Saturday on SF Bay: Boat co-owner and I decided to go out and try halibut fishing on Saturday. I requested a later start than normal (7:30am) because my wife and I went to the Steve...

40GRIT Loc: San Ramon, CA

Boat co-owner and I decided to go out and try halibut fishing on Saturday. I requested a later start than normal (7:30am) because my wife and I went to the Steve miller Band concert at The Greek Theater in Berkeley the night before. I don’t think the late start helped my condition all that much……….

We went and got live bait and headed toward Raccoon Straits as that is where a commercial friend of ours recommended. Weather was great, tides were very minimal and the drift at about 1/2 mph. Started our drift among a few other boats in the area and in 15 minutes my buddy was hooked up, real nice halibut, but I missed the gaff and it came unbuttoned, not my finest moment……… Continued to drift that area with many more boats showing up and had to put the sea anchor out as the drift picked up to about 1.5mph (our helm enclosure catches the wind pretty good). My buddy hooks up again, gets it to the side of the boat and his line tangles in the sea anchor line, I gaff it (barely) and lift, then off the gaff it goes……I’m definitely not an asset (unless you remove the last two letters). My buddy is very gracious about it and just says “its ok, sh@! happens”.

We continue to drift and the bite is slow so we decide this is the last drift and to reel up, I lift my rod and it bends, hard. We both thought it was a shark, we saw a guy reel one up near by that location not much earlier. I worked him, he ran a few times peeling line, then I was able to gain. Got him to the side of the boat and it’s a nice door mat halibut, my buddy shows me how gaffing is done and it’s bloody decks! Went ahead and went in as the wind was picking up (about 1:30). Made plans to run the bait tank all night and go again Sunday. Got home and was informed I’d be helping the wife tear down and clean up the baby shower party stuff from that day that she hosted at our place. Texted PapaD to go with my co-owner and he was happy to fill in on short notice. Hope they get the ones I missed and I won’t be trying to gaff hungover again…….. I did offer him all the filets, he accepted 1/2 of them (we usually split our catch anyway), I still feel bad about the missed gaffs…….

“Does my cooler make my but look big” (quote courtesy of Gina!)

Weighed out at 14 lbs, no tape measure, guessed to be 32” min. Cooler is 24”

saw1 Loc: nor cal Windsor

40GRIT wrote:

Boat co-owner and I decided to go out and try halibut fishing on Saturday. I requested a later start than normal (7:30am) because my wife and I went to the Steve miller Band concert at The Greek Theater in Berkeley the night before. I don’t think the late start helped my condition all that much……….

We went and got live bait and headed toward Raccoon Straits as that is where a commercial friend of ours recommended. Weather was great, tides were very minimal and the drift at about 1/2 mph. Started our drift among a few other boats in the area and in 15 minutes my buddy was hooked up, real nice halibut, but I missed the gaff and it came unbuttoned, not my finest moment……… Continued to drift that area with many more boats showing up and had to put the sea anchor out as the drift picked up to about 1.5mph (our helm enclosure catches the wind pretty good). My buddy hooks up again, gets it to the side of the boat and his line tangles in the sea anchor line, I gaff it (barely) and lift, then off the gaff it goes……I’m definitely not an asset (unless you remove the last two letters). My buddy is very gracious about it and just says “its ok, sh@! happens”.

We continue to drift and the bite is slow so we decide this is the last drift and to reel up, I lift my rod and it bends, hard. We both thought it was a shark, we saw a guy reel one up near by that location not much earlier. I worked him, he ran a few times peeling line, then I was able to gain. Got him to the side of the boat and it’s a nice door mat halibut, my buddy shows me how gaffing is done and it’s bloody decks! Went ahead and went in as the wind was picking up (about 1:30). Made plans to run the bait tank all night and go again Sunday. Got home and was informed I’d be helping the wife tear down and clean up the baby shower party stuff from that day that she hosted at our place. Texted PapaD to go with my co-owner and he was happy to fill in on short notice. Hope they get the ones I missed and I won’t be trying to gaff hungover again…….. I did offer him all the filets, he accepted 1/2 of them (we usually split our catch anyway), I still feel bad about the missed gaffs…….

Boat co-owner and I decided to go out and try hali... (show quote)

Nice one Denny. Glad someone on the boat knows how to gaff a fish.

40GRIT Loc: San Ramon, CA

saw1 wrote:

Nice one Denny. Glad someone on the boat knows how to gaff a fish.

Amen, Steve, amen……

saw1 Loc: nor cal Windsor

40GRIT wrote:

Amen, Steve, amen……

Got fish Loc: Petaluma

Nice fish! And I’ve definitely had my share of issues trying to gaff fish!

Fredfish Loc: Prospect CT.

40GRIT wrote:

Boat co-owner and I decided to go out and try halibut fishing on Saturday. I requested a later start than normal (7:30am) because my wife and I went to the Steve miller Band concert at The Greek Theater in Berkeley the night before. I don’t think the late start helped my condition all that much……….

We went and got live bait and headed toward Raccoon Straits as that is where a commercial friend of ours recommended. Weather was great, tides were very minimal and the drift at about 1/2 mph. Started our drift among a few other boats in the area and in 15 minutes my buddy was hooked up, real nice halibut, but I missed the gaff and it came unbuttoned, not my finest moment……… Continued to drift that area with many more boats showing up and had to put the sea anchor out as the drift picked up to about 1.5mph (our helm enclosure catches the wind pretty good). My buddy hooks up again, gets it to the side of the boat and his line tangles in the sea anchor line, I gaff it (barely) and lift, then off the gaff it goes……I’m definitely not an asset (unless you remove the last two letters). My buddy is very gracious about it and just says “its ok, sh@! happens”.

