Offshore tomcat 255

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joechiro30

New member
I had a simple question about how many guys I could safely fit going offshore at neahbay to the halibut grounds. With halibut gear how many guys do you think I can take? I was planning on 5 guys. We would be taking turns fishing 3 guys at the back.
 
Joe;

The TomCat has an occupant capacity of 13 people. We go off shore, as much as 75nm for tuna. I take anywhere from 4 to 7 people and about 200 lbs of ice.

Gene
 
Gene Morris":2ou9hzyo said:
Joe;

The TomCat has an occupant capacity of 13 people. We go off shore, as much as 75nm for tuna. I take anywhere from 4 to 7 people and about 200 lbs of ice.

Gene
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Very encouraging to hear. That is awesome! How do you arrange seating for the long trips offshore? How many guys do you fish at the back?
 
As far as fishing is concerned, we take turns. With tuna, we run 5 rods. All or a few may go off simultaneously. It’s a rodeo on the back deck. Everyone is busy catching, gaffing tossing live bait. Halibut is more civilized (until you bring a big one on deck). It’s a matter of taking turns. It depends on the drift and the current how many rods you can run.
As for seating....not everyone sits all the time. One usually has had a late night and likes to nap in the berth. We can seat 4 at the dinette and of course the Captain takes the helm. Sometimes we drop the table and have a bench couch. 4-5 people is a nice number but if more want to join in and take turns they are welcome. We have some extra PFDs. Most of our friends have their own. We always wear them.
 
joechiro30":1hpub33h said:
I had a simple question about how many guys I could safely fit going offshore at neahbay to the halibut grounds. With halibut gear how many guys do you think I can take? I was planning on 5 guys. We would be taking turns fishing 3 guys at the back.
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Safely and comfortably are two different things. I've had 5 (including me) on my Tomcat fishing tuna offshore out of Neah Bay. That works but I wouldn't take any more. IMO 3-4 is ideal but a lot of that is because I like to get my fish and return to shore to relax. Getting limits for 5 guys takes about 5/3 times as long as getting limits for 3 guys.
 
Depends on where you're fishing Gene :)
Ya, four is a good number, with four rods you can get a good scent trail going, catch your limits and move on to torment other species
 
Ken;

At the cove I like three rods going. My boat's cockpit is to small to fish more rods for the Mud Bay halibut. But, tuna 5 is good and 3 live bait rods waiting for the hook-up.

See you in EC for the middle of July. (Are you still working?)


gene
 
Roger;

What's your limit on Tuna up there? We rarely even think about getting limits. There's not enough ice or room for 25 tuna each. When we hit 20 or so it's time to call it a day and go out again soon.

Ken;

When fishing Halibut at the Cove we usually run 2 or 3 lines. The cockpit isn't large enough for more. When fishing Albacore here 5 rods are sometimes too many. We have 3 live bait rods ready to go when there's a hook up.

Margaret & I will see you at the cove in the middle of July.
( Are you still working?)


Gene
 
Thanks for the responses. We plan to fish Neah Bay near SWC or 72 square and we are taking 5 guys. Any tips on how to set up the rods and how many rods to use while drifting over 500+ feet of water using 2-3 pounds of weight.
 
Joe;

I have never fished in water deeper than about 300 ft. The number of rods is dependent on depth fishing and strength of current. We strive to keep the lines straight down with as little scope as possible. So Line size and weights on all rods be equal. Most of my halibut fishing is at anchor instead of drifting so we always have some scope on the lines unless there is zero current.

Gene
 
Gene Morris":5yw9vu9e said:
Roger;

What's your limit on Tuna up there? We rarely even think about getting limits. There's not enough ice or room for 25 tuna each. When we hit 20 or so it's time to call it a day and go out again soon.

<stuff clipped>

Gene
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In WA, there's no limit on albacore (other than the practical limit of how much ice you can carry and how many fish you can properly kill, cool and handle. We don't have live bait out of Neah Bay, so the most we've picked up on the troll is 21 + 1 yellowtail. I'm working on getting the live bait thing figured out at Ilwaco. I imagine we'll get it down this summer.
 
My factory live well is OK but not great. There is a Tom Cat in the SF Bay area that was completely redone and a offshore style live well installed. I don't remember his name but he did an amazing job. He has posts on this site.

Roger;

Of course live bait is the preferred method on a bait stop. However, we've done very well with IQF anchovies on stops. I keep three rods ready to go and usually get action on 25lb main line and 20lb fluorocarbon leader. A small weight is usually required and toss a couple baits for chum on the slide. Then we follow up with rods. I have a PDF from a lecturer's notes on the subject. If you're interested pm me and I will email it to you.

Gene
 
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