After week one of the halibut opener on “inside” waters “Puget Sound” from MA 6 East, WDFW says 925 anglers caught 130 halibut with an average weight of 24 pounds for a weekly catch of 3,105 pounds.  Remaining quota is 80,105 pounds going into week two.

Week two started off with great conditions, mostly calm water, blue skies and uncrowded waters. Friday was had good conditions with a few halibut hitting the docks. The biggest halibut so far was Bill Batson’s 131-pound Barn Door. Batson is no stranger to fishing and has caught quite a few big halibut but nothing quite this big on inside waters. Batson is CEO of Batson Enterprises in Sequim, makers of Rainshadow rods, & Alps guides. If you are wondering where he caught this monster it was somewhere within 30 minutes of Ediz Hook boat launch according to my sources. Remember, it’s not polite to ask for secret monster halibut spots.

Last Thursday I had two guests for a charter trip, but they needed to come in by Noon. After returning the guests to the dock I called a buddy to come down to Ediz Hook launch for an afternoon of fun fishing. He arrived within 40 minutes and we headed out into 229 feet of water. After drifting for a while I decided to try out my new LoneStar electric anchor winch spooled with 5mm Spectra line. Half an hour after anchoring my buddy caught a 32 inch halibut. Twenty minutes later my rod bent over with a 40 inch flattie. While we were somewhat lucky, we did do lots of things right, including finding a good place to anchor and dropping a chum bag on the downrigger to attract halibut from down current.

Friday I had a charter with a couple guys from the local PSA club. We anchored in a couple spots and by day’s end my two guests, Karl and Dave hooked four halibut and landed just one. Karl landed a nice 38-incher on a 5-inch Z2 Squid with a circle hook tipped with a whole herring.

Saturday was a big disappointment because of extremely bad weather which included rough seas, lightning, thunder, sleet, snow, hail, winds, and buckets of rain. Most anglers choose to not venture out into the turmoil of water we call the Strait of Juan de Fuca. I canceled my charter for the day.

Good luck next week,

Capt. John Beath,

SquidPro Charters & Squidlures.com