Halibut Quest 2010 6

A freak spring windstorm knocking down trees and knocking out power to thousands of  homes, white caps in every mud puddle you can find and record cold temperatures…

It must be… Time to go HALIBUT FISHING!!!

Halibut Quest 2009 was a roaring success so we decided to throw the ol swag bags together, book up Randy Ratliff's fish slayer the "Rampage" and head for the coast!

Outdoor Line co-host Robbie Tobeck and I were half way there when the phone rang. It was Robbie's wonderful wife Sonya wondering how to shut my car alarm off. I had parked my truck at Tobeck's house near Lake Washington and the gusts coming off the lake were rocking the rig, tripping the alarm. That was a new one for me.

"Great time to go 'butt fishin", Tobeck cracked "The wind is tryin' to break into your car!"

We arrived in Westport Monday night to see spray from the breakers blowing nearly to the Hotel's front door. At that time, it was looking a lot like we did a bit of driving to have dinner at the Half Moon and a night at the establishment that lays claim to "Nearest to the Ocean" status in Washington State, The Islander!

We sat down to Dinner with Skipper Randy Ratliff and the rest of the Halibut Quest faithful, swapped stories and once we reached our rooms we did the unthinkable: We set our alarms for 0300… brutal.

The forecast called for diminishing winds and judging by the gusts that greeted us outside our door that morning, the "diminishing" had not yet taken place.  I half expected Randy to call off the trip when we met him at the Westport Sportfishing office, but the Coast Guard had not closed the Grays Harbor bar, and the word was that the swells were laying down…Halibut Quest 2010 was a go!

We board the Rampage in the pre-dawn darkness and everyone is fired up to get going!

Skipper Randy Ratliff is a teacher as well as a great fisherman and everyone is all ears for the pre-game pep talk!  

As we reach the halibut grounds this gentleman who introduced himself only as "Ralph" looked over the side for halibut sign…  

Rampage's deckhands are some of the best in Westport and were busy baiting up the two-hook rigs with both squid and horse herring. 

"Big Terry" was the first to score on his first drop with this 20 pounder and Halibut Quest 2010 was officially underway!  

It took me a while longer to score but this 35 pounder was destined for a little fish and chip action at the Nelson house! 

Robbie's son Mason hooked up on a nice fish takes time during the fight to mug for my son Matt who took this pic. 

Our deckhand deftly sticks Mason's halibut and Team Tobeck is on the board! 

Robbie was the next to hook up and now he's mugging for the camera… must be a Tobeck thing,,, 

Tobeck couldn't figure out if he had a ling or a halibut! It turns out he was right… He had both! In all my years of fishing I had never seen a lingcod and a halibut taken on the same two hook rig… 

An over achiever in his 14 year career in the NFL, Robbie Tobeck certainly over achieved on this drop. His limit of halibut and ling at the same time… I'll never hear the end of this one I'm sure…

A big thanks to all who attended Halibut Quest 2010 and thanks also to Sportco and the Outdoor Emporium, Mustad, Pautzke, Columbia Sportswear and Grundens for helping out with this year's event! Thanks for listening to the Outdoor Line and stay tuned for more listener trips in the future!