ILHG
Crew Member
Just got back yesterday afternoon & fell asleep before I could send out an update. I fished hard for 3.5 days & had NW winds between 25-40km/hr for 3 days of it. I was determined to deep drop this trip & made sure when I booked it that it would happen this time. I heard the usual "there is no life that deep" & "we had clients try the same thing & they put the electric reels away after 30 min." The difference is I had my own spots picked out on Navionics & I also had a young guide (only 22yrs old) who thought it would be awesome to try.
Day #1:
We were late getting to the lodge as weather keep us waiting at the airport for a few hours. Once the fog lifted we finally made our way out there. It was around supper time once we were geared up & ready to go. I meet my guide & reviewed my goals for the trip. I told him I want to fish some monster lings with live bait at the pinnacles off Freeman Rocks, & also had a couple spots picked to do some deep drop fishing off shore. We headed out to Freeman Rocks & the weather was perfect. My fishing partner & me started jigging (I was using butterfly jigs) & we hooked into 2 over Halibut between 90-100 lbs at least. I don't have any pics of it as we left them in the water & let them go. We also picked up a couple nice 23# lings. After a couple hours we were forced to go back in.... That night I caught live bait just off the lodge. I caught some large Sand Dabs for the next day.
Day #2:
We woke up 5am to clear sky's but strong winds that were going to pick up ever more during the day. At 5:30 we left the dock & headed over to start some deep drop fishing while the wind was still manageable. Half way there the guide changed his mind as the radio was not picking up other boats. (we were the only ones on the water though) So we made a sharp left & went to freeman rocks & dropped some sand dabs. We hooked up right away to Lings between 25-40lbs. Absolutely the funniest way to catch lings. We also nailed some monster black bass. After a few hours we headed back towards Hippa for the lunch boat..
The guide didn't want to fish the afternoon in rough waters so we were stuck in a bay they call the Bahamas. I hate this place because its tide dependent & even with the right tide its only hot for short window. (the structure a little off shore constantly holds fish) However I was not interested in getting beat up either so we caught a few salmon & enjoyed the scenery. I ended up bonking a 14 lber.. At 3pm the guide was finished. We were back to the lodge at 3:30 pm. This was hard for me to say the least, as I have never have I been done so early (But have to respect the guides schedule).
Day#3:
Again an early start so we could get out before the NW winds picked up again. We discussed plans over breakfast & headed out for some deep dropping. On the way out we came across a family of Humpback whales. They were jumping as high out of the water as they could & were playing for at least 20 min. Such a pleasure to watch. Turns out they were playing almost directly over top where I wanted to deep drop. I was starting to feel some pressure because we needed to box a couple of fish if we wanted to take our Halibut & Lings home. This was going to need to be a busy day, but I was determined to sacrifice my morning to prove it to myself. On the way out the guide wanted to stop at a 600' flat spot & try it. I knew it would not hold our targeted species, but loved the idea to see what was home. I was hoping for a grey cod or 2. My fishing partner hooked into the first fish & it was a big long jaw... Second fish was a tiger rock fish. After that we picked up and headed to the target area.
The guide rigged my fishing partner up with one of the huge squid that had been showing up & hitting salmon gear. It was about 13" long & as round as a tennis ball. (a bit big of a bait for my liking) I used a spreader bar with a plastic squid lure I made that had a LED light in it. I baited it with a small piece of salmon belly. I had originally wanted to use a set up I made with 2 circle hooks, & a LED light but the waves were picking up & I was getting sicker every time I was looking down trying to tie up my rig.
The guide set us up to do the perfect drift over the spot & we dropped out bait in 1200" of water. About 3-4 min later we touched bottom.. We continued to drift deeper & and had to keep letting out line to insure we touching. The transition from 1200" to 1500" was fairly steep. About 4-5 min in to the drift me & my partner each had a hit. We let them chew for a few seconds then engaged the electric reels to help set the hook. As the electric reels pulled tension we took the rods out of the rod hold and insured we buried the hooks deep...... It was game on! lots of head shakes & the adrenaline start flowing. We pumped the rods so that the electric reels could grab line. About half way up they fighting was less but the fish still pulled almost the whole way up. At the exact same time me and my buddies fish popped up & we were looking at 2 monster Short Rakers! I screamed FU&# YHA!! I haven't been that happy over a fish since my first Tyee.! We got them to the boat & the fish were both about 30lbs. By this point I was feeling so sick I ended up puking hard. However that was not going to stop me from fishing.
Once we got to the 1500" mark it was a level contour that was small in size but held for at least 50 yrds. We both dropped back down & I had a hit with in a minute. I set the hook & this one felt different. On the way up I would slow down the reel so I could just make sure it was still there. It gave the odd head shake which gave me joy to know it was still there. About the last 100' the fish woke up & got pissed. This was totally different than the last one. I started to see color but it was not orange like the short rakers. Instead it was a shadow in the water. I was thinking it but didn't want to say it.... When the fish hit the surface it was a SABLE FISH! Not just an average Sable Fish, it was a 17lber. I grabbed the gaff & had it in the boat so fast don't even remember it happening. Every one was high fiving in the boat & the energy was electric. **moments after landing the fish I dry heaved over the side of the boat for a few minutes again. At this point I was worried my guts were going to come out of my mouth like a rock fish.** The guide was doing a rockstar job holding the boat for the drift. With 2 lines out at ~1500' a tangle would have been a nightmare. Even with waves blowing buckets of water at times over the transom he got it done**
We headed back where we started the first drift. As soon as we got to the step ledge between 1200-1500" we both hooked up to another pair of HUGE Short Rakers.
We started to head back to inshore & I had to learn to breath through my teeth so you didn't swallow salt water with every breath. At one point I looked over & both my buddy & the guide had snot all over there face from the nasal rinse we were getting. Once we got to some sheltered waters we stopped and took some pics of the fish. We throughout the salmon gear. It was dead for about an hour & then we got into a bite. We dropped the salmon gear down & I got my second salmon @ 18lbs. Me and my fishing partner still needed our over halibut & my partner also needed 2 more lings. He drove the boat 200 yards away from where we were trolling salmon & told us to drop down the halibut gear. I hooked into a 13lber & I know if I didn't keep it I would not have a second chance. My fishing partner didn't hook up during the 20 min window we had & at 3pm we picked up & headed in at 3pm again..
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