The weather forecast was calling for south west 20kt, but I was pleasantly surprised after rounding the cape. The wind was around 7 mph but there was still a residual ground swell from the previous day. We worked our way towards Elrington Island and found a nice protected spot out of the nasty westerly rollers. After 3 chum bombs and a few bait switches we had our first hook up. We only ended up with three fish at spot #1, but they were of nice size. Chris from Anchorage caught a 87lb halibut that was big enough to take the daily derby prize of a free charter next year. We caught three nice fish and lost three nice fish, making our average somewhere around 50% not ideal, but it sounded like it was a slow pick for all the boats fishing in the weather today.
After a long sit at the hog hole we decided to pull the hook and do a little more catching than fishing. We travelled another 5 miles into the swells and loaded the boat up with 51 more halibut. The bite was quicker than usual and it seemed as if we dropped right on top of a large school of them. It takes a bit to get the bite going on most days but today was an exception. Great day of fishing, not bad for a weather day! Good work everyone, FISH ON!!!
