For the Halibut

A private-sector solution for increasing recreational quotas is finally getting off the ground.

- Rip Cunningham

Nothing really prepares you for their magnitude, especially if you have fished for flounder along the East or Gulf coasts. These are bigger than anything you have imagined. They have an air about them as they slowly swim by that says, "Don't mess with me." Just a big flounder? Oh yeah, sure.

My son and I were mooching for salmon out of King Pacific Lodge in British. Columbia. We had just released a chinook salmon of about 12 pounds, but we were looking for a fish in the Tyee category, 30 pounds or above. My son had just got his rig back out as we cruised along at a slow pace. I happened to be staring into the wake when I thought I imagined a desktop coming up from the depths. Then there it was-a big halibut possibly attracted by propeller vibrations. It gave one the sense that it could swim over to the engine and chew off the prop. But it just said hello and sank back out of sight.