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HUMPBACK WHALES IN HALIBUT KINGDOM - I WAS VERY HAPPY WHEN I COULD MAKE THIS PHOTO
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| HUMPBACK WHALE CATCHING HERRING - 1 M3 MOUTH AND 3-4 METERS CHEEKS. |
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| A GREAT MEAL OF HERRING |
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| FILTRATION AND PUSH OUT WATER |
The 1. November was a Perfect day for halibut Fishing in the Halibut Kingdom outside Kvaløyvaagen in Tromsø, Arctic Norway. The weather was Nice - +1 degree celsius and 3 - 4 m/s Wind from South east .
I started from the harbour very early in the morning because the daylight at this time of the year at 70. degree north are very short.
Just outside Kvaløyvaagen I saw a lot of seagulls hunting for Fish, and I also recognized many clear water spots between the small wind waves.
This is a good sign for whales or herring close to the surface, because they leave traces of fish oil that calmes down the waves at the sea-surface.
I started fishing with a Big bob jig, and after only 1 minute I had a big 12 kg sei ( pollack) on the rubberfish. Then I had big cod, and so many big sei that I wanted to take. The sea was full of sei, cod and herring.
After some searching I saw the first blow from a humpback whale just about 1 km away. I went closer to have a look, and suddenly I could take part in a great fiesta of jumping and feeding whales.
I stopped the engines, and went out With my camera just to watch the whales hunting for herring in the area.
It was an amasing show. I could see the big 15 meter whales cooperate to make bubble- curtains to make traps for the herrings . When the herrings were trapped - 3 or more 15 meter whales came jumping up from the water with their big mouths open and filled their gaps with herring.
Suddenly I realized that they had made a bubble curtain only 10 meters from the " BigFisher" - The diameter of the curtain was about 25 -30 meters, and a lot of herrings tried to Escape trough the air and jumped out of the water.
Just at that moment the whales attacked. One of the whales almost hit the "BigFisher", but managed to make a sharp turn so he went under the boat. He was not more than 7 meters away from me, and I looked him into his eyes - and he was looking back straight at me .
What a feeling !!!
When he dived under my boat he blew like a big aircompressor with compressed air just into my face - hard to believe what happened .
I managed to take some pictures of him ( or her ??) - take a look.
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| Looking at me - you can see his eye just to the left . |
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| He blew air and water at me when going Down |
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| Going under the " BIg FIsher " |
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| Gone Down |
After spotting the whales for some hours I went to one of my best places for big halibuts.
After only 15 minutes of Fishing I had a really heavy attack on my cod baitfish.
I like to use my Penn International II 50 S reel on a 50 lbs Okuma Makaira rod with strong braided line - a solid combination that works very good for me when hunting for the big halibuts. This combination you can really rely on.
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| THE "THREE GENERATION HOUSE " |
This was a very strong halibut with a lot of potent energy - It felt even stronger than the 110 kg halibut I landed on the same spot two years ago.
The big difference this time was that I was alone on the " BigFisher" today.
Its not so easy to handle a 100 kg halibut all alone , but I enjoyed the fight and the great Challenge this was.
I was well prepared if this should happen - my harpoon With 10 meter rope and a floater was made ready and big hook With 10 meter strong rope was tied up - also ready for action .
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| THE LIGHTHOUSE |
It was a great fight - and the halibut was strong. Since I was alone I let it go down from the surface three times with a strong brake on the reel to tire him out - but not so strong that I could cut the braided line.
It took me about 30 minutes to land the big halibut . When it was lying quiet behind the boat, I could go down on the diving platform to hook it with the hook.
Just when I had hooked it, it exploded again and almost pulled me overboard.
What a fight - what a day in Halibut Kingdom !!!!
After I had managed to lift it from the water with my specially made halibut crane, I measured it to be 1, 81 meter - should be above 80 kg. My digital scale was unfortunately not working as it should due to bad battery. But it was a great fight and a wonderful halibut !!
And a wonderful day at sea !!!
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| A Nice halibut from Halibut Kingdom |
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| Skipper in front - my halibut friend behind !! |
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| Going back home |
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| Back in the marina in Tromsø the " BigFisher " and the " SmallFisher " |
