The last ten days of fishing out of Winchester Bay have been fantastic. Lots of salmon, both Chinook and Coho, are being caught. These fish are feeding on small shrimp and what appear to be Herring. So, many different lure combinations are working. Limits of clipped Coho and Chinook have been reported. The Lifetimer boat caught limits of Coho on Friday, July 10, and four Chinook and two clipped Coho on Saturday July 11. The action has been best in the early morning with lots of hits and little time to rebait before being bit again.
Halibut was open this weekend, so a trip out to the Heceta Banks was set for Thursday, July 9. The ride out was a little rough, but the drift was slow once we started fishing. The halibut definitely had a preference for salmon. I dropped a Black Label herring and squid combination over, and the first mate hooked up some salmon scraps. She caught and released two halibut fishing right next to me, time for a bait change. One piece of salmon later and I was hooked up to nice halibut. This is a great example of why we need multiple baits to try on halibut.
Ocean forecasts predict rough water for most of this next week, starting Sunday July 12 afternoon. This will give us some time to sort out and sharpen hooks on our Tuna Gear. There’s no problem with water temperatures for tuna. We just need them to move closer to shore. We’ll be looking for them once the water calms down.