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Well with 3 unsuccessful halibut trips under our belt my son and I decided to pack up and head for more Northern waters. We got up this morning at o'dark 30 and headed on a 3 hour drive to Tofino on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. We were armed with bait and good weather. Very few boats out which to some is a bad sign but to us it means low pressure. We didn't hook into anything big but had a lot of fun and it was Jakes first succesful halibut trip. He actually remembered to take something this morning which he forgot on his last trip.



There is no shortage of alloy boats in Tofino. Here is a shot of a few at the dock next to the boat ramp. Alot of whale tour boats and water taxi's.


The Sculpin at the dock


Jakes first Halibut experience (he netted this one)


Dad with a fiesty little chicken




Jake wanted me to get my limit out of the way so he could fish his without me in the way :? We set out both rods with him jigging one and the other sitting in the holder. Guess what, he hooked up and half way up the other rod went off. He horsed the first one in......


.......then he raced over to the second rod and the fish was still on and reeled that one in too.


A double header by himself on his first Halibut trip :D .

Proud as punch


The days harvest with first mate Jake




The drive home was beautiful with just a little bit of snow left on the mountains.


Jake didn't last too long on the drive


Lucky kid. I only got 3 hours sleep the night before. Had to pound a couple of coffee just to stay awake.

Filleted and vaccum bagged all evening. I'll clean the boat out tomorrow.

Very nice Rock up in Northern Aluminum heaven. As always beautiful country up there...... Kids smiles and tuckering them out priceless.
Nice eating size Halibut......... I am Envious and the Sculpin she is a beauty.

Mark

Great pix!!!!!!

I see ya'll always show "the white side" too.....
Why is that, when it comes to Halibut?

Here, when we show a Flounder, no one ever shows the white side.

IE:


customers 6 pound flattie off the beach. Camo'd JAWS.

I don't know why we always show the white side. Maybe it's a contrast thing. Down south with the heat one has to wear lighter coloured cloths to stay cool so the dark side shows up better in the photo and the opposite up here :D .

Nice job! The kid rocks . . . bet he loved it.

That Tofino is a great spot, usually jammed with tourists this time of year. Did it seem busy or is the slack economy having the same effect on resort areas up there as it is down here?

Nice day out.

Chaps wrote:Nice job! The kid rocks . . . bet he loved it.

That Tofino is a great spot, usually jammed with tourists this time of year. Did it seem busy or is the slack economy having the same effect on resort areas up there as it is down here?

The tourist are in full swing in the town for sure. Lot's of coffee shops, gift shops, etc. Not a lot of boats out though and lot's of parking at the ramp etc. Bring your own bait though almost double what I can buy it for on the East side :shock: .

What are you using for bait???? How do you rig it?

Thanks
Mark

THata Boy JAKE! Take that rod from dad and reel them in! Love them flatties!
Marty

Rock, GREAT post and congrats to Jake on a job VERY WELL DONE

and compliments to your crew for wearing his Life Vest , Safety is ALWAYS 1st here on AAB.

mojomizer wrote:What are you using for bait???? How do you rig it?

Thanks
Mark

Mark we usually jig with spreader bars with a 2lb weight and 200 lb mono leaders with a single front hook and a treble tail hook. We were using Large herring on this day with a skirt above the front hook for attraction. Different spots require different bait as sometimes we use octopus and the best I've found is salmon bellies. I'll try to take some photos of our set ups and post them next time. I really like how you post your set ups cause I find it interesting how folks do things in other places. It gives one ideas to try etc.

You're right... it's a contrast thing. You've got all that light blue sky, flat horizon, light colored sand, white cotton clothing, etc. Here, there's no such thing as a flat horizon unless you're on the open ocean. Even then, everything is dark grey or deep green.

I prefer to see the white side of a flatty anyway... always gives fairly specific clues about where they were caught in case you're looking to steal someone's honey hole...

-Case

JETTYWOLF wrote:Great pix!!!!!!

I see ya'll always show "the white side" too.....
Why is that, when it comes to Halibut?

Here, when we show a Flounder, no one ever shows the white side.

IE:


customers 6 pound flattie off the beach. Camo'd JAWS.

Thankyou for the info TR. I too like seeing how other parts of this world fish. Trying to figure if techniques apply to my area. I think that a spreader bar can work but in a much smaller scale over here.

Hope you had a good weekend.

Mark

Great report!
Thanks for making them with a story line- Beginning, filler in the middle and ending. Nicely done.
3 hr. drive? Wow, and I LITTLE GIRL if I drive for an 1 1/2 hrs! :roll:
...But it looks worth it :D :D :D

Scott

IN2DEEP wrote:Great report!
Thanks for making them with a story line- Beginning, filler in the middle and ending. Nicely done.
3 hr. drive? Wow, and I LITTLE GIRL if I drive for an 1 1/2 hrs! :roll:
...But it looks worth it :D :D :D

Scott

The drive does suck and its one of the only trips where the gas for the truck is more than the boat :D . It totally was worth the trip as it was such a great of a day for Jake. Great sea conditions and he didn't feel sick at all and he finally got into some halibut. If we stayed longer we could have nailed a couple of nice springs and if I placed the crab pots in a different location we could have had some of the best dungees on the coast.

Heck, make it a two day trip. More time to take advantage of the area and less tiring too!

Scott

IN2DEEP wrote:Heck, make it a two day trip. More time to take advantage of the area and less tiring too!

Scott

We're planning an overnighter this weekend. Well at least we'll head up Saturday night and be fresh for the morning with more time fishing :D .

Great stuff Rock, wish we had those Halibut over here in Western Australia- they look like a Flounder on steroids!! :shock: