LJ 9/30

[GregAndrew]

Nice swift downhill current, to go with a downhill wind. Luckily, the wind was much better than forecast. Bait was pretty good at the pier at greylight, but there were a lot of smaller models in the mix. Got 3 nice pieces between 9 - 11" along with 8 or 9 in the 6 - 7" range in about 20 minutes. Decided to take my chances with that and maybe run into some more on the way across the canyon (yeah, right!).

Got over outside the reserve to a depth contour I wanted to work and put down the largest Greenie I had, followed closely by the downrigger camera. Within 15 minutes I am on to something with some weight. I get the camera up and out of the way, and commence to working the fish. Other than a couple of short initial runs, it has not done much of anything. About 30 seconds after I started to work the fish, I feel some headshakes and then nothing.


At this point, I am hoping that it was just a shark or BSB that had just not run because I was not pulling on it yet. But just in case I leave the rig down to see if the fish will come back for it. Then I dig my phone out of the hatch and start to review the downrigger video. After a few minutes of review (and several requests that it only be a BSB) I get a glimpse of a big Halibut inhaling my bait, up to the nose and spitting it back out. Then a second bite inhaling the entire 11" Mack. So, bit at least twice and not one good hookset.


By this time, I am figuring that it either killed the bait and does not want it dead, or it ate it and is heading back to bed. Reel the line up and find no bait, so probably the latter. But I am not going to give up that easily. I put on the next largest bait I had, and sent it down. Get the downrigger camera back down and head back up the drift from where I came. Ten minutes or so later, my bait gets a little nervous and I feel a little tug. Lift the rod, and the tip stays down. I set the hook (twice just to make sure).

Nice weight again, and commence to bringing up the downrigger. Get that up and stowed, and start to work the fish. Lots of headshakes and a couple vertical runs up that I had to catch up to, but not a lot of effort wasted. It did come up a bit green, and made a small run at the surface, but I was still concerned about a good gaff shot (which I missed by mere millimeters). Luckily it only made a couple of shakes before going limp. Fish was just under 43" and just over 32#.