By Michael Carman

Peninsula Daily News

SEQUIM — Sometimes being a creature of habit results in hooking and hauling aboard a creature from the briny depths.

That’s what happened for halibut angler Mark Schaecher of Graham last Saturday. Schaecher hooked into a 115-pound whopper while anchored in 135 feet of water by the Dungeness Spit Lighthouse and brought in the self-described “fish of my lifetime” with the help of his friends and coworkers Tino Flores and Tyrome Walker.

“We left out of John Wayne Marina early on Saturday morning,” said Schaecher, who works on light rail lines as part of King County’s Track Maintenance crew.

“We love it up there and try to go [fishing on the North Olympic Peninsula] every year. Last year, we caught a 65 pounder in the same spot.”

Unlike many anglers who found themselves caught up in high westerly winds last Saturday, Schaecher and friends had calm conditions and an outgoing tide when they hooked up while fishing in Schaecher’s 20-foot Bayliner Trophy boat in the early morning light around 5 a.m.

“We just had a spreader bar, a herring and a lead weight of about 3 pounds,” Schaecher said.

“It was a whole herring, no scent on there.”

He said the effort to land the fish “took all three of us” and lasted about 20 to 25 minutes.

“Tino got it on Facebook video but there’s lots of F bombs on there,” Schaecher said with a laugh.

“It took what seemed like forever to get it up to the surface and it took a look at us and shot straight back down to the bottom.”

After seeing the flatfish for the first time, Walker had a good comparison for the massive halibut.

“Tyrome made the comment that ‘It looked like a mattress,’” Schaecher said.

Once the fish was reeled back to the surface, Walker was able to spear it, sending the fish into a frenzy.

“Once he speared it just started busting loose, thrashing and flopping,” Schaecher said.

“It was like a shark trying to bite a piece of bait, just out of control. It beat its head against the side of the boat a few times, but we finally got the gaff in there and between the three of us we got it on board.

“It thrashed around the boat a little bit before it died.”

Schaecher said he had the prize filleted back at John Wayne Marina at around 2 p.m. and heard that an 80-pound fish had come in earlier, but his was the unofficial leader for the day at the launch.

The three anglers also landed a halibut Schaecher estimated around 40 pounds while fishing Freshwater Bay on opening day.

“That was such a beautiful day,” he said of the perfect-weather opener.

“To enjoy nature like this, it’s why we are on this planet, I think.”

Graham’s Mark Schaecher, left, caught this 115-pound halibut Saturday near the Dungeness Spit Lighthouse with the help of friends Tino Flores and Tyrome Walker.