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More halibut days could vanish By Mark Freeman NEWPORT � Recreational anglers off the central and northern Oregon coast have lost their June halibut fishing days and may lose their August days as well after over-fishing their quota during the May all-depth fishery . Excellent weather conditions during the four fishing days of mid-May lured hundreds of private boaters out of the Newport and Garibaldi marinas. Sport-anglers landed enough halibut to exceed the fishery�s quota by almost 22,000 pounds. That has led to fish managers canceling scheduled all-depth fishing days later this month. It also may lead to a loss of August fishing days as well as deep-water fishing successes finish off this year�s sport-fishing quota for the region. Halibut fishery managers will announce July 17 whether the sport-anglers can resume their all-depth fishing Aug. 4. "I have some real fears that, come July, we�ll look at it and say there�s not enough poundage left for an August fishery," says Don Bodenmiller, a biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife�s marine program in Newport. Despite the closures, there remains some halibut fishing opportunities along the entire coast. But sport anglers can only fish in less-productive, near-shore areas or off the southern Oregon and northern California ports, where halibut are harder to find. From Humbug Mountain near Port Orford south through California, anglers can fish for halibut through Sept. 30 in all depths of water. From Cape Falcon near Astoria south to Humbug Mountain, fishing remains open inside the 30-fathom line through Sept. 30, or until a 12,324-pound quota is reached. In both areas, fishing is open seven days a week. The statewide bag limit also remains the first halibut caught that is 32 inches or longer. Federal commissions and agencies help set when, where and how much halibut fishing can take place each year. For sportsmen, this means poundage quotas of fish, fishing dates and fishing locations. The locations are divided by ports as well as depth, with waters 30-fathoms or less set apart from the deeper waters favored by halibut. The all-depth fishing days of May, June and August are the most productive and popular among sport-anglers, who typically catch most of their halibut from charterboats. Pleasureboats tend to be smaller and their owners less willing to motor long distances to get to the halibut-rich deeper waters each May. But last month was vastly different, Bodenmiller says. Of the five May fishing days, four brought flat seas which, in turn, brought out the anglers. "They had one bad day of weather and four beautiful lake-days of weather," Bodenmiller says. "It brought out the fishermen, and the fish were there." Sport-anglers in Newport, for instance, landed almost 40,000 pounds of halibut, compared to 23,000 pounds of halibut landed off charters. Private boaters fishing out of Garibaldi did similarly well, landing more than 23,000 pounds of halibut compared to 14,220 pounds for anglers fishing off charterboats. That led to anglers from Cape Falcon to Florence landing 112,953 pounds of halibut, which severely exceeded the 97,630-pound quota. Preliminary harvest estimates for the Florence-to-Humbug Mountain zone show 15,620 pounds of halibut, which exceeded the 9,094-pound quota. About 14,000 pounds of halibut remains on the overall quotas _ which is less than what sport anglers caught in any one of May�s all-depth fishing days, Bodenmiller says. Historically, charterboat guests landed 95 percent or more of the sportsmen�s halibut quota, but private boaters hit by cutbacks in ocean-salmon fishing are turning more to halibut when good weather allows. In the past few years, the private-boat harvest has caught up to the charterboat harvest, but this year the private boaters exceeded their charterboat counterparts. Staff writer Mark Freeman covers the outdoors for the Mail Tribune. Call him at 776-4470, or e-mail him at [email protected] ) Outdoor Journal Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA