Living in eastern Oregon, a slight change of subject for you costal folks. Given our limited halibut seasons, when's the best fishing? Early, mid, or late seasons (May, June, July)? Wanting to get to the coast and hope to pickup a couple, and will likely need to make reservations now.
1M, I'll try to boil it down without getting too lengthy.
Our spring all-depth season was just announced a week or so ago. (Central Oregon)
The spring derby days are so hard to predict weather-wise for us sport boats. Some days can be decent ocean conditions, but the majority of spring season days can be pretty snotty. Charters will get out one way or the other, and they can really chew through the alloted quota pretty quick.
Unfortunately they will keep just about anything that gets hooked, since it's beneficial for them to come back to port with a halibut for every angler on the boat. Chickens, ping pong paddles, whatever you want to call them. Very few charters will let you release a smallish fish, and try for a bigger one. It's just the way it is. There might be some smaller 6-pack boats that will let you high grade. I can send you a PM with some names of some out of Newport or Depoe Bay that you could check with.
A bonus this year is the change to the regs allowing us to do a long-leader fishery for deepwater rockfish on the same trip as halibut. You have to pay close attention to the details to stay legal, but it will be nice to be able to justify the fuel expense of an all-depth halibut trip when you can retain 10 big rockfish per angler on the same trip. (Canary, yellowtail, widow, bocaccio, etc.).
Summer all-depth can be much nicer ocean conditions to fish in - if there is quota left.
Nearshore seasons run from May 1st through October 31st, 7 days a week. I don't have much experience with that fishery, but I intend to do more of it this season hopefully.
I'd always have an open seat on my own boat for 24HCF guys, if the logistics could work out.
