More Halibut

More Westport Halibut action.This time I opted to splash the boat the night before. The tides were suppose to be out at 5 a.m. Turns out there was enough water to launch. Either way, it's a good learning experience. I found the cuddy cabin very comfortable to sleep in.

We almost didn't make this trip. Saturday morning, I went to check on the boat and heard the bilge pump on. Since I had just sealed the deck plate, I had to think of another way to get to the pump. First, I had to cut the power off to stop the pump before it drained my battery. I disconnected the wires from the battery until I found the wire that stopped the pump.

Now, I had to open the bracket hatch. I unscrewed the hatch and carefully pried it open. I looked at the sensor and found that the plastic was eaten through...like it short circuited and cooked itself. No good. So I called Puget Marina and told Charlie I'm on my way. I hooked up the truck and raced to the shop. Charlie was great and was ready for action. He replaced the pump with a float switch and wired it all back up and sealed the hatch. Great. I can go fishing.

Anyway, we had great conditions for a run offshore. The forecast was for 10 to 15 knot winds with 1-2 foot wind waves and 3 foot swells. We left the dock at around 5:15 with another boat following us. The Bloodydeck pack is right behind us. The tide was at low slack. Even then the bar was a bit bumpy, but the boat had no problem picking through the bumps. Once away from the bar, it flattened out and we kept a 20 mph pace all the way to the fishing grounds.

Once at the fishing grounds we found another productive spot and got our limits in no time. I did learn that I need to rethink my equipment for deep drops. It's going to be a must to have electric reels to drop to 700 ft of water. I'm also going to get 30 wide Arubas next year for the extra line capacity.