It doesn't get more Northwest than this.

As I mentioned in the thread for Roland, I didn’t know him. I must have met him in passing during one of our tournaments or get-togethers, but I never really knew him like many on this forum did. When I hit the beach on that Thursday afternoon and learned what had happened, it blew my mind. I didn’t know what to say or do.  It felt good, though, to see Dino and his crew roll back into the camp. And when I learned they were going to get out and fish, it felt pretty awesome. I offered condolences but I knew I couldn’t really know what Dino, his crew, and everyone else was feeling. I do, however, have a good feel for the passionate, caring, character that is so commonly shown by so many people who are a part of this community. It seems as though we have lost too many of these passionate, caring people in the past few years. Roland, Ron, Bryan… The last thing I want is to come across as crass or insensitive by posting fishing reports while we lost a person that people care about. If it were me that was sent off to that eternal fishing spot in the sky, I would want my brothers and sisters to fish the hell out of that weekend and have a ball! This weekend was one of the best fishing weekends I can remember, period.  Good people all over the place, BBQ’d squid on the grill, an amazing setting at a campground on the beach, and top-notch fishing. It seemed as though every beer or scotch that weekend had a sip poured out for these awesome, fishy guys that have been taken from us too soon.

So I wish fair winds and following seas to Roland. This is for him.

The Hobuck Beach/Neah Bay area is a damn cool spot.  I know I’m not really breaking new ground here, but Bill hit it right on the head when he said that, “It doesn’t get more Northwest than this!”  The patchy forest that has it’s share of scars from logging... The fog rolling up on the hills covered by this forest… Bald eagles everywhere… Low-hanging clouds that persist for most of the day… Not to mention the the geographical accuracy of the statement. This place really is special.

I rolled in on Wednesday evening of the opening weekend to a packed campground.  I set up camp, chatted with lots of friends hanging around, took in the sunset on the beach, and tried not to think too much about the big fish that lurked beyond that beach.



Zee and I punched out through the surf on Thursday morning to a fairly calm ocean. We found a fishy spot and dropped lines to drift, but the current was dead. I essentially trolled around slowly, searching for a willing hali, but things were pretty slow. Bill was picking up some nice rockfish so I rigged up my second rod for them, but ultimately kept looking for flatties.  After a couple hours I noticed the current was picking up a bit.  I decided to pedal into it for a while to setup a nice long drift. It was a nice drift, but nothing seemed interested. I was nodding off in my seat. I had almost reached the end of the drift when I was considering pulling up and resetting. Then I felt a bite that seemed like a ling at first. I started pulling up on it and, well… Here’s the video.



Lap pic



Bill working his magic



Beach in the evening



Cooking up halibut collars



Hopefully others will put up their reports from the opening weekend.  I’ll have more to come soon...

Nice report but the video isn't working for me.  Played for a couple seconds and then went white... not sure.

Nice report but the video isn't working for me.  Played for a couple seconds and then went white... not sure.

Weird, I didn't have that happen after using a different youtube account. Try a different browser or clearing cache?

Awesome!  Congrats.

 Great report Jeff,
 
 I felt like I was there while reading this. Thanks for sharing the adventure.

Lap pic

So, um... I hope it was good and dead... 

Nice Report! I was wondering if you'd post about the new avatar change. Nice Fish!

raw fish what is that gaff called

Well said Jeff.

Great fish.  You know they are big when you can start measuring them in leg lengths.

What a difference 4 years makes!  The last time I rolled into Neah Bay with Bryce, Bill and Jeff was on an exploratory mission for kayak accessible halibut.  While we caught lots of everything else (including the kraken) non of us scored a flatty.  Fast forward to 2015 and there were probably 20 kayak fishermen around, several of whom had scored halibut there previously.

Catching a halibut is an awesome experience.  To share it with a great group of friends makes it even better. 

-Mark-

What a difference 4 years makes!  The last time I rolled into Neah Bay with Bryce, Bill and Jeff was on an exploratory mission for kayak accessible halibut.  While we caught lots of everything else (including the kraken) non of us scored a flatty.  Fast forward to 2015 and there were probably 20 kayak fishermen around, several of whom had scored halibut there previously.

Catching a halibut is an awesome experience.  To share it with a great group of friends makes it even better. 

-Mark-

Now that's a smile, nice fish spot! How was the fight?

raw fish what is that gaff called

It's a flying gaff with a spring loaded clip. The idea is solid, but this particular device isn't as robust as it needs to be. You'll see why in the next video.

Yea I was interested in the spring, couldn't find anything that wasn't a  rediculous price with the spring

Wow some really nice fish!!!! 

great job guys!!!!

What a difference 4 years makes!  The last time I rolled into Neah Bay with Bryce, Bill and Jeff was on an exploratory mission for kayak accessible halibut.  While we caught lots of everything else (including the kraken) non of us scored a flatty.  Fast forward to 2015 and there were probably 20 kayak fishermen around, several of whom had scored halibut there previously.

Catching a halibut is an awesome experience.  To share it with a great group of friends makes it even better. 

-Mark-

Now that's a smile, nice fish spot! How was the fight?

The fight was great.  My fighting skills were .... ummm...  less than spectacular.

The mainline broke when it rubbed across the harpoon cable so Fungunnin grabbed the buoys and took the lapdance.  Bad Billie is an ANIMAL!

-Mark-

What a difference 4 years makes!  The last time I rolled into Neah Bay with Bryce, Bill and Jeff was on an exploratory mission for kayak accessible halibut.  While we caught lots of everything else (including the kraken) non of us scored a flatty.  Fast forward to 2015 and there were probably 20 kayak fishermen around, several of whom had scored halibut there previously.

Catching a halibut is an awesome experience.  To share it with a great group of friends makes it even better. 

-Mark-

Now that's a smile, nice fish spot! How was the fight?

The fight was great.  My fighting skills were .... ummm...  less than spectacular.

The mainline broke when it rubbed across the harpoon cable so Fungunnin grabbed the buoys and took the lapdance.  Bad Billie is an ANIMAL!

-Mark-

Please tell me someone got it on video