6/12 Halibut school

[NoSlack]

Last fall Phil on the Fire Escape expressed some interest in getting together for a little halibut tune-up before he retired from the fire department. With only a week left before he retires, we finally got on the water for his first lesson in the Halibut 101 series.

We met down at the Shelter Island ramp around 7:30 just as the tide was going slack for the first low of the day. With the halibut season getting off to a slow start, I felt the bay offered the best chance for us to find a fish or two.

We started off out in front of the Del were we metered a lot of bait but were unable to put a scratch on a bait in the two long drifts we made there. The next move was back to the channel to a spot that rarity lets me down. Charlie you might remember the spot. It's were I took you to pop your halibut cherry.

It took two drifts before we put a scratch on a bait and on the third pass we drew blood. I was first on the board with a modest 13 pound fish. On the next pass Phil gets hooked up and contributes one to the box. On the next few drifts we came up empty so we move back inside the bay to explore a few more areas that held fish in the past.

A few more hours of drifting on the Navy side of the bay releasing spotties and Phil hooks into his second keeper of the day.

We called it a day at 1:30 with 3 keepers in the box and one happy student on board.

Mike

http://www.bocaboard.com/data/noslack/13 halibut.jpg

http://www.bocaboard.com/data/510/Phil.jpg

[yellowfin1]

Way to go Mike /Phil,
Looks like you guys mad a good day of it during this slow season. A modest 13lber? A thirteen pounder is nothing to scoff at but, I guess when you have a 33lb'er under your belt that 13 is nothing.

See ya on the water,
Scott

[yellowfin1]

Way to go Mike /Phil,
Looks like you guys mad a good day of it during this slow season. A modest 13lber? A thirteen pounder is nothing to scoff at but, I guess when you have a 33lb'er under your belt that 13 is nothing. Oh by the way Phil congratulations on retirement. What a great time in your life. Will you be startinmg a second career like I did, or are you truly retiring?

See ya on the water,
Scott

[firebc]

Wow, what a great day on the water! Fishing with Mike proved one thing....you can fish with the rest, but you can only learn from the best. The hours on the water went by too fast. I'm lucky Mike has the patience of Job. I can't count how many times he had to remind me not to let the sinker bounce against the bait tank. I've always said fishing is what you go out for, catching is just icing on the cake. If you notice in the picture, Mike is holding his fish closer to his body that I am. Makes 'um look a little bit bigger.

Hi Scott,

Not sure, what did you do after retirement? It's true, Friday is my last day working for San Miguel Fire and the only thing on my agenda this summer is to fish. I figure if I wanted to work I'd just stay there. It's a great job. I have a trip planned in August to fish salmon and halibut in Alaska. Never done that before and really want to try it out.

Now that summer is upon us I hope to see more posts from everyone. Charlie did such a great job on this website it really should get used more.

Phil

[NoSlack]

The highlight of the day had to be back at the ramp when that
Marine Biologist hottie came strolling over to the boat, with the top two button of her blouse undone.

She asked to see our fish, so I whip out my halibut and she says " that's a big one" and turns to Phil and says "I'll bet you never get tired of hearing that".

A hot chick that knows her fish and has a sense of humor, what an improvement over the Napoleon Dynamite looking guy at Mission Bay.

Mike

[DOGHOUSE26]

Don't be too sure, I heard this was "DFG dress in drag Weekend", maybe Napolean was hitting on you two!

Nice catch Mike, and even after slipping Phil a Micky when he got back to J Dock, he wouldn't reveal where the fish were caught. Those Firemen are tough cookies! :D

[Wizard]

Good job. As always.

I even struck out catching a cold the last 6 weeks, out trying for everything from T-Sharks to butts every weekend. Even went to one of the halibut 'spots' Mike showed me last year. Not even bait there. It's all about water conditions, and Mike has a sixth sense.

[Sleigher]

Why didn't you get a picture of her?

[firebc]

You know Mike, it's not that I get tired of hearing it, it's just that I've never heard it before! Caught me by surprise...so I thought she was talking about the halibut.

Phil

[NoSlack]

Peter

A snap shot of that would have been nice, but I don't think Charlie would let me post it on the site.

From my vantage point (in the boat on the trailer), I had a bird's eye view on a pair of nice keepers. Next time we cross paths, I'll work her for a more family friendly shot.

Mike

ps. It would have been rude to break out the camera after I drooled on her and passed it off as halibut slime.