California Halibut

[Wheelhouse]

How can I catch California Halibut in San Francisco Bay without using live bait ? I have had good success with live anchovies for bait but not much else.
Any ideas how to nail some halibut ?

 

[thurps]

Re: California Halibut

IMHO spreader (made from wire clothes hanger), weight on short arm. 18" leader, 4" Dodger, 24" leader, 6" wire leader, circle hook with 6" white squid or bucktail. It's as important to know when to fish for them as how. Best July, Aug. and and starting two hours before high tide.

 

[full stringer]

Re: California Halibut

man i would really dig a picture of that rig sounds like a science project sincerely, full stringer

 

[ajgraz]

Re: California Halibut

IMHO spreader (made from wire clothes hanger), weight on short arm. 18" leader, 4" Dodger, 24" leader, 6" wire leader, circle hook with 6" white squid or bucktail. It's as important to know when to fish for them as how. Best July, Aug. and and starting two hours before high tide.

Here in San Diego, the water's not quite as cold as up north, so the season's a bit different, best times here being Oct to Dec, then again from Mar to May (I'm told these are the spawning seasons here). Jun through Sep the water in the Bay is too warm for good halibut fishing, and Jan-Feb is too cold. I'd ask your locals what's the best season in SF Bay.

Anyways, here's what I do on San Diego Bay when I can't afford live bait:

I use 1oz to 2oz leadheads, with 3" to 5" plastic swimbaits in anchovy or sardine colors:
http://www.swimbait.com/hammer.htm

Or same size curltail grubs in white, orange, pink/red.

I tie a little Xmas tree tinsel behind the leadhead / before the plastic and let it trail for some flash, and put a strip of cut squid on the hook for flavor.

I use 60-80lb dacron braid for my main line, with 2 or 3 feet of 20-30lb mono or fluoro for a leader. This cuts through surface kelp, lets you feel everything down there, but gives some shock absorbance on the strike and you can break free if you hook into the bottom or a giant ray or something.

I target 25-40ft of water, right along the edge of the channel just before the dropoff, with sandy bottom, on a large incoming tide (4'+ best), starting 2-3 hrs before high tide right up to an hour after, ideally all this taking place before 11am-12noon (which is when the winds really kick up here).

Then I let out 20 or 30 yards of line, just drift with the tide, ideally 1.5 to 3 knots, speed and course controlled via drift sock (i.e., bucket on a rope) and/or electric trolling motor. I cover a lot of ground this way, just bouncing the leadhead up and down off the bottom. And if I do get a hookup (or a miss), I'll go back and go over that spot again, because Halibut do tend to congregate in an area.

There are times when the wind and current confound efforts to drift on the course I want. In those cases, I'll drop the leadhead, let out 150-200 yards of line along the course I want while motoring with the electric, then reel-and-bounce. This is another good reason for dacron braid, because you can set the hook from 200 yards with that stuff.

I always keep a couple rigs like this on the boat even when I am planning to use live bait, because sometimes all the bait barge has is 6-7" monster sardines, and that bait's too big for my tank and too big for the bay (or more accurately, anything I could safely handle alone that would go after such bait )

This setup in the San Diego Bay will of course mostly turn up those 21.5" not-quite-legal flatties, but occasionally will hook up one of those 22-30", 6 to 20 lb fish that are just so damned tasty

 

[floatingkiwi]

When I am fishing around the Bay Area I never buy bait but catch my own.
The circular throw nets work well and should supply you with all the bait ya need. Big stripers love splittails and I find those in the foamy trail along the bank where a small tributary meets a channel on the outgoing tide.
Bullheads and mudsuckers are caught in most any of the sloughs at the bottom of the tide. I reckon the bottom of the tide is best for fishing too. The water is slack so the bait come out of the mud to eat and guess whats waiting for them.
Bass hide right under your boat sometimes and use it for cover to sneak up on prey. If you don't believe me, take an underweater camera and have a look some time.
The bait net is an important part of my equipment. It is fun and a whole fishing style and technique all in itself. Its good to use what is found in the river ass that's what is on the menu for bigger fish.
Fishing starts witjh bait. If you cannot catch your own you are denying yourself an important part of the whole deal I reckon. Carry a spare for when ya snag it on foul and cannot easily recover it in time of at all.
You would be surprised what gets nailed at times. I caught a monster carp that I could see on the surface with its head out of the water lookin at me. As I slowly approached it slipped beneath the surface and disappeared. I maintained my slow approach whilst readying my net and when I was over where I thought ther thing was I spread the net across the water and patiently allowed it to sunk completely and fall in around any obstructions down there like the lower parts of grass and reeds that were towering overhead and creating a quite dark little world in the middle of Sherman Island on San Joaquin River.Its good to draw the nettogether from a flatter angle than straight up as it lessens the chance of something being lost simply by sitting there and letting you make the mistakes.
So I drifted off and slowly pulled in and immediately there was furious tugging on the rope as the carp, becoming entangled made his flight for freedom . The fishes efforts were wasted and it fellinto the floor of the dory and thrashed about wondering what the hell had just happened and looking for a foot or leg to drive one of the two deadly looking, slimy, mutibarbed , sharp pointy spears it is equipped with around iits anal fin and above it topside. The thing weighed over twenty pounds and if one of those barbs was sunk into flesh along with all that weight twisting and thrashing about, a serious injury would be inflicted. Depending on where it was imbedded it could mean hospital visit but at the very least, the boat wswould be headed back to the ramp.
I have nailed stripers weighing 6 to 10 lbs in the net as well, that were too busy chasing something to notice the ringed, weight laden embroidery of captivity closing down upon them.
Bottom of the tide when it happens just before daybreak. i.e. still dark, with a split tail on a long, supple 60 to 80 lb leader with spectra as mainline.Check swivels and knots before each cast. Use uni knots. Be quiet and wait.....