to fish up at Race Rocks (BC) and there are some BIG BUTTS that come out of that area.

One more tip, use a small zip tie to hook the lead weight on to your terminal tackle. If you hook up bottom, just tighten the drag and the zip tie will break free from the tackle and all you have lost is the lead. Be very careful with braided line, it cuts thru skin,coaming,fibreglass like butter. Believe me.......I know !

Tight lines,

Spud