I finally got a chance to use my Penn 6/0 with the XN frame and spool that Randy had made for us a year ago. I flew up to Sitka the day after my grandson's first birthday party early this month, and we found good weather for the first time in several years. The king season was temporarily closed a couple of days before we got there, as was the pelagic rockfish season, so we had to make do with cohos, small halibut, and slot lingcod (31-35"). We fished four days, three straight outside Sitka Sound and one day down south near the tip of the island. All four days were clear and had less than 10 knots of wind, only a foot or two of chop, and warm (60's) temperatures. That sure beats the rain, big chop and 20's winds that we've had the past several early August! We usually use gear provided by our guide Herb, but this year we decided to bring our own salmon reels because his haven't been in great shape the past few years, and our own halibut reels because we wanted to.
Fishing all four days was slow but steady for cohos...we started mooching first thing in the morning, and we'd end up with limits (6 each) by the early- to mid-afternoon. There were only a few big flurries of activity all week. It was mostly a fish here and a fish there, and after a half dozen hours we'd each have a half dozen fish. We'd usually choose a spot to fish where the salmon fishing was decent, but where we could also have one guy fishing the bottom for halibut. That way we'd usually have the boat limit for small halibut by noon or so (<38").
The first and last days we also soaked big baits on big circle hooks looking for larger halibut which we could keep by purchasing a spacial tag. Both of those days we ended up catching and keeping larger model butts. Not huge, but enough to put some pressure on the 6/0. I really liked the way the narrowed 6/0 acted a bit like a 2-speed in 350 feet of water. With 350 feet of line out, the spool (130 lb braid) was about half empty, and so one crank revolution brought in significantly less line than near the surface. So effectively I had a lower gear ratio near the bottom where the halibut puts up a bigger fight. With the long handle and a 5/0 grip, bringing in the fish was comfortable and easy. Thanks Randy for getting these frames and spools made for us!
Another photo
Nice fish !! I like my extra narrow 6/0 for bottom fishing here in BC, and the 4/0 for that matter. I'm bringing the XN 6/0 this year to Cedros this year to give it a bit of a work out. You are right they seem to have a faster retrieve than what one would expect when winding up from 300 to 400 feet.
Cheers:
Todd
Nice reel!
Nice fish!
great fish right there, nice reel too
Great fish...and the right equipment to catch 'em !!
thanks for sharing the great trip. i,m jealous. you did fantastic and the nice weather was a bonus too! we all nike fish pictures.
Beautiful halibut and ling cod Rich! Thank you for the great report and photos and the plug for the narrow Senator kits. Congratulations on a trip to remember.
We were in Sitka a few days before you, just in time for the emergency king salmon "no take" for non-residents order to go into effect on August 1, which was our first day of fishing. Naturally, the first thing that happened when we put the lines in the water was a double on 20 lb. kings, which we had to release. We also had a tough time with the coho until our fourth and last day, when they bit well for quick limits.
Thanks again,
Randy
Thank you Rich, nice photos, good report, cheers Don. love that narrow 6/0.
That's a great lingbut fishing ! ;D this 6/0 seems the perfect weapon ...
Fantastic trip,,,, :D and very cool reel,,,,,,,, ;D
Really nice catch and a good looking reel.
Dwight
Nice. Sitka was one of my favorit ports when I worked for the AMHS.
Awesome!