We continue to drift and the bite is slow so we decide this is the last drift and to reel up, I lift my rod and it bends, hard. We both thought it was a shark, we saw a guy reel one up near by that location not much earlier. I worked him, he ran a few times peeling line, then I was able to gain. Got him to the side of the boat and it’s a nice door mat halibut, my buddy shows me how gaffing is done and it’s bloody decks! Went ahead and went in as the wind was picking up (about 1:30). Made plans to run the bait tank all night and go again Sunday. Got home and was informed I’d be helping the wife tear down and clean up the baby shower party stuff from that day that she hosted at our place. Texted PapaD to go with my co-owner and he was happy to fill in on short notice. Hope they get the ones I missed and I won’t be trying to gaff hungover again…….. I did offer him all the filets, he accepted 1/2 of them (we usually split our catch anyway), I still feel bad about the missed gaffs…….

Boat co-owner and I decided to go out and try hali... (show quote)

Nice catch Denny. Hungover people can catch fish, even if they can't gaff them. Proven fact!

Thanks for sharing your day.

40GRIT Loc: San Ramon, CA

Got fish wrote:

Nice fish! And I’ve definitely had my share of issues trying to gaff fish!

Thanks for the support GF!!

40GRIT Loc: San Ramon, CA

Fredfish wrote:

Nice catch Denny. Hungover people can catch fish, even if they can't gaff them. Proven fact!

Thanks for sharing your day.

True that Fred, Thanks!

Papa D Loc: Mantweeka, Ca

Went out today with K (co-owner) as mentioned.

No catch-n-release today -- I lost one monster (based on how long and loud my reel was screaming on its first run) but lost it halfway to the boat.

Still came home with full limits.

Details and photos tomorrow.

saw1 Loc: nor cal Windsor

Papa D wrote:

Went out today with K (co-owner) as mentioned.

No catch-n-release today -- I lost one monster (based on how long and loud my reel was screaming on its first run) but lost it halfway to the boat.

Still came home with full limits.

Details and photos tomorrow.

Wow sounds good. The one that got away might have been a shark.

NJ219bands Loc: New Jersey

Nice one ☝️. In NJ it’s now illegal to gaff striped bass.

Got fish Loc: Petaluma

Papa D wrote:

Went out today with K (co-owner) as mentioned.

No catch-n-release today -- I lost one monster (based on how long and loud my reel was screaming on its first run) but lost it halfway to the boat.

Still came home with full limits.

Details and photos tomorrow.

Sounds like you guys had a great day. The bay looked calm today. Wish I was fishin and not workin. Look forward to the pics.

Fredfish Loc: Prospect CT.

NJ219bands wrote:

Nice one ☝️. In NJ it’s now illegal to gaff striped bass.

On the whole East Coast it's been illegal for many years.

OldBassGuy Loc: Temecula, CA

40GRIT wrote:

Boat co-owner and I decided to go out and try halibut fishing on Saturday. I requested a later start than normal (7:30am) because my wife and I went to the Steve miller Band concert at The Greek Theater in Berkeley the night before. I don’t think the late start helped my condition all that much……….

We went and got live bait and headed toward Raccoon Straits as that is where a commercial friend of ours recommended. Weather was great, tides were very minimal and the drift at about 1/2 mph. Started our drift among a few other boats in the area and in 15 minutes my buddy was hooked up, real nice halibut, but I missed the gaff and it came unbuttoned, not my finest moment……… Continued to drift that area with many more boats showing up and had to put the sea anchor out as the drift picked up to about 1.5mph (our helm enclosure catches the wind pretty good). My buddy hooks up again, gets it to the side of the boat and his line tangles in the sea anchor line, I gaff it (barely) and lift, then off the gaff it goes……I’m definitely not an asset (unless you remove the last two letters). My buddy is very gracious about it and just says “its ok, sh@! happens”.

We continue to drift and the bite is slow so we decide this is the last drift and to reel up, I lift my rod and it bends, hard. We both thought it was a shark, we saw a guy reel one up near by that location not much earlier. I worked him, he ran a few times peeling line, then I was able to gain. Got him to the side of the boat and it’s a nice door mat halibut, my buddy shows me how gaffing is done and it’s bloody decks! Went ahead and went in as the wind was picking up (about 1:30). Made plans to run the bait tank all night and go again Sunday. Got home and was informed I’d be helping the wife tear down and clean up the baby shower party stuff from that day that she hosted at our place. Texted PapaD to go with my co-owner and he was happy to fill in on short notice. Hope they get the ones I missed and I won’t be trying to gaff hungover again…….. I did offer him all the filets, he accepted 1/2 of them (we usually split our catch anyway), I still feel bad about the missed gaffs…….

Boat co-owner and I decided to go out and try hali... (show quote)

Really nice fish Denny, reminds me of my younger days when I use to take my boat out in the ocean. Will definitely have to get up there and get out there again. Might even be able to teach you how to gaff..........if I can remember how

40GRIT Loc: San Ramon, CA

Thanks Garey! At this point I’ll take all the guidance I can get. Don’t forget, crab season opens in November, I’ve got a spot on the boat for you!