Stats
Difficulty: Easy -
Moderate Time: Full-Day
Summary
I
love halibut, but we don’t own a boat. We
decided to go on a fishing charter on 11 Sep on the hope of filling the
freezer. This time we chose Dan Donich (Daniel's Personalized Guide Service). He
was recommended by an acquaintance. This
was our second charter in 2013. We went
out on the Irish in late Aug (see Halibut Fishing with North
Country Charters) and came home with 15.8 lbs of halibut filets, but we wanted more.
Opinion
Great
trip! My husband and I caught our limit
(so did everyone else on the boat) and came home with 54.1 lbs of halibut filets
. My freezer is very happy and I’m happier. Dan runs his charter year round, so we’re giving serious thought to fishing for Winter King salmon with him.
. My freezer is very happy and I’m happier. Dan runs his charter year round, so we’re giving serious thought to fishing for Winter King salmon with him.
Trail Advice
Dress
in layers and bring a jacket. Temperatures
on the ocean can vary from warm to downright cold.
Bring
lunch, water, and coffee or tea, but don’t over pack. There isn’t a lot of space in his seating
area.
Bring
your fishing license and Halibut Derby ticket.
The boat won’t leave harbor without your license.
Bring
a camera. You never know what you might
see.
If
you are prone to motion sickness take Dramamine or use a Scopolamine
patch. When fishing, the boat rocks with
the waves and it is easy to get sick.
Suitability
Dan
is capable of meeting the needs of most passengers. If you have a special needs requirement,
contact him to see if you can be accommodated.
Dan’s
boat, the Optimist, is docked near the Coal Point fisher on the Homer
Spit. Ask for directions. It’s easy to find.
The Adventure
Before I get into the trip, I want to recommend that
if you are fishing for halibut in Homer during the season (May – Sep) you
should get a Halibut Derby ticket. The
tickets are each worth a different prize.
One of the best prizes is a Ford F150.
Someone actually won that one this year!
It turns out someone else caught the $50,000 tag, but they didn’t have a
Derby ticket so no prize. The tickets
are only good for one day. You will have
to buy another for your next halibut fishing day, but they were only $10 a
piece. You can get more information on
the Homer Chamber of Commerce site (Homer
Chamber of Commerce).
On 11 Sep, we showed up at the boat, as directed, at 0700. The sun was just rising. Unfortunately, that day the weather guessers were wrong. The winds were supposed to
10 mph with 2 ft seas and it turned out to be 25 mph with 6 ft seas. The Captain, Dan Donich, checked with all of
his prospective passengers to see if we could come again on a different day. Everyone could, so the Captain called it and
we tried again Thursday, 12 Sep. I was
great that he was willing and able to be flexible to the weather (that may not
have been as easy in the summer).
Sunrise off the Homer Spit |
Fishing for bait |
Beautiful morning for fishing |
Bigger fish |
Big fish |
Halibut breaking the surface |
Okay, enough bad jokes. Drift fishing was still slow. We listened to the other charters calling on
the radio to see if anyone had found good fishing. In addition, Dan got at least 3 phone calls
from other captains looking for halibut.
When we started to reach the end of the day and we were still four fish
short of our limit, Dan got on the radio and asked if anyone else was having
any luck. The Irish (discussed in an
earlier blog:
Daniel's Personalized Guide Service)
was on the fish, although theirs were very small--what they call “chickens” in
Homer. They suggested we come drift
using their boat as the starting point.
The fish were thick enough for us to anchor next to them, but drifting
would let the Irish’s passengers continue to catch fish and maybe let us catch
some too.
Bringing in a 35 lb halibut |
15 lb halibut on deck |
If you read Dan’s web site, he says that you catch
bigger fish in shallower water, but that there aren’t usually as many fish and
fishing can be slow. Smaller fish are
more aggressive and hungry and are best caught around 200 ft. Also, the bigger fish are usually farther
from Homer, so only the full-day trips will go that far out.
The day's take |
It was late when we caught our limit so we headed straight back in. The seas were still rolling with surge and waves, so it was a bumpy ride. We saw lots of sea otters as they dodged the boat and we had a seagull escort for most of the way until they saw they weren’t going to get any handouts.
Dan fileted our fish at the dock. We took ours to Coal Point to be frozen in 1 lb pieces--the perfect size for two people. We brought in 54.1 lbs of halibut. Chris’ estimate is that we paid about ½ market price for the take. Sadly, we didn’t catch any tagged fish, but I’m completely happy with 54 lbs of halibut!
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