Writing this post to see if any of you salty dogs have had a similar experience in Puget sound.

Several board members here have explained that they have been out halibut fishing and hooked into a beast of a fish. This fish can swim at speeds of up to 15mph for a very very long time. This tells us who have spoken about it that it is not of the shark variety as they typically tire soon into a fight with properly matched gear.

I know Fishnut has seen this fish on his depthsounder while Spud was chasing it once when he hooked it. Ron said the marks on his finder looked as if this mystery beast is nearly 30 feet long. Ron if you still have that photo post it up.

Some other descriptive factors are:
-No one can catch up to this fish, as it swims very fast to the point where folks fighting it are on-step chasing it down.
-It cannot be retrieved close enough to the surface to see what it is.
-It can fight an angler at top swimming speeds for up to an hour and a half.
-It only seems to be hooked when halibut fishing at depths of over 100 FOW.
-the three or four people we know who have hooked it have all been broken off while the fish was swimming away from them at high speed.

I'm not pulling your leg here...there is something really big and fast out there. it has been hooked by several credible experienced anglers.
Has anyone ever had, or heard of a similar experience?
What could it be?

Sub....

The stuff of legend right there.
Gear up and let's have a look at this beast !

My fishing partner hooked one at Partridge in 1990. Told an old timer we fished with out of mutiny bay and he said it was a basking shark. They get to 30+ feet and can weigh 4000 lbs so you are not going to tire it out with halibut gear. He explained the speed as an effect of the current on the bottom differing from that on the surface.

Look a lot like this on the fishfinder?



Fish on...

Todd

43-8. I guess thats possible but I wouldnt think a basking shark would bite a mooched horse herring as they are filter feeders.

Todd, Sub's dont change directions really fast and produce head-shakes. This was a fish not a machine.

Foul hooked was my assumption. Filter feeders can eat bigger forage as well

I was hoping you were going to post this.

You talkin about Sharkin? Sharkin?

I can corroborate Sky-Guy's post, in that he's not pulling anyone's leg here.

The story has me so intrigued, I spent a good part of this morning researching anything remotely plausible. Apparently, some guy hooked a Great White in Tacoma a few years ago?

But...

That's not this. This thing has serious speed. Like Sailfish & Wahoo blue water speed and having caught many of those, that's damn fast for anything cold water. Great White's and Mako's jump when hooked. Nobody has ever got this thing above 60 feet and it doesn't seem to migrate far, which would put a Salmon / 6 or 7 gill shark out of the question with their huge migratory patterns. Another interesting thing is that it's hooked during halibut, when there aren't a lot of salmon in PS - so that makes me believe its resident. I've even considered the Giant Squid (3rd largest squid in the world) and found quite frequently in PS. But I don't think a squid could sustain a few miles @ 15 knots. The only thing that reminds me of how it fights is a big ol' Bluefin. Super fast, super strong and pinned to the depths. But that doesn't wash either, so who knows?

I'll find him for 5 and catch & kill him for 10.

Does anyone up here have a boat with an actual fighting chair in it? Grab the MASSIVE Goliath Grouper rod outta the show room at Batson; load up the 130 wide with 300# Dacron, drink some Apricot brandy and buckle in.

Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies...farewell and adieu, you ladies of Spain.

If yer drinkin' that schitt yer gonna puke halfway into the fight.
Could become part of the legend though...

"That fugger even made 'im puke all over himself right there in the fightin' chair."

Gotta be some kind of shark?

If it is swimming that fast, it must know it is hooked.

2nd best post of the year.

Does this mystery fish/mammal stay downtown or does it line out after it's hooked?

Fight pic....Nick goes down and the beast almost gets him...
SG lets loose a volley from the 12 gauge and saves Nick's life.

Robbo - Stays downtown WHILE it runs and lines you at 15 knots. Eats halibut offerings with a hard take, head shake and RUN! Boats have tried keeping up. Albiet Salmon boat captains aren't in tune with really, really gettin' on it and staying on top of the fish (like blue water guys do). With the right gear, bring it. More importantly, with the right captain and boat. Speed kills.

A little of Both Robbo. It goes on really long runs, stops, and takes off in another direction. Kathy, Spud's wife, has had the fish up to ~60 feet directly below the boat in 100FOW before it took off again, so fast, that they couldnt keep up to it and it broke them off.

Sperm whale?

It varies.
The one constant is the strap-on.

3rd best post of the year

I've been informed by my lawyer to STFU unless Sky-Guy & I have rod / fisherman's rights on the correct "research vessel". This is BIG blue water fish & mindset all the way. 130 wides with 300# Dacron to 500# steel. Pro tip: Crank until your arm comes off.

Sounds like a job for the River Monster Guy...